General - Thursday, February 5, 2009 6:16 - 0 Comments

Wow what timing!

Hours after my post on Facebook yesterday the story about the Facebook sex extortion scandal broke. I felt my jaw dropping all the way to my chest as I read this story. I can’t tell you how sad this story makes me. If you have been following this blog you can tell I am pretty enthusiastic about all these new media channels.

Now I’m sure by the time I post this, New Berlin High School will have hit national news and there will be outraged people that will start discussions about banning or restricting use of social media sites. Well I say Facebook is not the problem. Evil behavior like this exists despite Facebook not because of it. Parents need to use common sense when allowing their children on these sites. Demand that you have access to your child’s site. Manage a profile of your own and be a “friend” on your kid’s page. Insist that all of your kid’s friends are actual in-person friends.

Too many parents are concerned about giving kids their “space” and not being over protective or “helicopter parents”. I say, you can give kids their space and trust that they make good decisions but that doesn’t mean there are no rules. Just because you want to be your kid’s friend doesn’t mean you should stop being their parent. Protect your kids…set some rules.