Involving Parents in School Programs about Safety on Social Network Sites

Social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook offer a lot of opportunities, but teenagers are often not aware of the possible negative consequences of posting personal, sexual, or offensive information. Therefore, schools and parents have an important role in educating kids about the risks on SNS. In this quasi-experimental study, the impact of a school intervention with parental involvement on pupils’ awareness, their attitudes, intentions and behaviour on SNS is measured. Quantitative and qualitative results give an answer to the two research questions that were put forth: (1) is an intervention involving parents effective to teach teenagers how to use SNS safely? And (2) is organizing an information evening an effective way to involve parents in school programs? Implications are discussed.