Today, children are spending 3x the amount of time on Facebook than they were just two years ago. With so many teens signing up for Facebook every day, parents need to be aware of ways to keep their children safe. Here are some general suggestions for parents with children who are becoming ‘of age’ to start using Facebook.
1. Parents need to determine for themselves when they feel their children are mature and responsible enough to participate on Facebook.
- Just because all of your child’s friends are a using Facebook, that is not an automatic default that your child is ready.
- Just because Facebook will allow a 13-year-old permission to sign up for an account, the parent is the one who decides the appropriate age.
- To use Facebook properly, a teenager needs to be taught proper Facebook conduct. It can be risky if a parent depends on other teens to teach their child how to use Facebook. A parent needs to educate their children, SO YES, as a parent you need to understand Facebook so you can teach your children.
2. Parents need to be the person who actually sets up the account for their child.
- When this is done, parents have a tremendous advantage to make sure their child is not abusing or misusing Facebook AND that he/she stays safe.
- This gives a parent the administrative rights to monitor the account, PLUS the controls to reduce or eliminate their child’s Facebook activity.
- This way, all Facebook activity is seen by the parent (through the settings on Facebook).
- Don’t give the password to the child. This is the parent’s leverage as you monitor your child’s account.
- This also allows the parent to see Messages sent to their child (versus only wall posts).
3. Parents need set up a monitoring process of their child’s Facebook accounts.
- If you, the parent, are the one who set up the account, you are able to approve or deny friend requests.
- Teach you children not to accept friend requests of people they just met, older children or adults who are not appropriate. For example, if you child just met someone at the mall or a high school football game, they don’t necessarily need to be ‘friends’ on Facebook.
- Good rule of thumb: Don’t allow your child to be friends with someone on Facebook unless both the child and the parent know this person on a first name basis.
- Unfortunately, there are ‘unfriendly’ people who will ask young children to become their friends on Facebook. We have all heard the horror stories. If a parent owns the account information, this inappropriate activity can be caught, and there is an opportunity for the parent to educate their children on why this is inappropriate.
4. Facebook is a privilege, not a right. Parents need to give their children the privilege to use Facebook (as they would a car or watching TV).
- If a child abuses their Facebook account (for any reason), a parent can simply change the password (if they set up the account).
- If a child violates a household rule, the Facebook account is a privilege that can be revoked for a time period. Trust me, if you take away a teenager’s Facebook account, there is hardly any worse punishment!
5. Parents need to understand that there are unfriendly people on Facebook (just like at the mall).
- If a parent has children who are approaching their teenage years and have not yet set up and/or use Facebook, please do so. You as a parent have to have a better understanding than your teen on how the account works, what dangers exist, and how to use the account.
- Ignoring your child’s activity on Facebook is like dropping your teen off to spend the night at a college fraternity/sorority house. While the majority of the activity may seem harmless, dangers do exist.
These are just a few suggested guidelines for parents to consider. If you have experienced some other creative ways to keep your family safe, please share below by commenting on this post. Our thanks to Kevin and Taylor in the Morning from 104.7 The Fish for sharing these tips with their listeners.
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