Facebook Guidelines for Parents

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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1. General Rule

   • 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.
     

   Safety

   • 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.
     

   Privacy

   • 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.
     

   Other Considerations

   • 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.