Stanford University running courses in Facebook – for parents

Stanford University has started a course to help parents keep up with their kid’s online doings in Facebook. Snooping and overly protective parenting? Or rational empowerment? Well, you decide ...

From their site at http://facebookforparents.org/:

“In our work with parents, we focus on “how to think” about Facebook more than “what to do.” Our “how to think” approach empowers parents to deal with whatever comes next. In contrast, if we simply told you, as a parent, “what to do,” those steps may not work as your child gets older or as Facebook evolves (and Facebook will continue to change, of course).

Case in point: Facebook as “Private Bedroom” . . . Some parents worry about joining Facebook because they don’t want to intrude on their child’s privacy. They see it as spying in their kid’s bedroom. This view -- Facebook as private bedroom -- is not accurate. This is not a good way to think. Why not?

#1 - Strangers don’t enter a kid’s bedroom. But on Facebook, kids can interact with strangers.
#2 - In a bedroom, acts are not observable by hundreds of people. In contrast, what your child does on Facebook is widely observable.

#3 - Finally, what goes on in a bedroom is not recorded online, potentially forever, as it is on Facebook.

In short, we believe that if you view “Facebook as private bedroom” you will make mistakes in parenting.

There’s a bright side . . . Facebook can benefit kids

Parents worry about the safety of their loved ones. Of course, that’s natural. But there’s a bright side to Facebook that parents should not overlook. Today’s youth can learn important skills by using Facebook in the right way. We’ve identified five skills areas kids can learn on Facebook. These skills are vital for their future success: Professional, Leadership, Learning, Identity and Relationship skills.”

I think few could argue that the primary responsibility for keeping kids safe online and off falls to parents. In a previous professional life, I've been in meetings advocating tools and information designed to protect younger users and faced the question "but isn't it up to the parents to see to the safety of their children"?

Well, yes.

But.

I'm a parent who lives and breathes this stuff, and I still don't find it easy. There's no qualification for this job. The only prerequisite is having unprotected sex at least once. They leave things like "how to talk about sex to your children without blushing" and "how to make your children eat their greens and love them" and "how to keep your children safe online without them feeling spied on" out of the manual. In fact in my case, they left out the manual.

I don't know how good this Stanford course is. I don't know if they should be concentrating on a particular brand. I do know though, that I'm glad that there's help out there for parents. Help from schools, help from communities, help from the industry and now help from prestigious universities.

More information for parents on getting to grips with social networking can be found here: http://www.thinkuknow.co.uk/parents/faq/socialnetworking.aspx.