These children have apparently banded (or perhaps the better word is herded) together in online groups with such delightful names as
KEEP PARENTS OFF FACEBOOK!!!(yes, all caps and three exclamation points) and
PARENTS GET OFF FACEBOOKand the ever-popular
Eek! My mom is on facebook!(and yes, "mom" and "facebook" were not initially capitalized).
On some of their Facebook pages are such droll comments as
PARENT FREE ZONEand
MOMS WITH FACEBOOKS ARE STALKERS. LEAVE USHear their plaintive cry!
AAAAAAALLLLLLLLOOOOOONNNNNNEEEEEEEEEE!
It seems the young folk are upset that their parents might see their Facebook pages with the writings, the gossip, and the pictures of them drinking and partying and perhaps even (though they didn't show it in the video) running around in the altogether. It also seems that they, like so many adolescents, have a rather low opinion of their parents' intelligence:
"So it was really weird when my Mom got on it because I didn't know she'd know how to do it."Here's a bit of sage advice from a parent of college students: We're not anywhere near as stupid and technologically incompetent as you think. My 90-year-old grandfather is online. Maybe he'll send you a "friend" request.
Oh, and here's another bit of advice: If you don't want your parents to see you drinking and partying and whatnot, don't post pictures of yourself doing those things. It's rather simple, no?
One of these kids actually had the da noive to ignore the request when her father tried to "friend" her. Yes, you read that correctly. A forty-plus-year-old man actually used the word "friend" as a verb. I can understand that from illiterate college students, but he's old enough to know better. However, I shall temper my disdain somewhat because he then printed up a t-shirt reading "My daughter won't friend me".
No, I will not apologize for putting the period outside the quote. I may be a Grammar Nazi but I still have a rebellious streak and a finely honed sense of right and wrong. More or less.
But being a conscientious parent and wanting only the best for the next generation, I will supply one last bit of parental wisdom.
"Some young people say having their parents on their Facebook page is like giving them a key to their online diary."The bit of wisdom is this: "online" and "diary" are concepts best kept well apart. If you're going to write down your innermost thoughts, your secret fantasies, your backstabbing gossip, it's really best to do it privately. You never know who might read it.
