Parent’s Guide to Social Networking Sites

Twenty years ago, the only technology parents had to keep an eye on was the telephone. It was simple enough to check the phone bill each month for 3 am phone calls or, better yet, remove/lock up the phone to keep teenagers from talking. Now it requires a multi-media hard core press to keep track of cellphones, text messages, sextexts, Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently updated its guide to parents for keeping their kids safe online.

A sample of tips to safely socializing your children on the Internet include:

• Help your kids understand what information should be private. Tell them why it’s important to keep some things — about themselves, family members and friends — to themselves. Information like their full name, Social Security number, street address, phone number, and family financial information — like bank or credit card account numbers — is private and should stay that way. Tell them not to choose a screen name that gives away too much personal information.
• Use privacy settings to restrict who can access and post on your child’s website. Some social networking sites have strong privacy settings. Show your child how to use these settings to limit who can view their online profile, and explain to them why this is important.

With an emphasis on pre-teens, the FTC recommends:

• Go where your kids go online. Sign up for — and use — the social networking spaces that your kids visit. Let them know that you’re there, and help teach them how to act as they socialize online.
• Review your child’s friends list. You may want to limit your child’s online “friends” to people your child actually knows and is friendly with in real life.
• Understand sites’ privacy policies. Sites should spell out your rights as a parent to review and delete your child’s profile if your child is younger than 13.

For more tips and information, and resources if you encounter a problem, access the FTC’s guide here.

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