To limit what’s on your child’s profile

To limit what’s on your child’s profile
At any time, Facebook users can edit their page by going to their Profile and
clicking Edit My Profile below their picture (or whatever image they've picked
to represent themselves).
Although Facebook encourages members to add information to their profile,
the profile is blank by default. Your children don't have to provide any
information they don't want to include – even though there are places to enter
all sorts of information. Decide with them what's best to leave blank.
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What you see on the Edit My Profile page may vary, depending on age and privacy
settings. You have to state your sex and year of birth but don’t have to display them.
(Not all fields are shown.)
The boxes in Basic Information and Likes and Interests can be great places for
a teen to express who he or she is, but help your children give some thought
to what they're posting in these sections of their profiles. Even something as
innocuous as what's posted in Favorite Quotations can have an impact on their
reputation, when combined with other information they share about
themselves.
In particular, we suggest they give careful thought to whether or not it's
appropriate to check the boxes next to Interested In and Looking For under
Basic Information. Interested In (where you can choose Women or Men, or
both or neither) is basically another way of stating one’s sexual orientation –
something teens might want to avoid. Looking For can be a way of specifying
whether you are seeking a romantic relationship. Talk with your teens about
what these settings would look like to friends, relatives, or strangers if they
checked these boxes. In some cases, what they indicate could make them
vulnerable to harassment or bullying.
Filling in Likes and Interests is generally fine and can help your child reach out
to people with similar interests. On the other hand, depending on what’s
posted, it could also subject them to unnecessary scrutiny or bullying. Posting
where they go to school in Education and Work is fine. Remind your teen to be
very careful about what they put under Contact Information.
Even though Facebook requires users to state whether they're male or female
when they register, the default setting is not to check Show my sex in my
profile – and we recommend that teens leave it that way. The same goes for
birth date. As we mentioned above, birthdays are fine but not year of birth.
We strongly recommend that teens select Only show month & day in my
profile or Don’t show my birthday in my profile.
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Reputation Point: In some communities, this can be a safety issue too:
Teens might want to think twice before disclosing their political or religious
views. Are those private matters for your family? You might want to talk
with your children about what information is appropriate to share publicly,
even to friends, who can share it with others.