How To Ensure Your Children’s Safety On Facebook

Social networking has taken the world by storm and it shows no signs of letting up anytime soon. As parents, we are keen to ensure that our own kids are nice and safe when they indulge in ‘Facebooking’ and other social network activities. Facebook has a rule that states all users must be at least 13 years old, but this seems to be ignored by many children and their parents. There are a few nasty sides to social networking and the people who misuse the online meeting room.

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It can be a real concern to parents when they start to understand that their kids are at risk whilst online. This article looks at some clever products that help us parents to keep tabs on our little monsters whilst they have fun social networking.

Norton Online Family

This application has some social networking specific components included and these let the parents know about what your child is getting up to on Facebook. The features include information about your child’s profile, and gleans information that lets you know what type of information they are sharing on the site.

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As well as being a free tool, this also tells the parents about the site’s guidelines and allows them to set time limits on Facebook and other social networking sites.

Piggyback

Another application that is actually integrated with Facebook, Piggyback is a Media Chaperone product that is very useful. Parents need to log into Facebook to access Piggyback and from there they can check their child’s profile virtually undetected.

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You can set up a special tab for each of your children and this displays all of their Facebook activity. It can also be used to monitor all online activity that has taken place on the host PC.

SafetyWeb

This application allows the parents to whatever information relating to your child appears online. It will also highlight any high risk activity that your children may have been exposed to. There is a lot of information available regarding the problems of being too open with your information whilst online. The Social Profile Finder tool makes it very easy to track your children’s activity within various social networking tools.

ScreenRetriever

You will need your children’s consent to use this application, and it allows you to glance at their daily activity whilst online. You can also record footage of whatever they are doing on the PC in the day and evening. You can see exactly what times they were using the PC and you can block/approve sites via this tool. By seeking your child’s permission, you are allowing them to take part in this vital self-protection exercise.

TruCare

Trucare allows you to delve into your child’s friends list and look at any inappropriate information or photos that they may have uploaded recently. It will also send you alerts when questionable content has been received by your child. You are allowed to customize the database, which, in turn, scours the net for inappropriate language use by your child and their friends.

So – Which One?

All of these applications offer a great way to help you protect your child whilst using Facebook. But you should also apply some common sense and talk to your kids on a regular basis about the dangers of sharing too much information on social media.

About the Author

Charlie Smith likes to write articles sharing his thoughts and life experiences with readers. A complete family person, he likes to spend his time after work with his loved ones. He is an employee of Well Researched Reviews and you can visit their website for more information.