"Facebook for Parents" class!

For those of you in the Central PA area:

Are your kids friending, tweeting and blogging? Do you have no idea what this means? With great power - the Internet - comes great responsibility - as a parent!  Learn how information in Facebook is shared, what you have control over, and how you can make it a better experience for your kids and your family.  Also learn about other social networking tools and trends, with the goals of keeping up with, keeping an eye on, and encouraging more communication with your kids.

"Facebook for Parents" is a 90 minute course offered through the Mechanicsburg Recreation Department.  The class will be on Tuesday October 18 at 7pm. 

Click here to register!

Only $9.00 for early registration for residents in the school district, $14 for non-residents.  Prices go up the longer you wait..

I'm sure you know someone who would benefit from this course, please pass it along!

"Facebook for Parents" course available!

For those of you in the Central PA area:

Are your kids friending, tweeting and blogging? Do you have no idea what this means? With great power - the Internet - comes great responsibility - as a parent!  Learn how information in Facebook is shared, what you have control over, and how you can make it a better experience for your kids and your family.  Also learn about other social networking tools and trends, with the goals of keeping up with, keeping an eye on, and encouraging more communication with your kids.

"Facebook for Parents" is a 90 minute course offered through the Mechanicsburg PA Recreation Department.  Sessions are available on either Wednesday September 22, or Thursday October 7.  Read more at the Mechanicsburg Recreation site, or register online here; select Activities and search for the keyword of "Facebook".

Only $9.00 for early registration for residents in the school district, $14 for non-residents.  A bargain!  I'm sure you know someone who would benefit from this course, please pass it along!

e-Book: Facebook and Kids - Year by Year

Coming soon: an e-Book on the challenges that parents will encounter with Facebook as their kids grow.  Working title is "Facebook and Kids - Year by Year".  The draft table of contents is as follows:

Age 12:  Just Wait
Age 13:  Trust But Verify
Age 14:  It’s a Tool, Not a Toy
Age 15:  The Internet is Forever
Age 16:  Their Pages Reflect On You
Age 17:  Colleges are Looking
Age 18:  Keep In Touch
Age 19:  Expand the Definition of Friends
Age 20:  Networking for a Career
Age 21:  Let Go

Now your experience may only be at the low end of this age range, but you may know of others who would benefit from the tips for older kids.  Please forward/like/share/tweet/etc. to others who you think would benefit, or who could add more insight.

What other areas should be covered?  Let's hear your thoughts in the comments!

Your online identity hijacked - by your kids?

Yesterday on msnbc's "Morning Joe", host Mika Brzezinski made a comment about goings-on at her house this weekend…  Apparently her daughter hijacked her Twitter account, in an attempt to --wait for it-- contact teenybopper singer Justin Beiber.  To use a generational comparison, it would be like Walter Cronkite's kid sneaking on the set of CBS News, putting on horn-rimmed glasses and mustache, and saying "uh, Paul McCartney, if you're watching, please give me a call, I have some, uh, important things to discuss with you"'…

Home Alone - 2009 Edition

Here's an article from the summer, but it's equally applicable now that everyone is heading away from home for the holidays... This article is an interesting view on how your online status can tip off potential criminals that your house will be empty...

Now perhaps you don't update Facebook or Twitter with your every move, but your kids might! Double check their status before you head out of town, and if they grumble about how 'it's not a big deal', perhaps you can come to a compromise; rather than posting when they are leaving, suggest that they post an update when they get back - 'Just got home from Christmas at Grandma's!'

Not Their Parents' Online World

This item from PBS shows the big differences between how parents and their kids use and see the Internet differently. While we grew up with the web as a place to 'get stuff', our kids are using is a place to 'put stuff'.

Not a bad thing, just different! It also goes into the 11 skills that kids will need, in order to use these new technologies to the fullest.

If you think this technological leap is big, just think back 20 years or so, where the Internet was only known by those guys in the basement of the science building (yes, that was me...).

WSJ: The Helicopter Parents Are Hovering on Facebook

Being 'un-friended' by your own flesh and blood? This article in the Wall Street Journal tells the tale. OK, perhaps once your offspring is 25 years old as in this article, you can't force them to be your 'friend', but what about when they are 14 and living under your roof?

Is being locked out of your kid's Facebook page like being locked out of their room? Where should the line be drawn? Let's hear what you think in the Comments...

Facebook, Twitter Revolutionizing How Parents Stalk Their College-Aged Kids

Very funny from The Onion - a segment on the ficticious "Today Now" show, where the resident 'E-Mom' shows you how she 'writes to her son Jeffrey five or six times per day', and can learn about his female friend 'just by the look of her trampy picture!'

A few profanities on the screen, be warned, but none in the audio. Enjoy!