Parents are constantly worried about their teens behavior as they can easily get involved in activities and many things that aren’t good for them. If your teen spends a lot of time online, you may need to monitor their social media pages and online behavior. Consider creating your own Facebook page and friending your teens so you can monitor their social lives, see who they hang out with and what type of behavior they are engaging in online. Here are some other tips that will help you track your teens online behavior:
Tip # 1 – Open area
Place the computer in an open area like the corner of the living room or kitchen where people are always around. Don’t let your teen take a computer or laptop to their room where they have a little more privacy as this leaves most teens vulnerable to making bad choices like talking to people they don’t know or engaging in illegal activities. Even if you trust your teen, having the computer in an open area helps to avoid the temptation toward bad behavior.
Tip # 2 – Talk to your teen
When you really want to know what your teen has been up to, ask them. You can use Facebook to send them messages and to see what they are doing but talking to them is the best way to build a relationship with your teen. Eat dinner together, talk to them before they go to bed and look for other moments to talk to your teen. If they seem to close up and have a hard time talking, you need to initiate the conversation by sharing a story from your day or your teen years. This may break the ice and help your teen open up.
Tip # 3 – Be approachable
Getting your teen to come to you and talk about their problems and their life requires you to be approachable and easy to talk to. Listen to what they have to say instead of quickly commenting on the things they say and belittling them. Avoid yelling at, or arguing with, your teen as this not only gets you nowhere but can create other problems. Additionally, be open and approachable can quell the urge to rebel.
Tip # 4 – Safety
Talk to your teen about online safety and make sure they are doing everything they can to stay safe online. Discuss their Facebook privacy settings with them to make sure they have the highest settings possible so they aren’t getting involved in conversations or activities with people they don’t know. Besides setting their profile to private, they also need to make their pictures accessible only by their Facebook friends. This will help prevent online predators and identity thieves from finding their page in the first place, never mind finding out what they look like and who they are.
Tip # 5 – Avoid embarrassment
Once your teen “friends” you on Facebook, respect their privacy. Teens have a strong desire to be independent and they don’t want you to leave comments on their page constantly. Randomly leave benign comments if you like but don’t embarrass your teen or you will have a harder time getting them to open up to you. Facebook is a great way to communicate with your teen and get involved in their life. Just make sure it isn’t the only method of communication between you and your teen.
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