I don't see any great wrong with it, but I don't know if it's necessary either. Here's the rub, even a parent who's friends with their kid can really only see what the kid wants them to. Wall posts, which can be easily deleted, and what the child chooses to publish. They can't read private messages or monitor private chats. Parents can friend their kids, but there's no need to.

hey is everyone your friend on facebook

hey is everyone your friend on facebook

i would never friend my parents on facebook i want my privacy

All 4 of my parents (bioligical parents and step parents) are required to be friends of me on Facebook. I don't have a choice! Whenever I or my friends post something on my wall, they always comment on it, saying 'what's up?' or 'what's going on?'. It's none of their business what we talk about, it's like a 3 way conversation on the phone, your parents being on one of the lines. It's invasive, and unless you and your kids have major trust issues (apparently like my parents do), then let them have fun and chat with their friends. Of course, you could ask to see something if you suspect they're doing something, but don't go through all of their posts for your own sick amusement.

It's really all up to you. If you trust your kid enough that they aren't doing bad things they don't be their friend. If you think they are up to no good go ahead be their friend. Don't write embarrassing stuff all over their wall though...

parents, can u ever understand that we need privacy? do u expect me to show u everything thts going on in our lives? gimme us a break and think about wat us kids would feel

Thank you - finally a parent who has an intelligent and sensible brain. I believe the internet has caused way too much invasion of privacy, a moral decay in our parents and students - it's time we learnt a lesson and realized that our children are becoming sedantary, mean spirited gossipy people. Where is the love anymore for our fellow human beings who are hurting? You are to be admired. Have a wonderful rest of the week.

Both my teens are my and my husband's Facebook friends. It was never an issue. My husband and I were on FB awhile before they were interested. I don't think they ever thought to question our friend request.

We have many mutual friends from our church and their youth group has an active FB page to inform students of activities and events (they also have other ways of communicating in case a student does not have/want FB).

There is big trouble to be found on-line for sure, but be careful not to isolate kids. Texting and Facebook are primary ways kids today communicate.

You can, as a parent, take control over both. You can make necessary adjustments, but still allow your children to text and use the net.

Please visit www.mynetshepherd.com for details.

me and my mom aren't friends but, she dos have my password, i liked this at first bc i didn't want all my friends to see i had to but now... i think i will , i like having my private messages private, not bc i say anything wrong but its nice to have somthing thats mine. And ya i get it, nothings really private, my parents are both comp people so they could figure a way on it anyway(so could anyone else with a lil know how). But as long as she doesn't like right stuff on my wall i'll be good. I realsized a TON of kids have parents added, a lot of them added them by choice too

I SAY NO TO FACEBOOK...IF YOU HAVE FRIENDS VISIT THEM IN PERSON. MOST OF THESE PEOPLE ARE LOOKING TO INVADE YOUR PRIVACY. GOSSIP IS A MAJOR TOPIC AND THE LANGUAGE IS NOT ALWAYS NICE. I RECENTLY SAW A TREND WHERE TEENAGERS WERE BUYING THEIR FRIENDS "A ROUND OF BEER" WITH ONE OF THE APPLICATIONS ON FACEBOOK. THIS ENTICEMENT WILL LEAD TO UNHEALTHY LIFESTYLE CHOICES. I CANCELED MY FACEBOOK MEMBERSHIP WHEN I BECAME AWARE OF INAPPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR AND ACTING OUT OF TEENAGE MEMBERS. ESPECIALLY THOSE BUYING ONLINE BEERS THAT I KNEW TO BE UNDER 18. I DIDN'T LIKE IT AT ALL.

ALSO NOTICED THAT PRIVACY SETTINGS WERE NOT ALWAYS UNDERSTOOD. I NOTICED PARTY INVITATIONS SENT OUT WITH PICTURES OF YOUTH HOLDING BEER CANS.

ANY PAGE OF YOUR FACEBOOK PROFILE CAN BE SCREEN CAPTURED AND RELAYED TO NON-MEMBERS.

SO... BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU ASK FOR...YOU MIGHT GET IT.

It should be up to the kid. Parents don't need to spy on us constantly and make us feel like we are under their communist/dictatorship regime. I took matters into my own hands when I was younger, and left my parents out of it. Nothing major happened, I'm not dumb enough to share private information, and I could privately talk with my friends instead of having my mother constantly asking me annoying questions and saying "oh you better have not been talking about sex/violence/etc". Guess what, I overhear my parents talking about the same stuff they tell me not to, so that really makes me ticked off. Hypocritical parents are the worst, and its not like they never had the same interests as teens themselves. I feel much better being independent from my parents then having them nose around my private property.

I have my mom, dad, step-mom, aunts, uncles, cousins, grandmother, future inlaws, and 3 of my 5 younger siblings on my facebook. (I'm 20) It's a really great way to stay in touch, especially with old friends from middle school.

