Check Your Teens Facebook Privacy Settings

First of all, I have to say that the teenage girls class I teach for Sunday School is awesome!  I recently discovered a little more about them as I browsed their Facebook pages last weekend.  You see, I have this policy where I will not "friend" them on Facebook until they have graduated from high school.  There are many reasons for this, but the main reason is because I work in the school system and that just seems like the ethical thing to do.  Many other counselors friend students on Facebook... but I just can't bring myself to do it... yet.

With that said, let me get on with what I found.  Because I am not friends with any of these young ladies on Facebook I should NOT have been able to see their walls and personal info.  Wrong.  Parents, I urge you to check you teens Facebook privacy settings asap.  I was amazed at the amount of girls who had not touched their settings.

Picture from Microsoft Clip Art

How Do I Check?
If you are on Facebook and are "friends" with your child then you are going to need to log out and access their page.  If you are not on Facebook then you only need to access their page.  Once you are there take a look around.  Do you like what you see?  Hopefully you can see little to nothing.  If you can see their "wall" and everything they are saying, personal info, etc then you need to have them hop on their account and make some changes.  For those of you saying, "It's their page.  I don't want to invade their privacy."  Believe me when I say that everyone else is invading their privacy.  They are still your children and still need your protection.  Guide them.  Help them.  Be a parent.

Off my soapbox now.

How Do I Change the Privacy Settings?
On the top right corner you will see your child's picture and name.  Beside the name is "Home" and beside that is a drop down arrow.  Simply click the arrow and select "Privacy Settings".  From there you will be taken to a list of options.  I would suggest choosing the "Custom" option and going through each and every setting to select the privacy features you want enabled.  Just click on the "Edit Settings" option beside each category.  This is going to be a little time consuming, but well worth it.

Once you feel like you have cleaned things up log out again and view your child's page.  What does it look like?  It should be a lot more restrictive.  If you are not happy with something simply log back in and edit the settings again.

Why is this Important?
Well, there are the obvious safety reasons, but beyond that, Facebook is slowly becoming the number 1 source of bullying among school aged children.  I think text messaging is a close tie for first place.  It is amazing how brave kids become when they are behind a phone or computer screen typing rather than talking.  The reality is that society is becoming more social media oriented and our children and navigating the waters much earlier than we did.  Honestly, they probably know way more than we do!  So, just like you would want to make sure your child was wearing their seat belt or looking before they crossed the street you need to make sure they are protected online.

Now, everyone... go check your teens Facebook!  {PS.  If your child is under the age of 13 they should not even have an account}.  Check out the Information for Parents provided by Facebook.

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