by Tessie H

Created on: August 18, 2011   Last Updated: August 25, 2011

Social networking.  Its popularity has taken the nation by storm.  Witness the vast popularity of social networking sites, such as Facebook, MySpace, Twitter, and LinkedIn, sites in which people seek out various relationships with others from all over the country and all over the world. 

Of no exception to the people who are on these sites are children, many teens and pre-teens.  Many parents are rightly concerned about the ability of anyone in the world being able to reach their children in ways far different from the stranger dangers of yesteryear. 

Although parents do not want their children to be left behind in the social arena, they also fear that these sites are filled with pedophiles and dangerous criminals, eager to prey upon their children in vile and disgusting ways.  This article provides some suggestions on how parents can keep their children safe on social networking sites. 

Once upon a time, parents took measures to make sure that their children knew about "stranger danger."  Children were told not to talk to strangers when out by themselves.  Parents admonished their children not to take candy from strangers, not to go with a stranger, not to tell a stranger where they live or if they were alone.  The parameters of these warnings were for the child's own environment or wherever the child was physically. 

The advent of the Internet and the social networking sites that followed changed these parameters dramatically.  Suddenly, children were able to communicate with faceless text, the implication being that lying was easier.  A forty year old man could hardly pose as a twelve year old girl on the playground, but on the Internet, he could be a twelve year old from Baltimore, MD, who likes kittens and Twilight.

Thus, comes the first bit of advice for parents who wish to keep their children safe:  know the child's friends and know if the child knows those friends.  In many cases, if a parent asks his/her child, "How do you know Susie Jones?" the answer will that the child indeed knows Susie Jones.  However, parents should be aware that often, children "friend" someone they do not know because someone else is a mutual friend. 

Facebook, for instance, makes suggestions for friends based on numbers of mutual friends that person has with the account holder.  So, Billy might not know Susie Jones, but Susie Jones is friends with six of his Facebook friends, so he figures

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>