Parents in Facebook: Would Your Kids Like It?

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Social networks, such as Facebook, is one way of expression for a person, and one that is deemed to be social, and though it is known to be a public domain, it is still considered a private and personal one.

Which brings to question whether kids, especially teenagers, would want their parents to be in the same social network as them.

What would your kids say? Would they agree to you being 'online' with them, in the same network?

Read this article, and 'hear' what one youngster is saying. You may have your turn one of these days...

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Parents as Facebook friends? No thanks!

Family ties are important, but I need my personal space

by Tan Ren Yi

I am writing to share my views on whether families should be connected via social networking sites.

While some teenagers may think it is annoying to have their parents listed as friends on Facebook, others feel that it is a good way to create stronger family bonds and a path for parents to get to know their children's circle of friends.

Young children are often on Facebook, mainly to play games.

But teenagers use it to share aspects of their lives with friends of the same age group, and thus it would be awkward for parents and kids to be in the same social network.

What may seem fun to teenagers may be interpreted differently by an adult. And differences of opinion between a parent and a teenager can lead to conflict and arguments.

As for myself, I had deleted my parents as friends on Facebook. I felt that they had been stalking me and invading my privacy.

Personally, I do not mind if my parents want to know what kind of people I am mixing with, but not to the extent of belittling my friends, based on their own instincts.

Whenever my parents see pictures of my friends and me doing crazy and wild stuff, they would reprimand me and nag for the whole day over one picture. Their scoldings can really affect my mood the whole day.

Even though I know that family relationships are important, I truly wish that my parents understand that I need my personal space.

If my parents want to know what kind of friends I am mixing with, they can ask me, rather than use Facebook as a "surveillance" tool to watch over me.

I feel strongly that parents should not "spy" on their kids, but rather, educate their children on the dangers of the Internet and accept that they need to be allowed to connect with their friends on their own.

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Taken from TODAY, Voices - Monday, 19-April-2010:
Parents as Facebook friends? No thanks!
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OUTRAGE OVER FACEBOOK PAGE

A nonsensical and inhumane call...

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ROME - Politicians and Internet activists in Italy have denounced a page on the social networking site Facebook that calls for children with Down's syndrome to be used for target practice.

The police were trying to track down who set up the page, which features a photo of a Down's syndrome baby with the word "idiot" superimposed on it, and by late on Sunday had attracted nearly 1,700 members.

The page proposed what it said was "an easy and amusing solution" to get rid of "these foul creatures": Use them as targets at shooting centres.

Equality Minister Mara Carfagna, promising legal action against those responsible for the page, denounced it as "unacceptable and dangerous".

A number of rival groups - one with more than 17,000 members - have been set up on Facebook to denounce the original page.

"People's ignorance has no limits," Ms Manuela Colombo, the president of a support group for families with Down Syndrome children told Ansa news agency.

Police action to get the site shut down might take some time according to experts, because Facebook is based in California and the procedure might involve a lengthy legal process. AFP

From TODAY, Tuesday, 23-Feb-2010

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