Maybe it's just the parent in me, but when I hear the words “social networking” and “kids” in the same sentence I get a little tense worrying about my kids safety. There are so many things we need to worry about when our kids start using Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter: cyberbullies, online predators, sexting, loss of privacy – the list goes on. But don't forget that social networks can be a great way for our tweens and teens to get involved in good causes, spend their time productively, and do their own small part to make the world a better place.

Kids today keep track of their homework assignments, their schedules, and their lives in general on social networks. Just one more reason for parents to keep an eye on their teen's Facebook and MySpace pages.

When kids want to plan a party or organize a group study session, the event is often planned via social networking sites. The message can be sent to multiple friends at a time and the response is much quicker than they could expect with texts or phone calls. Social networking is one of the most convenient ways for kids to plan out their day.

By now, all parents should be well aware of the potential dangers of cyberbullying and Internet predators on social networking sites. But social networking can also keep our kids safe in ways previously unavailable. Law enforcement is discovering how to use Facebook and MySpace as a way to identify, prevent, and protect kids from crimes.

Many police departments now have a presence on Facebook or MySpace. By using social networking to establish a relationship with the community, police can reach out to at-risk youth and provide a teen-friendly avenue for reporting dangerous or illegal activity. Teens who know about a local gang fight that is about to happen, for example, probably wouldn't call the local police department but might find it more comfortable to tip off police through the familiar medium of Facebook or MySpace.

If you think that only kids that are the victim of cyberbullying, think again. Teachers can also become the targets of cyberbullying by their own students. In particular, Facebook hate groups aimed at a particular teacher are increasingly common.

In 2007, a Florida high schooler was suspended for creating a Facebook group called "Ms. Sarah Phelps is the worst teacher I’ve ever met!” She sued the school, claiming that creating the group was within her legal free speech rights. She won.

It may be legal, but it’s not nice – and it’s not smart, either.

You don’t need an expert to tell you that you lived a different childhood than your kids do. You remember when you had to get up and turn the dial on the TV to change channels; your teen can’t understand how a world without Facebook or MySpace would even function.

You perceive everything differently than your child, and that includes the very nature of social networking.

As adults and non-Facebook natives, we naturally approach social networking with more caution and more discretion. We are well aware that it is a public activity. We parents are more likely to view Facebook as more of a billboard-type communication than a conversation with a friend. But do our kids?

As the word "sexting" began to gradually make its way into every parent’s vocabulary, we worried that racy images of our kids could get passed on to other kids and embarrass our child. But now a new buzzword – sextortion – is proving how dangerous the practice of sexting really can be.

Sextortion is shorthand for online sexual extortion. When someone posts or sends suggestive photos or video of themselves through an online medium, it can be accessed by Internet-savvy strangers.

Would your teen start to get the shakes after 15 minutes if you took away the computer and all their Bluetooth-enabled devices? If so, it may be time to worry about their online usage’s impact on their mental health.

A study published on Monday by the Archives of Pediatric & Adolescent Medicine suggests that teenagers who are pathologic Internet users are twice as likely to develop clinical depression.

Facebook seems to have more of an interest these days in keeping its users, particularly children and teens, safe from social networking dangers such as cyberbullying and child predators.

In April a revamped Safety Center appeared on Facebook, with targeted safety information for parents, educators, teens, and law enforcement.

After the Facebook-related deaths of 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall in March and 18-year-old Nona Belomisoff in May,

In March, Ashleigh Hall’s name was splashed across newspapers everywhere after her body was found in a ditch. The 17-year-old had done something that a worrisome number of teens do: made a new friend on Facebook and gone to meet him.

A 2006 survey commissioned by Cox Communications with the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children reported that:

• 71% of teens reported receiving messages online from someone they don’t know

• 45% have been asked for personal information by someone they don’t know

• 30% have considered meeting someone that they’ve only talked to online

• 14% have actually met a person face-to-face that they’ve only talked to on the Internet (the figure for teens ages 16 and 17 jumps to 22%)

In Ashleigh’s case, her new friend was a predator who had lied about his identity, posing as a 17-year-old boy. Many were quick to point fingers at Facebook: can’t they do more to prevent people from lying about who they are online?

Xbox.  Xbox 360.  Xbox LIVE.  What’s the difference between these systems and what do we need to know as parents.  Let’s start with the basics.

When I was a kid “social gaming” meant sitting around with your friends on beanbag chairs, waiting for your turn at Pac-Man with the one joy stick we had.  The definition of “social gaming” for our children’s generation is very different.

Today, our children can pick up their controller and play a game of Halo with someone 1,000 miles away by connecting online.  They can check to see if their friends are “online” and join them in “multi-player mode”, all while sitting on beanbag chairs in different houses.  The world of gaming is changing rapidly and as parents we need to change the image we have of how kids play video games.

Microsoft’s Xbox is just one example of “social gaming”. These systems allow the user to connect online through your homes internet connection to download new games, chat or play with others users, download and watch movies, or even share photos.

Facebook isn’t strictly a photo sharing site, but it’s increasingly being used as one – especially by teens.

In almost any group of tweens or teens, someone is likely to have a camera phone. They can quickly snap a picture, upload it directly to Facebook from their phone, and it is instantly disseminated through their entire network of friends. This can be a convenient way to relay messages, but it can also be dangerous if your child isn’t aware of who can see their pictures (and the captions they tack on them.)

The four Privacy Settings for photos on Facebook are:

1. Everyone