Facebook is Your Child’s Online Playground…Are You Watching?
Sex, Drugs… Now Facebook?
Yes, it’s true. Now there is ONE MORE thing we, as parents, have to have “the talk” about. Technology has brought many wonderful things into our lives. We have monitors that let us watch our babies while they sleep. We can TIVO our kids favorite shows while they are studying. We are only a phone or a text message away at any time. However, with all the great things technology has offered us, it has also introduced some potential downsides as well.
A new Kinsey Report shows that the average America youngster spends every waking minute online, other than the time they are in school. How can a parent monitor a worldwide playground? One way is to be on that same playground! My kids are always begging to go online, and while I tend to be more strict than the typical parent about what kind of media my kids are exposed to, the fact is, thay are not always home and under my supervision. Scary thought.
With more than 400 million users, Facebook is social force unlike anything parents have faced before. It’s just as important as parents to understand what goes on in this playground as it is to watch out for our kids in the neighborhood park. The Facebook Playground puts children on a very public worldwide stage and understanding the pleasures and risks will help you monitor as well as participate in this area of your children’s lives.
I’m proud to be among a few Influential Moms to have been selected by Supreme Social Media for the Pre-Launch of their newest product Facebook® Guide for Parents.
My oldest daughter, KitKat, is 13 and heading to high school next year. It blows me away how fast she is growing. She is probably one of the only 8th graders without a cell phone or a Facebook account. And I am a social media junky. You’d think that my kids would be, too. Poor girl sometimes feels like she’s living in the stone ages. I am simply trying to shelter her as long as I can.
I just haven’t felt ready to jump in to this stage. But I am beginning to see that if I go into this prepared with tools like this, I don’t have to be terrified.
Facebook® Guide for Parents, written by Supreme Social Media, is a step by step 100+ page guidebook and 12 short videos focusing on using Facebook as another window into your children’s life, friends, attitudes and online actions. Parents will be able to use the guidebook or follow the short and easy videos to learn quickly the how-to’s of setting up their profile, securing it with privacy settings, tips on how to handle cyber-bullies along with strategies for being on Facebook without being in their kids’ faces about it. Teach your kids to be savvy and safe Facebook users!
In this Guidebook and Videos, Parents will be surprised to learn:
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Easily overlooked privacy setting traps
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Tips on what to do to about cyber-bullying
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Dos and don’ts of interacting with your child on Facebook
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Find out how strangers see your child’s page
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Learn how joining groups and fanning pages can affect your child’s privacy
Amusingly, one of my favorite parts of the book was the dedication, which was directed to parents who remember a time when “TV had only 3 channels and a dial that you had to get up and change; we used typewriters for school papers and whiteout if we made mistakes; we used the phone book to find telephone numbers…” and many more hilarious memories. Times were simpler then.
The official launch date for the Facebook® Guide for Parents is April 16th, but between now and then, you can purchase the digital book at the special discounted pre-launch price of just $19.99. (You can also order the bound book and dvds). Get your copy of Facebook® Guide for Parents now at a pre-launch price and share this information with your friends, family and colleagues. They will thank you for it.
Let’s keep our children safe online!
Disclaimer: I received a digital copy of Facebook® Guide for Parents to facilitate my review. I also signed up to be an affiliate for this book.
© 2010, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
Our policy is no Facebook unless you pay the bills:-)
I had this subject posted in my blog frog community last week. We have deleted my daughters FB account at least 3 times in the past because she used is as a tool to bash us {the parents}. Not to mention some in appropriate things she was posting. {pics of herself}
It might be nice to see what others have to say about this.
.-= Tina´s last blog ..the macro experiment continues =-.
My kid is only 13 months and I am already sweating about this. I am too a social media junky and the more I learn for more I want to shelter her from it.
.-= mrs.notouching´s last blog ..How to Raise a PhD =-.
My 13 year old got a cell phone (for emergencies – ha,ha!) when he was 10. We let him set up a Facebook account late last year. I made sure to become his friend (even if I don’t talk to him :))plus know his password. It’s a fine line to try and balance on! I’m definitely gonna check this out!
Hi Lolli – from all I have read about this book, it seems to treat Facebook as a risk that needs to be eliminated, or at least contained. It is a tool, and like any tool, it can help or harm.
I like to use the analogy of handing over the car keys to your kids. Although the road is hazardous, the overwhelming majority of other drivers aren’t out there to deliberately hurt someone.
I write about the online adventures that my kids and I go through at Facebook Dad – https://www.facebookdad.com .
I have someone I have to pass this guide on to right NOW!
Thanks so much for sharing this.
.-= Gilliauna´s last blog ..$20.00 Store Credit Giveaway =-.
She’ll probably end up getting one soon. Maybe this summer, as she gets ready for high school. My kids really don’t get that much computer time, anyway… It is nice for things like invites and updates from her friends/the youth program.
It’s so true! Once i let my daughter set up an account, I am going to monitor it pretty closely. Luckily, she’s a pretty smart girl. I think I can trust her judgment on most things. :)
My 13 year old JUST got an account on Facebook but I set it up for her, and I monitor it and have EVERYTHING set to private and also own the password on it. She just wanted it mainly to play the games. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
.-= Amy´s last blog ..2010 Ultimate Blog Party! =-.
Looks excellent!
.-= Caroline´s last blog ..SOOC Saturday ~ "Busyness!" … =-.
This stuff makes me so nervous as a parent. With my oldest being 7 I don’t even dare speculate as to what other things will come out before he is old enough to want a facebook page etc etc. So are you going to let your daughter get a facebook page?