How to find out what your kid is really up to on Facebook

Is your tween or teen on social media? If not, he’s one of the few stragglers left. According to DailyTech*, 94% of teens use Facebook. Parents aren’t so comfortable with social networking, though, at least not when it comes to their kids. While some parents attempt to ban their children from Facebook and other social media sites, others play helicopter parent by stalking their kids on Facebook.

### The Problem With Banning Facebook

Even if you want to ban your kid from Facebook and other social media sites, it’s practically impossible. Here’s why:

#### Kids Break Rules, Period

You can tell your child not to get an account, but can you guarantee they won’t? Even the sweetest kids break the rules from time to time and there’s a lot of peer pressure tempting them.

#### Kids are Clever

Kids have always found ways to outsmart their parents. They could join with an alias only their friends know and use their Smartphone to check the account while at a buddy’s house or even at school.

#### Kids Need Social Media Training from you

Like it or not, it maybe better to let your child explore social media while under your care rather than send him out unprepared into the digital world.

### Why Facebook Stalking is a Bad Idea

Research has shown that a significant number of parents sign up for Facebook with the sole purpose of checking up on their kids. While this may seem like a logical solution, it also has its problems.

#### Kids can still hide things from you on Facebook

Facebook and other social media networks have privacy settings that allow users to post status updates, pictures, and videos to a designated group of friends. Mom and Dad usually aren’t part of this privileged clique.

#### Kids get angry and may unfriend you

Desperate parents may even resort to hacking their kids Facebook Timeline to get the complete picture, but what’s keeping junior from creating multiple accounts?

### There is a Solution

One tool that works very well is Qustodio. It’s a simple install on any device your child uses, and can be installed in hidden mode if you’d prefer that your child not know it’s there.

At its simplest, Qustodio allows you to block or limit the use of Facebook and other social networks on any device: Mac, PC, Android, and soon iOS, in just a couple of clicks.

However, if you’re a parent who wants to know more about your kids’ social networking habits, Qustodio provides detailed information such as who your child is talking to via social media and for how long each day. The software also alerts you whenever a new friend is added to your kid’s network.

### Wall Posts and Comments

Qustodio also reports on what’s happening on your child’s Facebook wall. This makes it easy to see just how often your child is interacting on the social media site as well as what he or she is posting.

### Photos

One of the things parents worry about most is the pictures their kids post on Facebook. Qustodio has a feature that reports on this and captures the comments on each photo or whenever he is “tagged”. Using Qustodio to monitor photos and comments is a great way to protect your child against cyberbullying.

### Friend Details

You can also look up any of your child’s Facebook friends by name and view the friendship history, including details like how long your child has been friends with this person, as well as any interaction they’ve had since becoming friends. Qustodio will show you friends they have in common as well as specific details about them such as hobbies and interests, recent posts, and anything else published on his or her profile.

There are plenty of other parental monitoring programs available on the Web but none of them are as effective or feature rich as Qustodio. It’s the leading solution for parents in a multi device, connected mobile and social world. Qustodio’s real-time filtering and reporting technology monitors your kids’ activity so that you’ll never be too late to protect your child from social media threats. To get the best protection for your most valued asset download Qustodio today.

*: http://www.dailytech.com/Survey+94+Percent+of+Teens+Use+Facebook/article31611.htm