A friendly problem for parents and teens
Source: Agencies |
August 26, 2010, Thursday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
To friend or not to friend is the big question facing many parents dealing with teenagers on Facebook.
Three quarters of parents questioned in a Nielsen survey said they are friends with their children on the popular social networking website which boasts 500 million active users. But a third admitted they are worried they are not seeing everything their children are doing on the web.
Perhaps with good reason, as nearly 30 percent of teenagers said if given the choice they would unfriend their parents.
"The No. 1 parenting issue, as least with my discussion with parents, is living on Facebook," said Regina Lewis, a consumer adviser with online services company AOL, which jointly developed the survey.
"It is part of the modern-day parenting reality."
The average number of friends on Facebook is 130 but for teenagers it can be much higher, Lewis said.
"I thought the percentage of parents who were friends with their kids was strikingly high. It is more than 70 percent," she said, adding that children were twice as likely to want to unfriend their mother than their father.
For some children friending a parent is not always an option. In 41 percent of households there was a rule that children who use Facebook have to be friends with their parents.
The friending issue is a delicate balancing act between children seeking more independence and their parents' desire to make sure their children are safe.
In nearly half of cases, children said they would prefer to be friends with their parents privately on the web without their parents having the ability to post comments.
Nielsen questioned 1,024 parents and 500 children aged 13 to 17.
Three quarters of parents questioned in a Nielsen survey said they are friends with their children on the popular social networking website which boasts 500 million active users. But a third admitted they are worried they are not seeing everything their children are doing on the web.
Perhaps with good reason, as nearly 30 percent of teenagers said if given the choice they would unfriend their parents.
"The No. 1 parenting issue, as least with my discussion with parents, is living on Facebook," said Regina Lewis, a consumer adviser with online services company AOL, which jointly developed the survey.
"It is part of the modern-day parenting reality."
The average number of friends on Facebook is 130 but for teenagers it can be much higher, Lewis said.
"I thought the percentage of parents who were friends with their kids was strikingly high. It is more than 70 percent," she said, adding that children were twice as likely to want to unfriend their mother than their father.
For some children friending a parent is not always an option. In 41 percent of households there was a rule that children who use Facebook have to be friends with their parents.
The friending issue is a delicate balancing act between children seeking more independence and their parents' desire to make sure their children are safe.
In nearly half of cases, children said they would prefer to be friends with their parents privately on the web without their parents having the ability to post comments.
Nielsen questioned 1,024 parents and 500 children aged 13 to 17.
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