Facebook Friends

I enjoy Facebook. It has allowed me to connect with friends I don't get to see often and allows me to catch up on acquaintances from long ago. Nostalgia can be sweet. And I have to admit I like the validation I receive from my posts and adoration from pictures of my kids. I don't like that my friends kids are on it and am questioning the friends' sanity for letting them on at all. As far as kids go, Facebook to me is one more internet danger-zone for kids. Ryan and Charlotte do not have accounts. They aren't getting accounts. A handful of their friends already do and Ryan at least has expressed his frustration at being held back. I have had to explain more than once, that the internet is just one big group of people. Some he knows, some he doesn't. Some are nice and some really aren't. And on the internet, Mommy and Daddy aren't standing next to him to protect him from strangers. And I do NOT want to have to contend with cyber bullying anytime soon.  Ryan wants a computer in his room. He has an ipod. And for now, that's all he's getting. He checks his email with me nearby and plays on very few approved websites. He's not ready to be turned loose on the net. And for now, I can control that.