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Sit Down and Talk with your Kids

April 2, 2010

I've had a positive and heartening response to my recent post about my experience creating a bogus Facebook account to illustrate the ease with which someone can gain access to kids' accounts.

 

Parents have contacted me to let me know that the story helped them better understand the threats to themselves and their children.  One even said he sat down with his son and together they went though and un-friended individuals with whom he had no real connection.

 

That's good parenting.  Yes, we know that some kids are creating multiple Facebook accounts in order to throw parents off their trail.  An account with their real name and info that they gladly to which they will gladly cede parental access, but which serves as a red herring.  The real action may be on another account, but even if this is the case, discussing the genuine threats that exist online may have a postive effect on the decisions a child makes.

 

Even beyond the obvious issues of who is really behind the profile of the person who just sent a friend request, some fan pages provide an open forum for unsavory conversation or even a platform for the distribution of malware.

 

This is not a criticism of Facebook.  I've said it before and I say it often -- I'm a big fan of Facebook.  That service is a great way for people to reconnect, stay in touch, share information.  I'm on Facebook every day and have used it to re-acquaint myself with many old friends and family members separated by time and geography.  I respect Facebook's approach to privacy (in spite of the missteps) and think they get it right a lot more often than they get it wrong.  But as with any application of technology, the user needs to do a better job of understanding how it works and deciding for themselves how they want to use the tools available to them.

 

If you have kids, sit down and talk with them about Facebook and any of the other things going on in their lives that may present a danger to them.  And if you are interested in having an awareness seminar at your school, feel free to get in touch with me.  I'd love to talk with you local school administrators about helping students, parents, and faculty better understand the risks and rewards of social networking.

Posted by Mike Spinney at 9:59 am

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