News

Katie Price sparks fierce debate after admitting strict parenting rule

She was speaking about her kids' phones

She’s become well-known for sharing candid and often intimate details about her life as a mum of five.

And once again Katie Price has found herself at the centre of controversy with her latest anecdote. What a surprise, right?

Katie’s latest remarks raising eyebrows came on Thursday’s episode of Loose Women when she revealed the extent she goes to when it comes to checking what her kids get up to on their mobile phones.

It turns out Junior, 12, and Princess, ten, are allowed zero privacy where phones are concerned.

Read more: Holly Willoughby gets a VERY dramatic makeover

Not only do they have to give Katie all their passwords, but they also leave their phones with her in the evening so she can read through their messages.

She told the panel: “I go through the kids’ phones with a fine tooth comb. They aren’t allowed their own passwords – I have to know their passwords – and what I love best is when they’re in bed and I sit there and go through their phones: the pictures, the messages…”

And the 39-year-old said it’s a good thing she does, as she’s stumbled across shock messages on her son’s phone in the past.

“There was some girl on Junior’s I have blocked,” she said. “The things 13 year olds send 12 year olds… I can’t believe they do it.

“So I would block them, go on his notes in case he saved their names, then I tell him what I’ve done as I’m not having girls like that sending him stuff like that.”

“Princess is different,” she added. “She’s ten and not in the same mindset as Junior, but I still have to check everything.”

Katie explained she’s got strict ground rules for the pair if they want to keep using mobile phones – including never sending photos.

“I make it clear they never send other people pictures of anything – they have to be private,” she said.

“They know I’ll check as well; I’ll go through their history, their recently-deleted, everything they’ve done,” she said.

“And because they know I will – and I’ll say, ‘If I do find something, you’ve lost that trust and you won’t be having your phone back’ – they’ve learned.”

Needless to say, her strict stance caused quite a debate on Twitter – and among the Loose Women panel.

Jane Moore said she checks her daughter’s Instagram feed regularly, but added “you have to step away when you know mentally they are able to deal with stuff they may or may not see online”.

Nadia Sawalha, meanwhile, said her daughter is 14 and it “feels wrong” to ask her for a password to her phone after never having done so before.

Nadia said it’s not that she doesn’t trust her, it’s the other people she doesn’t trust. “It feels wrong, maybe that’s me not stepping up to the plate enough as a parent…”

The panellist then turned to Katie and said if she did have her kids’ phone passwords she “won’t be a maniac like you checking every night!”

Naturally, viewers also chimed in with their say – with many saying they were firmly on Katie’s side and would check their children’s online activities for as long as they paid the bills.

According to a Loose Women panel, 73 per cent of viewers agreed with Katie and would check their kids’ phone activities to keep an eye on them.

Read more: Katie Price fans slate her latest controversial Instagram post

One viewer, however, said she’d feel uneasy following Katie’s lead and threatening to take her child’s phone away, saying: “I wouldn’t threaten to take phone away as it’s good she has [it] for emergencies. I feel taking away I would worry about her if out with friends.”

And another mused: “Just wondering how many kids have got second phones because their parents monitor their main phone!”

Over to you, kids…


Nancy Brown
Associate Editor

Related Topics