It's difficult for a parent to know when to back off and when to interfere in his child's life. Sometimes it feels like we are protecting them, other times it borders on intrusion. So when and where do we draw the line?

You see his phone lying carelessly on the coffee table and have the sudden urge to spy, to discover if your child is doing drugs or other illicit activities. It's important for a parent to keep a watchful eye, especially for younger children. It's essentially to monitor their television shows, and especially their online activity.

In today's world, the internet is a necessary tool for your child to succeed in school and stay connected with his friends. There are enormous benefits to the world wide web, but there are also lurking threats. There are child predators, and in the era where our children are giving more and more of their information to the internet, sometimes saying their every thoughts on Twitter and Facebook, it's a parent's job to worry and set parameters. Not only is there the threat of child predators, but a growing number of children are being cyber-bullied.

There's a new product online called safetyweb that allow parents to monitor their child's social media activity by entering their email address. You can check for questionable activity and see videos and photos that your children share publicly to the world. The service also provides a system that monitors cell phone calls and text messages, but that may prove to be too intrusive for some parents.

It's always best to discuss the potential threats with your children and building mutual trust is always essential in any good relationship. If you still don't trust your kids or want to keep a more vigilant watch over them, there are always sleuthing sites like safetyweb.com.