Exit
eWISE
When my adult niece told
me that my teenage son
had postings with the f-word
and drug references on his Facebook page, I went straight to my
son to take down those posts.
He knows I have no idea how to
use Facebook, so I told him how
I found out. The next day my
niece emailed that he had unfriended her. She didn’t seem
particularly fazed by it, but was I
wrong to intervene? — Mom glad
not to be on Facebook
TOP TO BOTTOM: JOE KOHEN/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES; CINDY ORD/GETTY IMAGES; SHUTTERSTOCK / MARKO MARCELLO; JEAN BAPTISTE LACROIX/WIREIMAGE/GETTY IMAGES
Q
No, we need to help those
who can’t help themselves,
and teenage boys need lots of
help. But there are sneakier ways
to make sure your son isn’t broadcasting his worst habits. A service
called ZoneAlarm SocialGuard
will alert you when certain words,
potential strangers, cyber-bullying or malicious links appear on
your child’s page without allowing
you to see what he is posting. You
can customize it, so be sure to add
any code words your son and his
friends use to describe their antics.
This is only a partial solution, as he
may create a dummy page or move
the colorful talk to chats if you’re
clueless. Mentioning his chances
of getting a cool summer job could
convince him to clean up
his page on his own.
A
Have a question about electronic etiquette?
Email [email protected].
ENOUGH
ALREADY
totally over.
Things we’re
Babies in bars
Nail art
Palins in
reality shows
Mike Tyson
Cutoff shorts
with pocket-lining
showing
Shia LaBeouf
thinking he’s
an artist
Overanalyzing
women’s love lives
Sofia Vergara in
commercials
HUFFINGTON
8.19.12