Family and Child Online Safety Blog - SafetyClicks

Common Sense Media conducted a survey of teens to find out how their online lives were affecting their 'real' lives. A lot of the results are not all that surprising, but some gave me something to think about.

Not surprising: Social networking is a big part of teens' lives. Surprising: 22% of teens say they check social networking sites over 10 times per day.

Not surprising: Parents and children agree the Internet is helping their academic career. Surprising: 16% of teens admit to posting false information or lies about other people and 24% of teens signed into someone else's social networking site without the owner knowing about it.

They also have several suggestions on how parents can help, including:

• Talk often about life in the digital world and what it means to be a safe, smart digital citizen: remind kids that online posts can last forever, and that potentially anyone can see them. If they wouldn't put something up in the hallway in school, they shouldn't post it on their pages.

• Get yourself an account: see for yourself how your kids' online world works – it'll be easier for you to understand what they're talking about.

• Make sure your kids set privacy settings: they aren't foolproof, but they're important

• Set rules for what they can and can't say, post, and play online: the bottom line – posts with drugs, drinking, sexual posing or activity will come back to haunt them. If they wouldn't say it to someone's face, they shouldn't post it.

What tips do you have about social networking?