The big question for parents used to be "It’s 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?" A more relevant question now might be, "Do you know what your children are doing online?"

A recent forum at Oneonta High School hosted by FBI special agent Emily Vacher addressed just that issue. During the presentation, parents saw real profiles posted by Oneonta High School students making reference to drug and alcohol use, sexual activity and other behaviors sure to raise parents’ eyebrows.

The forum is one of many held at area high schools in recent weeks designed to make parents aware of how these sites operate, how teens are using them and how parents can be more proactive with regard to their children’s online activities.

This is not always an easy thing to do. As Vacher put it, "Part of being a teenager is doing everything your parents told you not to do and hiding it to cover your tracks." But as most parents would tell you, this doesn’t mean you give up on your kids.

A lot has already been said about why it’s not smart to air this type of dirty laundry on the Internet. Some would say there’s no point to forums such as this, because surely everybody already knows all about the potential evils of MySpace, Facebook and the like. But Vacher’s presentation made several salient points about how parents can face down the evils of cyber-stupidity and help their children do the right thing.

First and foremost, no amount of spyware, password protection or other technological barriers will keep teens away from a site they want to visit. Because of this, Vacher emphasized the need for parents to communicate with their children and be knowledgeable about how those sites operate.

One of the key reasons social-networking sites are troubling is that people’s personal information is out in the open for all to see. Well, that means parents can see it, too. A teen who’s gotten a MySpace friend request from Mom or Dad might be a little more careful about what she posts on her profile.

The other key to Vacher’s presentation was pointing out that, with the growing popularity and ubiquity of the sites, what you post today can come back to haunt you tomorrow _ or 10 years from now.

When Facebook and MySpace were in their infancy, users had a sense of belonging to something of a closed community. Now, however, Vacher points out that it’s not just your long-lost friends from summer camp who might be checking out your profile _ employers and college admissions counselors are accessing these sites, too.

In general, all advice about teens and the Internet boils down to one thing: Don’t be stupid. Adolescence may be something of a golden age for stupid decisions, but when it comes to the Internet, the point is worth making.