As a parent, it’s your job to guide your teen and help them make wise choices about their future. It’s not always easy and most of the time overwhelming. Many times there are arenas online that your teen frequents that could on some level, harm their future. Social networking sites are popping up and odds are your teen has a presence on at least one of these: MySpace, Facebook, Twitter, myYearbook, and various blogging sites such as Blogspot and LiveJournal.

Here’s something you should do with your child that might help you see the importance of controlling what you send out into the internet universe. Do a Google search. Type in your child’s name and see if it appears in the search results. Why do this? College admissions and future employers are finding it important to check out these social websites before making a decision related to applicants.

A recent study by eMarketer indicated that in 2009 15.5 internet users ages 12-17 (or 75%) will use social networking websites. The article noted some interesting results from their online survey:

Specifically, information on young people’s social network pages can come back to haunt them. Over 60% of those surveyed acknowledged that the things friends wrote in their profiles could harm their careers. In addition, 48% said they could be embarrassed by what they themselves wrote, and 38% said they regretted some of the items that had appeared on their pages already.

It’s not too soon to prepare your child for the future. Helping them understand the importance of protecting their own “personal brand” is a part of that preparation.