There are some parents who absolutely put their proverbial foot down when it comes to their kids using Facebook; they say “no,” and that’s the end of the conversation. Or, is it? According to some alarming statistics gathered in 2011, more than 80% of students age 10 -15 who have been forbidden to use Facebook by their parents do use the social networking site anyway. Is saying “no” always the best idea, especially when a child’s friends all have and use Facebook?
“We don’t believe it is especially helpful to ban Facebook use outright. In fact, it would be better to earn the real trust of your child, so that when Facebook does happen, that child invites you to be part of that,” said Karene Ivonavich, a child behavioralist. Facebook monitoring by parents is probably the best step to take, but a parent can’t monitor what he or she doesn’t know exists. It’s important to keep everything transparent, much like a window installation salesman would.
Here is an infographic on the Facebook monitoring habits of parents. Where do you stand?
