Little Rock, Ark. -- Denise New says she was just keeping tabs on her 16-year-old son, Lane, when she read his Facebook page. Lane took offense, however, and has charged his mom with harassment. The case goes to court next month.

New denies her son’s allegations that she hacked into his account. Instead, she says she read some of Lane’s posts one day when he forgot to log off. In one, he wrote about driving 95 mph one night when he was upset about a girl.

“The things he was posting in Facebook would make any decent parent’s eyes pop out and his jaw drop,” New said. “[Lane] had been warned before about things he had been posting.”

New also posted her own items on Lane’s Facebook account and changed his password so he no longer had access. Lane, who lives with his grandmother, claims his mother is damaging his reputation. He filed a handwritten complaint with prosecutors, who sided with him.

Arkansas law defines harassment as engaging in conduct or repeatedly committing acts that alarm or seriously annoy another person.

“If I’m found guilty on this, it is going to be open season on parents,” said New, who plans to fight the charges.

Sources: Assocated Press, CBS News

Discussion Questions:

• How do you feel about this dispute? Should it be handled within the family, rather than in court? Explain.

• What implications could this case have on social media? on parent-child relationships?

• Was New just being a responsible mom looking out for her son, or was she a snooping busybody? Explain. How else might she have been able to find out what Lane had been up to?

• Is parental snooping ever justified, even if they have good intentions of protecting their children? Why or why not?

• How involved should parents be in their teenagers’ lives? At what age should young people be responsible for their own words and actions? Explain.

Scripture links: Deuteronomy 4:9; Proverbs 3:11-12; Proverbs 10:9; Luke 2:41-50; Colossians 3:20-21; and Hebrews 12:7-13.

Stephanie Martin is a freelance writer and editor in Colorado.