Are you a parent who is worried about your teenager’s online safety on Facebook? Here is some good news. The social media platform has launched a Parents’ Portal to guide you on keeping your ward safe online while using its services. The website also has sections for teenagers to refer and help their friends when in need.
Facebook is the most popular social media platform, especially among teenagers. Though it is beneficial when used in moderation, there is also threat to our safety if we do not know what not to do. As parents, we might be worried about the same. But, owing to our busy schedules, we may not have the time to go through the features of the platform and educate our children about safe online practices. So, we may resort to measures such as safety filters or complete prevention of our children from having a Facebook account. Such restrictions not only create frustration in a growing teenager, but also makes him/her feel untrusted.
Given such a situation, Facebook’s Parents’ Portal could be your best friend. This user-friendly portal has many categories which cover different aspects concerning young online users. Tech savvy teenagers and non-tech savvy parents can easily understand the contents of this portal. It has a Safety Centre, which explains the basic policies and tools of Facebook. The most efficient feature of the Safety Centre is the section with PDF resources in several Indian and international languages. These resources address topics such as keeping one’s account private and secure, what not to share on Facebook, how to help a friend in trouble and so on.
The exclusive section for parents, the ‘Parents’ Portal’, helps in getting to know Facebook and how it works. The highlights of this section are the tips on how to talk to teenagers about online safety and the advice from safety experts around the world.
The third section, the Bullying Prevention Hub, addresses teens, parents and educators. It defines bullying and encourages patrons of Facebook to report such activities and seek help.
The portal also carries a Help Centre, which aids us in checking the security and privacy settings of an account. In addition, the Help Centre also has a suicide helpline, with emergency numbers for each country.