How to Monitor a Teen's Facebook Page

Facebook began as a college-only website where students could talk to each other about classes and issues. Users could only have profiles associated with their college, using their school email address to log in and browse their own network of students. The site expanded to allow high school students and eventually anyone to create profiles, causing parents to wonder about its safety. Follow the steps to learn how to monitor a teen's Facebook page.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Ask your teen for the login email and password to his or her Facebook page. If your teen allows you to have this information, make sure to thank him or her for trusting you with it and show that you trust your teen by not deleting messages and comments on the site without talking about it first.
2. Create your own Facebook account at facebook.com and add your teen as a friend. This way you have full access to the teen's wall comments and applications as well as profile information, and show your teen that you are interested in his or her life without having to ask for login information.
3. Talk to your teen. Ask what he or she does online and talk about the information on their Facebook profile. Teach your teen the right Internet safety skills and you can trust that he or she knows how to use them to keep safe from predators.
4. Know how much time your teen is spending online. Be in the room every once in a while and look over your teen's shoulder when he or she is on the computer. Ask if anything interesting is going on and be there to listen and discuss anything that might become an issue.