Children Networking Parents Social Personal Information Parental Controls

Many young children use "social networking sites" (websites that allow people to interact with each other) to communicate with their friends and "distant" (living in another place far away) family members. However, they are not always aware of the "implications" (what can happen as a result of something) of sharing personal information on social networking sites. This makes children "vulnerable" (able to be hurt by) to "predators" (people who want to hurt children) if nobody is watching or monitoring how they use social networking sites.

Parents cannot monitor everything their children do on social networking sites, but they can use "parental controls," or software features that allow parents to set limits on how the software can be used by their children. For example, the parental controls on many social networking sites let parents "restrict" (limit) access to the information their children put online. They can change the settings so that anyone who wants to see their child's page must first be "approved" (saying that something is okay) by the parents. Parental controls can also let the parents limit what type of information the children can put online. For example, the settings could make it impossible to share email addresses, telephone numbers, physical addresses, or photographs.

Parental controls "can only go so far" (cannot do everything), so it is also important for parents to discuss their "concerns" (worries) with their children. Many parents find it useful to explain the "dangers" (bad things that could happen) of social networking sites and encourage their children to let them know if they "encounter" (find) people who make them feel uncomfortable online or have other problems.