Dear Aviva,
My daughter just returned from sleep-away camp and B”H she had a fantastic time. Of course, she wants to keep in touch with all her new friends who live in various cities across America and even in Israel. However, she says all her friends keep in touch via Facebook rather than email.
My husband and I have not been allowing our daughter to have a Facebook account because of the many drawbacks of social networking, such as wasting time, addiction, and living in an online vs. offline world. But now we feel that we might be hindering our daughter’s social life by prohibiting Facebook. What are your thoughts?

-Fearful of Facebook

Dear Fearful of Facebook,
First, I am happy to hear that you understand your daughter’s social life is important. Second, I am happier to hear that you are putting her overall well-being ahead of her social life.
Yes, it’s true that Facebook affords for much broader socializing with her camp buddies. And yes, it’s very true that there are major drawbacks and dangers, such as the ones that you mentioned. There are also some dangers that were not mentioned, such as the potential for online predators to reach out to her, G-d forbid, as well as online bullying and exposure to inappropriate material that may be posted by friends or friends of friends.
I don’t want to tell you what to do—I boss around enough people, such as my husband and my dad. But I will help lay out some options for you so that you can decide what is best for your happy camper.