As the school year begins, a lot of educators' thoughts move toward the perils of social networking. I've also read a couple articles this year already on the practice (One article here http://pe.ag.org/Articles2009/4972_Newslead.cfm from the Pentecostal Evangel; another one here http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/17-09/st_thompson from Wired Magazine). As I read articles and work with students, I realize that Social Networking is not the enemy to good writing. In fact, as the Wired Magazine article states, students are writing more today that most of us did when we were students. They are engrossed in text where we were engrossed in spoken word. Even if the chat rooms, instant messaging, texting, blogs and social status updates don't always use correct grammar, the students are still actively involved in creating text.

However, I do have a concern about social networking for kids. And that concern is directed to parents: Parents, do you monitor your child's social networking practice? Do you look at their pages to see what kinds of things they're saying and their friends are saying to and about them? If not, you should be! Some may pass off Facebook status updates and wall posts as harmless fun, however, it is through the harmless fun that Satan gets his foothold...always. Maybe today it's your daughter posting that she's "married" to another girl...may seem harmless enough. Maybe over the subsequent days they begin posting things on each other's walls that are more appropriate for husband/wife relationships. Maybe later on, they begin having the same kind of conversations in the halls at school or church...maybe holding hands. It's a slippery slope but it's easier than you might think for one thing to slowly lead to another. Satan is much smarter than most give him credit for. He is well aware of our weaknesses...he knows better than to try to lure you into a life of homosexuality. But, if he can lure you into small compromises and those compromises continue to add up...the result can be the same.

None of my kids have a social networking site that allows "freehand" comments between individuals. However, when they do (whenever that may be), it will not be without constant vigilance on my part. Not because I do not trust my kids. But because I've seen some of the things that exist out on those sites and I want to be able to guide them through those experiences and shed light on why they may not always be good. I encourage any other parents to do the same.