Lately I have noticed an increasing and worrying trend for pre-teens to be using adult social networking sites such as Facebook.

When I have asked parents whether they are aware that Facebook has a minimum age policy among its terms and conditions ('4.3 You will not use Facebook if you are under 13.'), their use is usually dismissed as 'They only have contact with their schoolfriends' or 'They only play the games'. Most are unconcerned that every time a new game is played or quiz taken, personal details are being handed over to unknown strangers. Most appear not to have heard of 'sexting'. More disturbingly, it would seem that most do not realise, to quote the parent of one 13-year-old who was abducted after being seduced online, that 'When kids socialise online there is no such thing as a stranger':

'Kids have their real life flesh and blood friends at school, these friends introduce them to a friend who goes to a school in the next town but they’re not a stranger because they have a friend in common. Friends have friends who have friends and maybe a month or two later, or perhaps just days, they’re speaking to the most unsavoury of characters and as parents you have no idea.'

I would highly recommend all parents spend a couple of minutes reading the mother's full article from yesterday's Times: ‘You assume your child isn’t being reckless’

Perhaps surprisingly, she does not conclude that teenagers should not go on Myspace or Facebook. At the end of the day, the trend towards ever younger social networking online is likely to increase. Rather, she and her daughter try to teach schoolchildren to be aware of differentiating between who is a stranger and who isn’t. This is a task that everyone who has contact with young people must share in – parents, teachers, and youth workers alike. It seems that it is no longer enough to warn young people to 'beware of strangers' – in words reminiscent of a certain well-known parable, we must now also explore the question, 'Who is my stranger?'