I am very sure there are very few parents of tweens that have not been hounded for a cell phone, facebook, MySpace, or twitter account. Kids are more “connected” now than they have ever been. Technology is not the root of all evil, however, with tweens if not appropriately monitored it can quickly become such. Without adult supervision, tweens are often online or their cell phone late at night when they should be getting sleep for school the next day. As of right now, I am the “mean” mom. I will not allow my daughter to have a facebook or myspace account. As a high school teacher I have seen the drama that comes from a social networking site. I know some of you will say, my child has one and doesn’t have any problems. Give it time, it will happen! I promise you!! On top of that, facebook explicitly says that you must be 13 to have an account. She isn’t 13 yet! My tween has access to a cell phone that she can take with her when she goes places without me (friend’s house). However, it is NOT her cell phone. She is allowed to talk on it occasionally from home and use it to text sometimes.  If you are going to allow you tween to engage in social networking sites or have their own cell phone here are some great tips to follow:

 Know how to use the technology. I’m not saying you have to check up on them, but if a time comes that you need to you need to make sure you know how to use the technology.

 Friend your child on Facebook. Personally, I would take this one step further and will once I allow my tween to have a Facebook account, get the password to your tweens account.

 Do not allow your child to sleep with their phone. I promise you, chances are if their phone is in their room they are texting on it late at night. Children already get way less sleep than necessary, don’t add to it by allowing a cell phone in the room with them at night.

 Set Limits on the use of technology. Do not allow your tween to stay on the computer or cell phone all night long. Have boundaries ex: no texting at dinner. This means you have to follow the rule also!

 Educate your tween. Let her know what is appropriate to post on social forums and what is inappropriate. Make sure you are checking to see what she is posting. It may be early to think about careers and college, but many of them go to social networking sites before making acceptance decisions.

 If you allow your tween to post pictures of herself on a social network site, make sure you review them for appropriateness. You would be amazed how many young ladies post very provocative pictures of themselves online. This can lead to huge reputation problems at school and it is not safe.

Whatever your decision is on technology, try to stay one step ahead of your tween. Also, make sure you check up on them occasionally. Do not become that “not my kid” parent. Chances are, if other kids are doing it, yours is also.

Please, share  your tips on dealing with tweens and technology.

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