How do you handle Internet safety issues for children wanting to create Facebook-type pages?

Facebook is one of many social networking websites on the Internet. To teenagers, it is a way of communicating with their friends and meeting new people. These sites allow teenagers to express themselves and voice their opinions and interests.

Alas, this networking medium comes with some dangers. There are predators pretending to be teenagers, who are waiting to take advantage of our children. In light of these dangers, I have some suggestions to make the use of these websites safer for your children.

I would sit down with your kid and set some hard-and-fast rules that your child must comply with to keep his account active. As a parent, I would demand to have the password and the right to access the account at any time. Whatever room the computer is in should be visible to adults when your child is on the Internet. Your child should not be allowed create a profile that provides too much personal information. He should leave out his last name, the name of his school and his e-mail address, and there should be no provocative information or photographs.

In the interest of child safety, your child should be informed not to chat with people he does not know. He should inform you if anyone begins asking inappropriate questions. Last, I suggest putting a time limit on computer usage overall, so that your teenager can vary his activities, take care of school responsibilities and get some physical exercise.