facebook for teens

[mom4463]

My dd who is 13 wants to join facebook, but my dh and I are not sure if we want her to join facebook. I would like to hear from other parents what are your opinions and the pros and cons about letting your kids join facebook.

Thanks,
Kim

 

[binny]

my DS13 has a page but I monitor it quite a lot. I make sure that I know who he is friends with and his account is private.

If any of that changes he loses it.

 

[Tinijocaro]

What we did, when our 13 year old ds asked for one, was to get one for ourselves first, so we could see what it is all about. We used it first for a couple weeks. There are many settings, so you can only allow "friends" to view your information. We also have the password to ds' account. It has gone very well so far. DH and I are really enjoying facebook.

I really think as long as you control the settings for his account and make sure that not just any joe-schmoe can read all his info, then things will be fine.

 

[Barb D]

LOVE facebook. Everyone is on it, from my 70 mom and some of her sibs, my cousins and my sibs, my kids and nieces and nephews. It's an awesome way to keep up with people. I can also get a glimpse into the lives of my kids' friends.

Definitely let her do it, but get facebook pages for yourselves too and use them. DD15 uploaded a bunch of old pictures to facebook the other day, and DH spent all evening commenting on them.

 

[MichelleVW]

LOVE facebook. Everyone is on it, from my 70 mom and some of her sibs, my cousins and my sibs, my kids and nieces and nephews. It's an awesome way to keep up with people. I can also get a glimpse into the lives of my kids' friends.

Definitely let her do it, but get facebook pages for yourselves too and use them. DD15 uploaded a bunch of old pictures to facebook the other day, and DH spent all evening commenting on them.

Agreed.

 

[KyraS]

My 17 year old has it and actually so do I. I have quite a few old high school friends on there and a few adults that I have met online. I also know my DS's password and can look at his stuff anytime I want.

I have seen drama between the kids on there and some cursing here and there but nothing horrible.

 

[johnsontrio]

Depends on the type of kid you have.. but IMHO Facebook was a huge time waster for my DD. She had one last year, freshman year, and it was helpful for networking socially. Attending an all girls college prep school and coming from a very small grade school, it helped her put names with faces and figure out which boys were at the 2 boys schools in our area. However, I did not see any benefit in actual socialization with any kids other than the usuals. So while she might have known who people were, it didn't result in more social activities.

What I saw was a bunch of so and so sent you a bouquet, posted a poll of your favorite candy, movies, tons of forwarded email jokes, inspirational stories etc.. She spent way too much time reading all that crap, up to 1.5 hours per day. We closed her account in the Spring.

She has been doing much better academically this year and has been more socially successful. She was given the opportunity to start her Facebook back up (I guess it's always there) but chose not to. She says she feels like she's doing better without it.

My only advice would be to monitor how much time your child spends on it and make sure it does not become a substitute for real personal interaction.

 

[kaylajr]

Both my DD's have one they are 15 and 13

I made sure they were set to private

the one rule I had is I had to be one of their friends ..Makes it easy to monitor what they do...The funny thing alot of their friends have friend requested me as well

Only yesterday did We have any sort of problem one of my DD's friends who's account was NOT set to private was hacked and someone sent everyone in his Friend list some stupid stuff but we jsut deleted it....

 

[PatsMom]

DD is now 17 and has had a Facebook for a year or so. I have one too. We have several friends in common. She doesn't spend a ton of time on the site but does use it. It is a nice way to keep in touch with people you don't see very often.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

My 17yodd says "facebook" is OK.

She says kids at school call it the "Mormon My Space". Meaning, that is is restrictive.

 

[freckles and boo]

My husband and I have had a lot of fun catching up with old friends on Facebook but I can imagine how kids could find problems both there and on MySpace. We have already been sent viruses in PM attachments and we receive friend requests from total strangers. It is also a bit addictive when you first get started.

 

[FinallyBoughtDVC]

What we did, when our 13 year old ds asked for one, was to get one for ourselves first, so we could see what it is all about. We used it first for a couple weeks. There are many settings, so you can only allow "friends" to view your information. We also have the password to ds' account. It has gone very well so far. DH and I are really enjoying facebook.

I really think as long as you control the settings for his account and make sure that not just any joe-schmoe can read all his info, then things will be fine.

Yup to all this.

My whole family is on facebook - including grandmas, great aunts and uncles, cousins, etc.

It's such a great way for all of us to stay in touch. It's great for our 10 and 15 year old to keep in touch with their friends from camp who live around the world.

Make the rules and make them stick by them. What's great is we monitor our kids' friends too - half their parents are clueless. The teens all know we're on there and often joke around with us.