As a parent there is a lot to consider these days: education, diet & exercise, extra circular activities, general household rules… you get the idea. As a parent of a tween (soon to be teen) there seems to be a whole other dimension added to that I now get to experience. Fortunately (or maybe not) I remember my middle school years. I count myself lucky to still be in contact with my best friend from all those years ago too. (She knows where all the skeletons are buried)
I asked the question on facebook and got a variety of responses, and will ask it here too, because I enjoy the conversations it can generate and learning others views helps to expand mine.
Do you google or facebook/twitter search the boyfriends or girlfriends of your kids?
Growing up in the day before all this technology my parents knew the neighbors, they knew the kids I hung out with, they knew the principal at my school (at least through middle school anyway). They knew the pharmacist at the shop down the street, they knew neighbors on other streets that recognized me when I was out running around with my friends. It wasn’t easy to get away with things then. Don’t get me wrong, I did get away with some stuff and I did get caught doing other things I shouldn’t have. I expect this of kids of any generation. But because of the availability of information and the willingness of so many to share information with seemingly complete strangers in some regards, where do you draw the line? How much information is too much? When is it not enough?
Parent or not share your thoughts in the comments below.
Brain Drops 
with the great parenting job you and dean have done i have great faith that amy will try to do some things normal teens do, but she will always come back to the right decision which has become part of her. i do know that when poppy came to me when she was 17 to tell me she was sexually active i took her to my gynecologist for exam, discussion, and birth control pills – although she still got pregnant. i did feel good thought that she felt comfortable enough to discuss this sensitive subject with me as her mother. as you may know, the only sex education your mom and i got was when our mother said she wanted to talk to us and then proceeded to tell us to always remember that “men don’t marry used cows”. your mom and i looked at each other wondering what that was all about, but obediently said “ok mammie”. we still laugh about that! i know this might not help your quest for constructive information, but ………
Thank you Aunt Maritza for sharing your wisdom and stories with me. I don’t think I had heard that story about Oma’s conversation with you & mom, but it brought a smile to my face just reading it.