Communications and Media

Social networks in the internet have become very common in the modern way of life especially among the youths. Facebook is the best social network website in the world with the number of subscribers increasing rapidly. It is estimated that about a two hundred and fifty thousand people join the social network as new members everyday. The networks created through these websites have assisted individuals track down their old friends while creating new others. It is also used by friends to update each other on the happening of their daily lives. However, the networks have in many ways been misused by promoting deviant characters among the young people. Parents should therefore subscribe to the network and become friends with their children in facebook in order to monitor them (Feldman, 2009).

Facebook has become a very common social networking website among the youths. A big number of teenagers today are addicted to facebook. The use of facebook among the young people affects the morals of the children as well as the relationship with others. They have used the network to spread information that promotes deviant behaviors among children. Spending a lot of time online as a result of addiction has also negatively affected their performance in school as well as their social relationships. There is therefore a need for parents to monitor how their children use the network. They can effectively monitor their children only by being part of the network where they can be friends to their children and possibly friends to their childrens friends. This will assist in creating the impression that the parents are not outdated by being part of the modern technology. It will also make it easier for the parents to influence their childrens behaviors (Feldman, 2009).

It is important to note that teenagers have facebook accounts because their peers and friends have them. It is therefore impossible to deter the young people from joining such social networks. However, facebook does not allow people below the age of thirteen years to open accounts. Moreover, the identity of the individual is protected to eliminate all possible risks associated with online predators. Despite this, many children lie about their age in order to create accounts and be like their friends. Parents should be aware of this fact. The only option they may have is to monitor their children by being their friends on facebook (Waller, 2010).

Children are under pressure to have accounts on facebook due to the wave in the society. Parents have had a difficult time determining at what age they should allow their children to join these social networks. The minimum age of thirteen which is required to join the social network is also very vulnerable. However, rather than parents blocking their teenagers from joining the social networks which is likely to result into resentments, they can allow them to create accounts in the social networks and create theirs to monitor them. This may be better that dealing with the disagreement and deterioration of the relationship between the parent and the teenagers as a result of restriction (Feldman, 2009).

However, there is always a challenge in taking such a move. For example, teenagers get embarrassed when they learn that their parents are monitoring them on the network. It is therefore important for parents to talk to the teenagers before creating an account with an aim of monitoring them. It is important to let them know that their parents are updated on the current changes in technology and advice them on what comment they should leave on their pages as well as the people they interact with. This is easier when the parents are part of the network as compared to when the children think their parents are outdated in terms of modern social networks. It is also important to note that when a parent sits with his or her children and talk about a social network website such as facebook, children will be more than willing to add them as friends in their page. This is basically because children use these social networks to communicate with their friends and relatives. Communication between the parent and the children will be easier and parents will be able to influence their childrens morals through the social network (Feldman, 2009).

However, monitoring of children in the social network websites has been criticized based on the arguments that it is an infringement of the childs privacy. Children like any other person have the freedom to privacy which should be respected by their parents. Facebook recognizes the need to protect the privacy of the individuals which is hard when they are being monitored. For this reason, facebook has developed private controls that enable children to deny their parents access to messages they have posted (Ptchiem, 2010).

In conclusion, even though children should have their freedom of privacy, it is important for parents to monitor their activities in the social network websites such as facebook. This is because of the increased addiction of the youth to the networks, the risk of online predators and development of deviant behaviors transmitted through the networks.