Online Safety is More than Protecting Your Kids from Others

I am a homeschooling mom with two teenage daughters and while they aren't attending public schools they are still among the thousands of teens flocking towards online communities like MySpace and Facebook.  As a result I know first hand how popular social networking has become among teens and the challenges this places on parents.

For many parents this brings the concern of their kid's safety online and the ability to protect their children from potentially dangerous interactions.  For me and my husband this also includes our children building positive, healthy relationships among their peers.  Whether they are on the school campus or online, the relationships they are building today are the foundation of those to come.

While protecting our kids from others is a great concern we also wanted to be sure that our children took their actions and behaviors online seriously and that they presented themselves in a responsible manner, even with their school mates.  We wanted a method that would help ensure our kids' safety but would also hold them accountable for their choices while participating in social networks online.

My husband and I agreed that writing out our expectations and having the kids sign it to show they fully understood what is expected of them was the best way to accomplish this.  I searched different resources online for a print out or example I could follow but wasn't able to find the right fit for what we were trying to accomplish, so we rolled up our sleeves and put together 10 guidelines that our girls were expected to follow if they want access to social networks like MySpace or Facebook.

Online Safety: A Parent & Teen Contract for MySpace or Facebook gives our family the means to set out our expectations AND puts our teens in a position of accountability, making them responsible for their choices online.  Knowing what is available online and the ever growing popularity of social networks we decided that this contract not only benefits our family, but could asist other families too.  For this reason we have made the contract into a pdf that parents can download and/or print out for their own personal use. 

We ask that it be used for personal use only and can be shared among friends or family, but please do not duplicate it for commercial use or publication on other websites.  If you have a website and would like to offer this contract to your visitors please follow the link above to learn more about what options are available.