Facebook's policy states users must be 13 years old to create a profile,
but Facebook does not verify a user's age when signing up. As a parent,
it is important to be aware of what Facebook is and to monitor your
child's profile and online time to help keep him safe.
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Setting general guidelines and rules with your child for
Internet and Facebook usage will help keep her safe and aware of
boundaries. Keep the computer in a public area of your home, such as the
living room. If your child has a computer in her room, consider
installing software to block certain websites or do not allow the
computer to access the Internet. Discuss acceptable uses of Facebook
with your child. Explain that posting inappropriate pictures or messages
won't be tolerated. Creating your own Facebook profile and insisting
that your child add you as a friend if she wants to use Facebook is a
good way to keep an eye on what she's doing without having to look over
her shoulder every minute she's online.
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Keeping your child safe is likely one of your largest
concerns when it comes to Facebook. Explain to your child that he should
never post his personal information such as phone numbers, school names
and addresses on his profile or in a wall post or reply. Discuss who is
acceptable to add as a friend and who is not. Make it clear that you
don't want your child to add strangers and encourage him to deny any
friend requests from people he doesn't know. If you're particularly
concerned about safety, tell your child to input only his last initial
instead of his full last name and tell him to use an email address that
does not contain his full name for his Facebook log-in name.
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Go through your child's profile with her and help her set up
privacy settings so that people cannot view her posts and pictures
unless they are friends. Go to "Privacy Settings" from the "Account"
drop-down menu at the top right of the Facebook screen. Choose "Friends
Only" to ensure that random people browsing Facebook cannot see your
child's information. Clicking on "Edit Settings" next to "Public Search"
in the "Applications, Games and Websites" portion of "Privacy Settings"
will allow to disable the public search feature. This means people
won't be able to search for your child's profile by her name or other
information, which gives her more control over who sees her page and who
she adds as a friend.
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The computer isn't the only way your child can access
Facebook. If your child has a cellphone or other Web-enabled device, he
can likely access Facebook even when he's away from his computer. If you
don't want your child to have Web access away from home, call your
cellphone provider and ask a representative how to block Web access on
your child's phone. Consider putting parental controls on other
Web-related devices, such as handheld gaming systems and MP3 players
with Wi-Fi.
