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Parents should definitely have their children's Myspace and Facebook passwords.
Not only for safe Internet practices, but it also allows a parent to view how their child is portrayed amongst their peer group, and how they treat others within their peer group.

I have a fifteen year old step son who lives half the time with his mother, and the other half is spent with his father and myself. The rules between the two homes differ greatly. In our house the computer is in full view of everybody whereas in another part of the house at his mothers home. I am very computer savvy, where his mother has no idea how to send and receive an email.

My partner and I created our own Myspace pages in order for his son to invite us in. On first glance we noticed that he had lied about his age, did not understand the question in regards to sexual orientation, and his profile was not set to private. Besides that i got to see the way in which these kids talked to one another, unbelievable!

So after getting him to fix up all these profile settings on his profile, the boy still refused to invite us in. He came up with a lame excuse, playing on his fathers ego, that his friends think his dad is so cool, that they'd all invite him in as a friend.
Do you think I came down in the last shower? Obviously his father had!

So guess what I did? I downloaded a program that advises all keystrokes and passwords entered on your personal computer. Yep, naughty aren't I? The boy was given plenty of opportunity to invite us in, even refusing to log into his page in our presence.
I got his password!

Since then I can keep up with all the goings on of his peer group, see who attended school and wags. I keep an eye on his language, especially the way in which teenagers converse and speak to one another. It has been quite an enlightening experience into the teen psyche.

I can also keep an eye on any behavior changes, drug abuse within his group, and the never ending drama of teen relationships. If anything I find seems disturbing or out of character, I will advise his father immediately. Thankfully I have not found anything like this as yet. It has also allowed me to get to know him better, his interests and mannerisms, because as you know teenagers can be withdrawn and secretive.

The fact is, they are still kids who need to be guided and advised, they need protection, boundaries and structure. So in answer to the question, yes, parents should have their children's Myspace and Facebook passwords.

Learn more about this author, R.L Hanlon.
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