As an educator of young minds, I feel that it is vital for administrators and teachers to demonstrate an understanding of the legal, social and ethical issues related to technology use. One question that often comes to mind is when should students be made aware of appropriate social networking amongst peers.

Students live in a technological world and spend quality time using technology socially. Just take a look around when you are out. If you spot a student most often you will see them texting, surfing the net, listening to their ipod, chatting through IM or talking on a cell phone.

How do students know what is appropriate? Do they know that what they do now can affect them later in life?Many do not think towards the future and that is why we must teach social network etiquette. Jobs are now googling prospective candidates to see what they have been doing on the social networking sites. Students need to know about cyber bullying. They need to know how to communicate in a friendly manner, yet they need to be cautioned of who they are communicating with at all times. The internet is full of child predators and children should be cautioned.

I think a good place to start is school, yet it needs to come from parents in order to be instilled for understanding and practice. Parents need to know what the social networking sites are and how they work.Parents may not understand why kids want to be on social networking sites. It also needs to be taught at a young age especially since kids today are born into the most advanced technology and it only keeps growing and changing. The question is, at what age?

One survey according to Zogby International shows that most adults feel more comfortable with young people's use of the internet, but the study shows that for most adults, they believe the appropriate age for use of networking sites should be between 16 and 18. This seems unrealistic in today's era of technology.