When my daughters were younger teens, my husband and I had to play “technology catch-up” when we discovered our daughters were instant messaging, sometimes at the expense of homework and into the wee hours of the morning. And sometimes it was with boys. These days, they are more likely to use Facebook to connect with their peers, but back then it was MySpace. We insisted that we have the right to see what they were posting on MySpace, since we’d heard scary stories of predatory adults using the site…plus we cared about how our children were portraying themselves. Were we right to be concerned? Research seems to indicate that teens do, indeed, reveal a lot about themselves online that parents may not know. A recent study showed that “For parents wondering when they should talk to their children about sex, the writing may be on the wall — or on their child’s Facebook page. New research suggests that display of sexual references on teens’ Facebook profiles is associated with their intention to initiate intercourse.” Now my daughters are on Facebook…and so am I. In fact, the fastest growing group of Facebook users are those in our age bracket. I did “friend” my daughters…and they accepted. I am pleased to report that, at least on Facebook, they seem to be behaving themselves. It might be time to make sure your kids are behaving themselves as well. And some parents put limits on what sites you allow your teens on, and what memberships they are allowed to have. Whatever you decide, make sure you at least ask them to let you see, on a regular basis, what they are posting.
