Facebook

[Mye...@aol.com]

Hi all,

 

As the parent of a 14 year old girl, I'm curious to know if any of you have opinions on Facebook.com.  Do you let your children use it? And if so, do you have any advice or feedback?

 

I'm trying to educate myself...can't be too careful.

 

Thanks for any input.

 

--Karen

 

 

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[Sug...@aol.com]

Hi Karen,

 

I work in 10 schools as a mental health liaison. My experiences with both facebook and myspace is not good. However, with diligence, they can be OK. Many predators DO "shop" on these sights and NONE of them have proven to be foolproof. I do not allow my 3 teens to use either, much to their dismay. But hey, I would rather have them angry at me than to be victims to the possible hate messages, hate webpages, or sexual predators that LOVE these sights.

 

I am glad that you are being so careful. Too many parents don't care what their kids do online.

 

Take Care,

Sulyn Godsey-Manigly

[Keller Shinholser]

My two older children use facebook and had used myspace till it was not so 'cool' anymore.  I require that I have all their passwords and I monitor their sites to be sure that no inappropriate photos are on there, that they do not list too much information etc.  I tried the banning but it did not work that well. 

[Wood, Sam]

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[Wood, Sam]

 i use facebook quite a bit and have used myspace in the past.

neither is inherently dangerous.

if you're worried about your kids, create a facebook account for yourself. its free and easy. that way you can look over your kid's shoulder. (she'll be none the wiser unless you make her your friend). while you're at it, make me your friend!

an important note: nobody needs to know your or her birthdate or any other information that could be used for fraudulent purposes, like, say, identity theft. keep that info hidden. i'm on the fence about the bells and whistles. there's a buttload of applications that look like fun, but are most likely created by data miners to extract marketing information.

sam

 

 

 

 

 

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From: Westt...@googlegroups.com [mailto:Westt...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Mye...@aol.com
Sent: Sunday, October 07, 2007 5:40 PM
To: Westt...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Facebook

[Scholl...@synthes.com]

I did what Sam suggests, to be able to monitor my high school aged kids use of their Facebook pages.  The important thing is to monitor it with some frequency...especially as they get older (and more "independent").  In fact last night we had a little sit-down with my daughter for inappropriate content on her site.

 

There's also a Westtown Alumni Group (leb by Taylor Boyd) that I joined and l upoaded some recent photos of the campus.  We could create a Westtown79 group in Facebook and use it instead of the googlegroups as it seems more userfriendly and powerful...and keeps us up-to-date with the kids!

 

Chris

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From: Westt...@googlegroups.com [mailto:Westt...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Wood, Sam
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 11:00 AM
To: Westt...@googlegroups.com
Subject: RE: Facebook

[Keller Shinholser]

I like that idea of having a facebook for us.  Then again, my daughter thought that anybody over 30 with a facebook account was just a perv.

 

The other thing that I have done is run a credit check on each one of my kids to be sure that no one has taken out credit in their names.  Certain states also allow for you to put a freeze on their and your credit accounts.  That way, no one may get credit in their name without a password.  It also helps if someone is an impulse credit card person.  Like when you are standing at the cash register at Target and they offer you 10% off if you open an acct.- you could not do this with the block.

 

Kelly

[Wood, Sam]

a perv! oh well. i've been called worse.

facebook is open to everyone now.

i've joined a couple of journalism groups, but my favorite is "i got kicked out of westtown for being a teenager" (one i signed up for, but wish i'd started)

 

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From: Westt...@googlegroups.com [mailto:Westt...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of Keller Shinholser
Sent: Monday, October 08, 2007 11:43 AM
To: Westt...@googlegroups.com
Subject: Re: Facebook

[Mye...@aol.com]

Hi all,

 

Thanks for your help!  I'm still not sure how I feel about these social networks (Brian, the article you forwarded was quite enlightening), but I do feel more informed on the topic.  Now we can have a meaningful family dialogue...

 

And Sam, if I do end up with a Facebook account, I'll definitely make you my friend!

 

Thanks again everyone!  Take care,

 

Karen