External Post #2

On http://www.teach42.com/2012/04/16/are-your-children-on-facebook/ -- posted as Emily 619.

""Th real problems hit when kids feel like they have to hide their actions from their parents.  Because then when something goes wrong, they feel they have to hide that as well."

Thanks for this comment.  I think there is reason to keep young children off facebook, but some of our obsessions about bullying and safety are sometimes a screen.  As a teacher, I have had conversations with my students about what is appropriate to post online and what is inadvisable.  I have talked to them about why it is important to choose friends (yes, even the online kind) wisely and control what kinds of comments are associated with you and your name.

Excessive fear that results in autocratic "No you can't do that" pronouncements are seldom effective long-term.  I wonder how many of the parents who said their under-13-year-old doesn't have facebook have actually talked to their children about appropriate online behavior.  I also cynically wonder how many of their kids actually *do* have facebook, but Mom and Dad just don't know . . ."