Living away at college really makes it hard to stay in touch with my family, but through facebook I can wake up and within five minutes see my mom's pictures of my little brothers, a video my grandmother took of my cousin's birthday party, and the status of numerous people in my family! We can also play games together, instant message, and create groups and events. For my graduation yesterday, I created a facebook group and invited my family and my parents' friends. I was able to mass email everyone with information and directions, and people could write on the wall and RSVP yes, no, or maybe.

I'm very close to my mom and family, especially because she had me right after she turned 18. However, not all families are close like that. If you don't have a great relationship with your kids, adding them on facebook is probably just going to make them nervous. But do keep in mind that many if not most of their peers will already have their parents on their facebook. It's incredibly common these days.

you parents are all complete idiots. the reason we have facebook is so you dont know what we say to our friends. 99% o the time its not bad, we just dont like you knowing everything about us. never ever ever add your kid, cuz then theyre pushed into a situation where if they say yes, they immediately put privacy on and explain to you why you cant see what their friends are saying, or they ignore the request and have to deal with the guilt of rejecting a friend request from their parent. its the same with what you absurdly overprotective mothers do with net access. you shoulder surf to "make sure my child is safe and not accessing inappropriate material". if your kid has half a brain, theyll be able to do whatever they want without you knowing. you're all insanely ignorant if you think that you're protecting us, so stop, you're not getting anywhere...

Kids need to "friend" their parents. I am not allowed to have a Facebook or myspace, But I, A kid, Believe in parental overview sometimes..

I friended my MUCH younger sister, but she just made it so I couldn't see most things in her profile anyway. I think kids are pretty savvy about the privacy controls, more savvy than parents (especially since my mom just emailed me today to ask me how to change her name in her profile), so I think it's fine to friend your kids, but just know you won't be seeing everything, you'll be seeing what they want you to see.

You don't go with your kid when they go to a party, right? Facebook is basically an online party... if people know their parents are watching what they're doing, they're not going to be themselves. You can do it, but just know that it won't accomplish anything, and you child will probably lose trust in you.

I think friending a parent is great, after all, wouldn't we like to think parents and children are "friends" in offline life? But it is possible that kids may friend the parent, and then have another account that is their "real" account because they don't want their parents to be a part of their social network. Also, a Facebook account's privacy settings can be customized to exclude certain friends from seeing certain things (updates, photos tagged, etc.). Kids/teens may be experimenting and trying out different aspects of their identity on their social networking page, and may not want parents to be in on this.

I don't understand why children need a Facebook page at all. Perhaps when they enter high school their interest will be heightened but don't these kids have enough to do with school-work, sports, clubs, maintaining friendships, etc.? Adding social networking on a website like Facebook just doesn't make any sense. If they have enough time in their day to email, IM, use Facebook, surf the internet, etc., then, in my opinion, they're on the computer too long. That being said - I believe that absolute disclosure is necessary. Parents and children should be "friends" with each other on social networking sites.

A Stanford University psychologist says "yes" to friending your children on Facebook. He has a webpage (and a class) called Facebook for Parents, which has been getting media attention in the SF Bay Area. His web page includes a list of Five Steps for Parents on Facebook: http://facebookforparents.org/

I ONLY HOPE YOU 10 YEARD OLD CAN TRUST YOU BY GIVING THIS CONTROL OVER TO YOU IN MY OPINION IT SEEMS YOU DO NOT EVEN TRUST THIS PERSON WHY THEN GET HE/SHE A COMPUTER AT ALL DOSE THE RIGHT OF PRIVACY MEAN ANYTHING TOO YOU AT ALL CAUSE OF THE ACTIONS YOUR TAKING I WOULD HAVE TO SAY NO

A magazine article I read said about the internet and social sites like facebook is that we need to remind our kids that the internet is a public place and we should act the same as we would if we were in public. Therefore it is not inappropriate at all to monitor your children's activities online. People of all ages get themself into trouble when they see themself as annonymous on the internet.

I think it depends on their ages, their behaviors and the friends you do know. If you have a pre teen beginning to act out and withdraw, I want to know what they are doing. If they are wel adjusted, etc, they can have some privacy.

absolutely! my 10 year old isn't on facebook yet, but when I let her get an account, she will have to agree to friend me.

By requesting to be your kid's friend, you give them the choice of accepting or ignoring the request. Don't force them one way or another, because that will create distance between you and your kid. Let them choose. Chances are that they will accept your request. Then you'll (probably) have access to view their page anytime.

Facebook aside, I'd say that the best way to know what your kids are up to is to have daily open face-to-face communication with them, and to tell them "I love you" every day.

My daughter and I are "friends". It's a good rule to follow so you can know what your kids are really up to.