More than Half of U.S. Parents Use Facebook to Monitor Their Children

A recent survey conducted by Internet security firm BullGuard suggests that 55 percent of parents use Facebook to monitor their child’s networking by looking at their walls and browsing their photos.

Of the 16 percent of parents who tried to become Facebook friends with their child, one-third of them were rejected. Another 5 percent said they would keep track of their children if they knew how to, and 40 percent already do it regularly. Some 76 percent said they check Internet history files to keep track of which sites their kids visit.

“It certainly seems as though parents are taking advantage of the trail of information left by Web use in order to check up on their kids,” said BullGuard's Claus Villumsen.

“These figures are initially quite surprising, but since certain malicious third parties have been known to prey on unsuspecting or over trusting individuals online, it does seem as though many could have legitimate concerns,” he added.