Controversial Parenting Topics: Should I Cancel My Kids Facebook Account?
“Should I cancel my kids Facebook account”
Really!!?! Is that a valid question? To be honest, this questions sounds a little 1982ish!!
Statistics tell us that 11.5 million kids between the ages of 13-17 have Facebook accounts, so the reality of the world that we live in is that most parent’s kiddos DO have a Facebook account.
Just in case you don’t know, Facebook is here to stay and the truth of the matter is that more and more kids join each and every day. My kiddos do have their own account but to be honest…the more “news feeds” I see, I question if Facebook is a good place for my kids to hang out.
There is one post that is circulating, it is called “My First Baby Birth – Video”. The pic is a lady with her legs spread, vijay-jay and all. It is disgusting! The post is a scam, but the pic is out there for all our kids to see.
There was another disgusting post where a 20 your old man posted nude pics of his x-girlfriend on Facebook, he is now serving time in jail for spreading under age pornographic pics.
Facebook has also become a “hub” for bullying. I just read an article about an 18 year old girl that threatened to kill one of her Facebook friends, the good thing is that this young lady is now wearing orange issued uniforms and eating 3 squares a day.
I am not trying to be unrealistic in suggesting we should re-think our kids having Facebook accounts, but it does seem to me that parent’s are unaware of much of the dangers Facebook can present.
If you do plan to allow your kids to have a Facebook account, here are several tips every parents should consider…
- Monitor your kids Facebook activity on a regular basis.
- All parents must have access to their kids Facebook passwords.
- Keep your kids accountable. Let them know you plan to check in, monitor and make sure they are using Facebook responsibly.
- Parents should install MyPageKeeper. MyPageKeeper has promised and guaranteed to protect users from such scams on Facebook. MyPageKeeper will constantly monitor your news feed, wall posts, and installed apps in order to keep your Facebook account away from scams.
- Check out the new ANTI-BULLYING tools that Facebook developers have created.
- Parents should consider SOCIAL SHIELD. This is a new monitoring software that will keep your kids safe on social networking sites.
My encouragement to all parents is that it is time to pull your head out of the sand and get involved in your kids Facebook lives!!!
What tips do you have for parents when it comes to kids Facebook use?
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A friend of mine suggested that the parents require that their childrens friends must be friends with parent on Facebook. I like the idea, I’m just not sure how realistic it is. I would love your input on it.
Great question Sabrina…I am friends with several kiddos on Facebook due to the nature of what I do for a living. I have seen some of these kiddos’ posts and pics and I am absolutely blown away at the comfort level of what these kids post, stuff that is totally unacceptable! All that to say, i believe it is a non negotiable that parents are friends w/ their kids. If the child doesn’t want to, they probably shouldn’t have an account anyhow. the tough part is that this requires a strong relationship w/ the child a relationship of mutual trust and respect. If that foundation is not built, there are probably bigger problems than a facebook account.
Our kids don’t have FB, the oldest is 13. She also does not have her own e-mail account or a cell phone. We figure she can have FB when she is 15 or 16 – around the same time she can have her own e-mail. The cell phone will happen when she is driving, unless we see a true need prior to that.
Yep, we’re mean!
I love so much about your parenting style Tonya, I love how hard you guys work to protect your kids’ hearts.
Problem is, even if you do monitor & are even friends with your kids fb, they can have multiple accounts. All they need is a different email address. I am friends with my daughters account & I check frequently for any possible aliases she might use to have another account, but kids are very very smart when it comes to finding a way around a system. It wasn’t so long ago that we were doing the same thing in just a different form! Some things we have done is limit WHEN they can be on the computer period. Along with that is that the cell phone gets put away in the parents room at bedtime.
thanks for checking in Jay…you mentioned some tough scenarios. I think as I mentioned above, if kids are being sneaky as you mentioned the problem isn’t FB, the problem could be the parents relationship w/ their kids!
It all boils down getting involved in your children’s lives. Be a Parent, and ‘PARENT’. I’m not talking about ‘rules’ I’m talking about having a relationship with your children.
BAM!! you nailed it Rocco, as usual! See my comments above!
It may also be a good idea to know what they’re doing with Computers at school. We were given email addresses in elementary school (prob around 5th or 6th grade if I remember correctly) as a part of our Computer class and internet studies.
If your younger teen ‘requires’ an email account, set it up FOR them, have it send the email to your home/family computer ‘desktop’, and don’t provide them with the password. This allows for some freedom (or benefits of having an email), easy monitoring and can prevent them changing the password.
I agree with everyone else, it has a lot to do with your relationship with your child and how open or closed off the communication is.
There is sooo much that can be said in regards to our kids, disclosure and internet safety.
great angle Crystal. computers at school as well as friends computers can also pose challenges…your right though, relationship is the key!!