About 600 babies are born in Saudi Arabia every day, but the culture of their upbringing has not changed much.

Many Saudi fathers raise their children based on their traditions rather than contemporary life.

A good upbringing gives your child the opportunity to live in his own age, not yours. You should understand the time in which he or she lives. The differences are wide between the present generation and the one before it.

Now there are technological revolutions, new cultural developments and globalization. In the past, upbringing was based on the norms of society and the tribe.

Now the burden has doubled on the family. There are many new developments that they should take into consideration. For example, there was no privacy in the past due to the living conditions and the scant resources. It was difficult for boys and girls to hide anything from their family. The houses were small and compact. People used to sleep next to each other.

Supervising children is not a bad thing if done with self-restraint and without crossing the limits. When you monitor every move of your child you will make him or her feel little and humiliated. The girl will feel the same when you watch her closely, browse or confiscate her mobile or intrude on her privacy.

The privacy of children should be preserved. Caliph Ali bin Abi Talib (May God be pleased with him) had reportedly said: “Do not discipline your children according to your own ethics because they were created in an age which was different to yours.”

In Europe, the sense of tight supervision on children is dwindling. But a British study said more than half of parents use the social networking site Facebook only to spy on their children.

The survey revealed that 11 percent of parents established pages on Facebook especially to spy on their children. It said about 13 percent of parents entered the site using the names of their friends after their children refused to add them as friends.

Some people watch their children on social media tools including Facebook, Twitter, BlackBerry Messenger and WhatsApp.

A really good upbringing is to help sons and daughters become responsible for their own behavior, give them self-confidence and help them understand their worth and individuality. Spying is an obsolete method no longer useful either on educational or social levels.

There are about 600 babies born to us every day. Do they not deserve a good and civilized upbringing that is not based on suspicion and spying?

By TURKI AL-DAKHEEL