When Facebook.com opened up for anyone to join, several Facebook groups “against parents on Facebook” popped up with hundreds of members. It seems that the college students for whom the site was geared did not want to have their parents on Facebook.
Well, I am a parent and I’m on Facebook.
I think every parent should join Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, and anywhere else that kids hang out on the computer. We should also play every computer/video game that our kids play – World of Warcraft, Maple Story, Neopets, etc.
Ok, I don’t play those games… but I’ve been on those sites and have an idea of the games are like.
If your child was invited to a party of someone you don’t know, what would you do? Wouldn’t you go with him to the party, check it out, make sure it’s a safe environment, maybe talk to the parents? If everything seemed alright, then you might leave your child there, if he is old enough, and come back to pick him up at a designated time.
So it is with computer/video games. We don’t have to read reviews about them, we don’t have to rely on ratings, we don’t have to ask other people. All we have to do is try them out ourselves.
We as parents need to do our due diligence to check out what our kids do on the computer.
Here are the benefits of being on the computer:
1. You might learn something. In case if you haven’t been around the World Wide Web, the computer has so much possibility. You’ll be amazed at all the useful applications of those SNS (Social Networking Sites.)
2. You might have fun. Just don’t get addicted to those games…
3. You might find some conversation starters with your child. Tired of the same old questions like “how’s school?” Don’t know how to get your kids to talk to you? Our kids say we don’t understand them. But if we can talk their computer game language, it will open up the communication channels.
4. You might be able to find an appropriate way to talk to your kids about the rights and wrongs of internet use. Being on those popular sites allows you to see what is influencing your child, and the type of moral decisions he is faced with on those sites. Now you’ll be better equipped to guide them to do what is right.
I totally agree. Of course, I’m addicted to webkinz and facebook. I am a bit nosy, but I do have some kids on my friends list. My daughter’s account is monitored constantly. And, you are right, I just had a bunch of girls here last night for my daughter’s birthday and they were all impressed that I knew anything about webkinz and stuff.
Nikki: You’re a cool mom!
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Hey, it’s just like wanting to be home when they have a bunch of friends over! No harm in that…they may get a little embarrassed, but they need to deal with it. And, like you said, we might learn some things and even enjoy ourselves!
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[...] find out what games they like to play. Then you (or maybe your husband) should log on and learn to play the games yourself. Test to see what the game is like, what’s good and what’s bad about it. First-hand [...]