teens [13–18 years]

a survey of 500 top colleges found that 10% of admissions officers acknowledged looking at social-networking sites to evaluate applicants. Of those making use of the online info, 38% said that what they saw "negatively affected" their views of the applicant friend or foe

The bedroom door is closed more. Getting more information from your teen about his day other than a “Fine,” “Nothing” or “OK” is like pulling teeth. You want to respect his privacy, but being in his business, to make sure he is safe, is still your job.

Facebook is an interesting beast. It states it right on the login page, “Facebook helps you connect and share with the people in your life.” The beast part is the sharing aspect and that is where you need to come in. Here are some tips to make sure everything stays friendly on the internet:

• get an account If you don’t already, get on Facebook. You need to know how Facebook works so you are able to teach your teen the right way to do things.

• pw savvy Make sure your teen understands the importance of having a unique password that incorporates more than a simple word.

• befriend the kid The best way to watch what’s happening is to become your teen’s friend. Also consider having your teen use your email address on his account so you receive his notifications.

• talk privacy Facebook has changed its privacy settings numerous times this past year, so keep up on these changes. Make sure your teen knows how to block someone and how to secure his photo albums and wall posts.

• button it Sure it’s a sharing site, but you don’t have to share everything! Make sure your teen understands the importance of not sharing his entire date of birth and he doesn’t need to tell everyone what he is doing at every waking moment.

• real friends From time to time ask your friends to checkout your teens account. If they aren’t “Friends” with your teen they shouldn’t be able to view their information if their privacy settings are set correctly. Do the same for your friends and let them know if you see something wrong on their kiddo’s account.

Facebook is great, but your teen is likely to post something he shouldn’t, say too much and forget to change his setting the next time new privacy settings roll out. Just be the quite eye in the sky watching frequently and, when needed, reign with an iron hand! It’s for his own good.

Who is Sally?

She is our quintessential, “do-it-all” mom and friend who reminds us to remember the woman behind the mom.