Thursday, January 29, 2009
A window on their world
Social networking sites change the nature of leaving home.
Leaving home has traditionally been a time when parents find they have less and less contact with their children and knowledge of their lifestyle and this has been a largely accepted part of the transition to independence and adulthood. Now when young people leave home and go and study or work in another part of the country from their family they are more likely to remain in close contact; even if they don't always know it.
A new report has revealed the majority of parents use social networking sites to keep in touch with their children's lives when they are not having regular contact. The poll of 1,000 parents of Higher Education students commissioned by the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills found 75% of parents said they had a Facebook, My Space or Bebo account which they found useful in keeping up to date with their children's lives.
There are regional variations too - Worcester has the highest percentage of parents who are friends of their children on Facebook after they have left home with 86% and Bristol the lowest with 33%.
Whilst some young people may have previously complained that their parents did not use or understand modern technology, there are now Facebook groups campaigning to "Keep Parents Out". They may be reassured that the poll found that the most common form of technology used by parents for contact with their student offspring was the mobile phone with 52% using it as their main form of contact, compared to 25% mainly using social networking sites to stay in touch.
The students may be ambivalent about their online profiles being viewed by their parents but the adults seem delighted to embrace technology with an overwhelming majority (80%) of the parents interviewed saying technology had made it easier for them to stay in close contact with their children.
David Lammy, Higher Education Minister shared the positive outlook, "With record numbers of young people going to university, more and more families are using new ways of communicating to stay connected with their children whilst away from home," said David Lammy, higher education minister. "New technologies have made a big impact on all our lives and as students return from the Christmas break, it's never been easier for mums and dads to stay in touch and updated on their child's progress."