"Posting comments, either to a picture, page or wall remains popular with teens who use social networks. Fully 86% of teen social network users post comments to a friend's page or wall, and 83% have added comments to a friend's picture. Sending instant messages or text messages to friends through a social network site has remained stable, with 58% of social networking teens saying they sent texts or IMs."
Knowing this, parents of teens should have a strategy to keep their teens safe while they are using their social network. This strategy will need to allow your teen the freedom they require to explore their world and nurture independence while blocking out the unsavory elements that social networking can have. No small task! Here are some tips you can use to accomplish creating a strategy:
Know which social networks you teen uses. There are the more popular ones, like FaceBook and MySpace, but there are always new ones popping up and your teen may be into a social network that surrounds a niche activity like online gaming. You should know, and perhaps keep a list, of the ones your teen is active on.
Connect with your teen through their social network. Think of it this way, if you were sending your teen miles away to a community activity every day, you would at least know where it is and how to get there, right? You need the same information when your teen is social networking online. Sign up for a profile and connect with your teen, so you know how. Then, give your teen the space they need to be a teenager.(In other words: Don't stalk them!)
Keep a copy of what your teen's passwords are, but never use them unless it is an emergency. If your teen goes missing, comes home stoned or something else as terrible, you have this information to use or share with the police. Otherwise, respect your teen's privacy.
Check up on your teen, with them present while you are doing so. Now, if you want to be proactive in keeping your teen out of trouble, the time to check up on them is when they are present. Be ready to listen and talk when you do take this step.
Set a time limit. Time flies when you are having fun online. Your teen may not realize it is time to get to their homework or before it is past bedtime if you do not set a limit. Be lenient in how much time you give them but don't deviate once the time limit has been set to keep consistency.
Insist that your teen know all of their contacts or 'friends' in real life - not just online friends. If your teen has met everyone on their list face to face, then you know it isn't some weird person pretending to be someone else trying to get to know your teen.
With these tips you can put together a winning strategy that will make both you and your teen happy. Read some more tips from parents in our community or share yours here: Best Tips for Parenting Teens in the Digital Age
