Parents' Guideline to Social Networking

It's hard enough being a parent dealing with the day to day issues of life such as, work, taking care of the home, seeing that your children are clothed, are doing well in school, keeping them off of drugs, teaching them virtues, helping them prepare for the world for when they are on their own and a multitude of other things that keep most parents up at night. And then, here comes the social networking world.

Not only do parents these day have to deal with that old question..."Do you know where your kids are tonight?" Now they need to deal with the new and improved question..."Do you know who your kids are chatting with?".

Social networking has almost become larger than life, even taking on its own life, becoming one of the main ways for teens and adults to stay in touch with other friends and family and it enables them to meet new "friends". There are some sites out there that even target children as young as five or six, albeit, these sites don't let the same kind of communications go on as the ones for teens and adults, but parents should still take an active part in their child's participation on one of these sites and teach them how to socialize online, just the same way they try to teach them about safety outside against strangers and other dangerous situations.

When it comes to kids under the age of 13, the law does provide some regulations on what kind of information can be provided by those under the age of 13, for general knowledge sites, the law under COPPA (Children's Online Privacy Protection Act) requires that before these sites can collect, maintain, or use a child's information, that they get the parent's permission to do so first. This act also allows the parents to view their profiles and blogs.

Some parents may sometimes feel as if they are miles behind their children and the technology they are growing up with, but that should not have any affect on how a parent teaches them safety regarding online use.

It's important that parents teach their children guidelines on online safety. A parent should not need technical knowledge to teach their children guidelines like the ones listed here.

Help children understand what personal information should be kept private - Tell them to not choose a screen name that gives out too much information and remind them that they should never give out their full name, phone number, address or social security number, except to real family members. Stress the importance of these items being private.

Use the privacy settings on your child's site to who can post there - Some of these networking sites have strong security settings, as a parent you should teach your child how to use these settings and the importance of doing so.

Explain to your child about only posting things that you and they would feel alright with others reading -Even with privacy settings set, there are some social networks that still allow others to see part of a person's profile, so make sure they and you are comfortable with what is written there. Remind your child of proper language that should be used on their blog and to always think before posting a particular photo, video or even music. Remind them that anyone can view their page including parents, teachers, friends, college admissions, and of course strangers. Anything that may be offensive or negative could actually reflect back negatively on the child by a visitor to their page.

Remind your children that once they post something, they can't take it back - Even if they deleted what they posted, they need to realize that an older version may still be out there circulating.

You should know how your kids are actually getting online - One of the main ways that kids are accessing the Internet these days is via cell phones. Make sure to find out from the provider what types of restrictions that you can have put on your child's phone to limit what they do on the Internet.

Make sure to talk to your kids about bullying online - Explain to them that there are all sorts of things online that's considering bullying from post something untrue about someone to sending private messages from someone to others without their permission. Explain to your child that what they post online can have real life consequences on that person and on them. It can go as far as even getting in trouble with law enforcement.

Talk to your child about sex talk online - A recent study has proven that those who do not engage in sexual talk online are far less likely to fall victim to a predator.

Tell your kids if they feel something is suspicious to trust their "gut" - Let them know that if they feel threatened by someone because of something online, that they should tell you about it. This way, you can help them report these things to the police who then can look into it in more depth. Most sites also provide a link where you can report abuse.

Make sure to read the site's privacy policies - Make sure that you sit down and carefully go over the site's privacy policy, FAQ's and parent sections if there are any. There should be a parents section if the site you are on is specifically geared for those under the age of 13.

It's wise to take extra steps to protect your child - Make sure the computer they use is in an open area so that you can easily keep an eye on what they are doing online, particularly for pre-teens. Use the Internet along with them and teach them safe surfing habits. Consider taking advantage of the parental controls options that comes with your computer.

Go and do what your kids do online - Sign up for the same sites they have signed up for and use the social networking sites that your child visits and uses. Always, though, make sure that you let them know that you are there.

Look over your child's "friends list" - When you do this, you might want to suggest to your child that they should only include those whom they know in "real" life on this list.

Remember, you don't want to be a tyrant about this, you do want your child to be able to enjoy their time online, but at the same time you still need to be able to feel as if they are safe and protected.