Have you given any thought to how to protect your child as they navigate the wilds of social networking?

This is something I have talked about numerous times on my personal blog, SeanPAune.com, and something I can’t help but wonder how many peopel actually think about it.  It came to my attention again today when Linda Furrier wrote an article on Furrier.org about how she had recently attended a panel at her child’s school about safety on Facebook that was even attended by an employee of that popular social network.  I will quote the most imporant section:

The event l was billed as an event to increase your knowledge of your kids’ cyber culture on Facebook. The Facebook employee panelist was informative enough, but I couldn’t help feel that he really didn’t “get it”. His youth was indicative of the Facebook employee culture, but I am guessing he has never worried about a child getting home safely or being stalked on the Internet.

Questions were answered relating to privacy settings & Facebook procedures for blocking inappropriate posts and or members. The slide show was informative, but didn’t really reach the heart of the matter. The high school principal spoke with us about how the administration disciplines kids who post inappropriately in the high school network. The two high school age panelists spoke to their methods of protecting and sharing their information on Facebook. Yes, interesting, but I still left the event feeling hungry for more parenting tools.

I was left wondering, who is monitoring cyberspace outside of school hours? Whose responsibility is it? Should Facebook default to the most restrictive privacy settings for minors? Wouldn’t restrictions to spreading networks be highly counter to their business goals. Is Facebook’s sharing and connecting utility and business growth plan in conflict with the best interest of the kids?

This is a common issue that I hear time and time again about parents wondering why more wasn’t done to protect their children while they are online.  I always pose the exact same reply, “Why didn’t YOU do more to protect your children?

I applaud this school for trying to educate parents, and I also applaud Mrs. Furrier for trying to get more educated on the subject, but I always wonder why people bring up the idea it is the social network’s responsibility to protect their children.  Why should the school even be involved in anything a child does off of school grounds?  The whole point is that you are ultimately responsible for what happens inside of your own home, and this includes how your children interact with the Internet.

There are some very simple steps you can follow to watch over your child is they wander through cyberspace:

• The cheapest, and easiest, solution is no computer in their room.  If they have a computer in their room, simply don’t allow it to connect to the Internet.  Computers should be kept in a common room until you feel that your child has proven to be responsible enough to surf the Internet on their own.
• Install parental control software that limits when they may access the computer, the Internet or even just specific sites.
• Most routers have the ability to block access to certain sites based on address.

Essentially it all comes down to educating yourself and setting rules for Internet usage just like you do anything else in your house.  Your child’s safety is ultimately your responsibility, and not that of schools, the social networks or anyone else.  Always make sure that you are fully aware of what your child is doing online, no matter how much they may complain about it.