Re: Beware the Creepers

I didn't realize I was bringing about unknown terms :)

I don't think checking out your kids facebook is an invasion of privacy. It's a social network that screams LOOK AT ME. It gives out personal information to everyone added, and if you don't put in privacy settings, to everyone else. If some kid wants to keep something private then they shouldn't be putting it on their facebook where their Mom, friend, friends-friend, friends mom and all the other random people they added can see it. It's not like the parents need to check their email, they can still have private instant messages.

You're right, parents can't totally keep their kids out of trouble, they do need to educate and guide them. Parents are responsible for educating and guiding their children, that's what they are there for. Therefore if the parent wants to help guide their children into making responsible decisions then they have to have some awareness as to what is going on in their childs life.

And by 'friends' I meant friends. If they're adding someone who's older who is their friend why are they hiding this from their parent? Unless they're doing something they aren't supposed to be. I had older 'friends' added on my facebook and I didn't hide that because there was nothing wrong with it. If I had a friend I wanted to hide from my parents, or others, I'm not going to add them on my facebook. That's just stupid. And once again you are right, there is to much hysteria over age-differences, but if you don't want your mom or dad knowing you're friends with someone older, don't put them on your facebook.

The way you make it sound is that a kid should be able to hide their facebook from their parents and not have to be subjected to having their privacy invaded. My opinion is that facebook isn't exactly a 'private' section of someones life. It's not like an email address that the parents are hacking into, it's a open social network. If the kid has something to hide they shouldn't be putting it out there on facebook where ANYONE can see it.

I absolutely agree that a lot of same-age peers are the ones doing cyber-bullying, it's not usually older people doing that. A lot of kids don't know how to handle being cyber bullied (they tend to not block the person because they want to see what's being said about them). Parents would also be able to see if their child is being cyber-bullied, or cyber-bullying someone else.