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SALT LAKE CITY -- A recent survey found that 70 percent of kids were online friends with their parents on social media sites. A local cyber-security expert says it's a must in today's age.
Ken Knapton isn't surprised that so many kids are friends with their parents on MySpace and Facebook.
The author of "Cyber Safety" says, "I think it's quite common for parents to require, if children are going to have a Facebook account, to say, ‘I want to be a part of that.'"
If we really want to be involved in our children's lives and help them know how to use these technologies safely, I think it's important for parents to become part of that world.
–Ken Knapton
Knapton also believes it's a necessity. "If we really want to be involved in our children's lives and help them know how to use these technologies safely, I think it's important for parents to become part of that world," he says.
Knapton says it's important to monitor a child's activities on social media websites and, most importantly, to find out who their friends are. He says it's not enough to ask them if they know all their online friends in person.
"I think it's important for a parent to sit down and go through their friend list and say ‘Who is this? How do you know them? Where do you know them from?'" he says.
But parents need to be careful what they post. Knapton says if parents comment too much on their kid's page, it can be embarrassing. He says that could lead to kids creating a separate account or even eliminating parents from lists.
Knapton believes parents can be duped into thinking they are still friends with their kids without being defriended. He says it's important to keep close to your kids online, but parents still need to talk to them in person, especially about what their kids are doing online.
E-mail:cwall@ksl.com
