By Rebecca VanderMeulen
Does it seem like your teen spends every free moment she has on Facebook? She's not alone.
In 2011 the magazine, Consumer Reports found that 20 million kids actively used Facebook over the last year. Of that, 7.5 million were younger than 13. The social-networking site's own rules prohibit users that young.
Beyond that, the consumer research firm Neilsen found that in March 2011, a typical Facebook user was on the site for a staggering 6 hours and 35 minutes at a time.
Before you can answer that, you need to know where your teen is using the site. Home computers aren't the only point of access, says Monica Vila, founder of The Online Mom. Kids also log on from cell phones, tablet computers and computers at friends' houses — sometimes even at school.
You should also know what your child is using Facebook for, Vila says. Does she hop on to chat with her friends, play games or keep in touch with grandparents? Vila advises talking with your child about what she does on the site and how she decides who to add as a friend.
Your teen may appear to choose Facebook over real life. But Larry Magid, co-director of ConnectSafely.org, says your child's use of Facebook is probably no different from the way you used the telephone when you were a teen. The only difference is the medium.
"There's nothing unusual about teenagers wanting to be social," Magid says. "Facebook is part of their real life." What's changed is the some of the ways in which teens interact with one another.
To read the entire article go to Is Your Child Spending Too Much Time On Facebook?
Beyond that, the consumer research firm Neilsen found that in March 2011, a typical Facebook user was on the site for a staggering 6 hours and 35 minutes at a time.
But is your child spending too much time on Facebook?
You should also know what your child is using Facebook for, Vila says. Does she hop on to chat with her friends, play games or keep in touch with grandparents? Vila advises talking with your child about what she does on the site and how she decides who to add as a friend.
Your teen may appear to choose Facebook over real life. But Larry Magid, co-director of ConnectSafely.org, says your child's use of Facebook is probably no different from the way you used the telephone when you were a teen. The only difference is the medium.
"There's nothing unusual about teenagers wanting to be social," Magid says. "Facebook is part of their real life." What's changed is the some of the ways in which teens interact with one another.
Facebook's Benefits
While teens often log onto Facebook at the expense of doing homework, Vila says the site can also help them in school. This spring, she says, some students at her local high school were chatting on the site about trouble they were having with a class project. A user who was a mutual friend of the students and their teacher alerted the teacher to this fact and the students were able to work through the problem with the teacher.To read the entire article go to Is Your Child Spending Too Much Time On Facebook?
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