Text-bullying victim's mum says spy on kids

A Rotorua mother whose daughter took her own life after being text-bullied says parents should be spying on their children to keep them safe.
Rotorua teenager Hayley-Ann Fenton took her own life in 2009 after receiving a series of threatening text messages from her ex-partner's wife.
At the inquest into her daughter's death last year, Lesley Fenton told The Daily Post she hoped the coroner would recommend that all telecommunications companies be made to provide a system for blocking bullying texts.
Since then, a new cellphone product that allows parents to track their children and check their text messages has been launched by Kiwi couple Sally Rae and Steve Herstell after they became concerned about bad cyberspace behaviour.
Their website allows parents to sign up their child's cellphone number and see any calls or texts made to and from the phone.
Opponents of the website say it amounts to spying, but Mrs Fenton said parents needed to stop worrying about crossing the line when it came to their children's privacy. She said it was necessary if parents wanted to protect their children.
"Parents need to buy their kids' phones and sign them up without them knowing - otherwise they'll just go buy another phone their parents don't know about."
Hayley-Ann took her own life after her "first love" broke up with her. She received threatening text messages from the man's wife.
The man, 27-year-old Pelesasa Tiumalu, pleaded guilty to unlawful sexual connection and was jailed for four years and three months and his wife Elina Tiumalu, 21, was given a nine-month suspended sentence for intimidating the teenager.
Mrs Fenton said no child wanted to tell their parents they were being bullied or let their parents check their phones.
She said a site like MyFone could have warned her that Hayley was in trouble.
"[Kids] only get one life and when they start getting bullied it pushes them to the edge, especially if they're not going to tell anyone," she said.
"Hayley would never let us read her phone. Even if she was going to take a shower, she'd run out and grab her phone so we wouldn't read it."
Mrs Fenton said parents needed to be able to step in before it was too late.
She said reports of violence by bullies which had made the news in recent months had made her angry.
"I can't believe it's still happening."
Mrs Fenton said many parents were worried about crossing the line when it came to their child's privacy but "at the end of the day, you've got to protect your child".