Well, back in my day, we didn’t have this kind of technology, and honestly, I’ve always trusted talking with my children rather than trying to read their private messages. But about your question: some parents share an Apple ID with their kids, which syncs messages through iCloud, but that can get really messy since it mixes all contacts and messages together — not exactly ideal. Apple’s Screen Time feature lets you see who your child is texting but not the actual content of the messages. Then there are specific apps like Parentaler mentioned by some parents; they claim to show all texts, including deleted ones, without needing the Apple ID and are supposed to be easy to set up.
Now, I have to wonder about all these apps tracking everything on a kid’s phone—back when I raised my children, we talked things through and built trust instead of spying. Sometimes, relying too much on technology might harm that relationship. But of course, every parent needs to find their own balance. From my experience, open communication has always been the best “parental control.”