How to Put Parental Blocks on Facebook

By Sarah Barnes

Monitoring your child's Facebook account requires knowing her password.
i Jupiterimages/Comstock/Getty Images

If your underage child has a Facebook account, you may be surprised to know that you don't have much control over it. Short of using your child's password to log into his account, there's little parental monitoring available. If you want to control who can see what your children post to Facebook, ask them to share their account passwords with you so you can log in to the accounts and adjust settings as needed. If you'd rather they not be on Facebook altogether, you can set up a block on the site using parental filtering software.

Complete Block

Install an Internet monitoring or filtering program on your computer. There are dozens of such programs available; a comprehensive listing can be found at Download.com. Many filtering programs must be purchased after a free trial period, although some are completely free. Choose a program that allows you to customize filters, as many monitoring programs are designed mostly to block adult content and may not allow for additional filtering.

Navigate to your filtering program's "Options" (or similar) page and create a custom filter to block Facebook.com. Exact instructions vary by program, so consult the Help file if you need assistance.

Ensure that your password for the filtering program is secure and not easily guessed by your children, as they may attempt to bypass the block by turning off the software (which should require entering the password).

Privacy Controls

Log in to Facebook with your child's email address and password.

Click "Account," then "Privacy Settings" in the top-right corner of the home page.

Modify the privacy settings as needed. Facebook's default options for all content are "Everyone," "Friends of Friends" and "Friends Only"; if your child's account is currently showing all content to Everyone, you may wish to change it to a stricter setting, so only your child's Facebook friends can see what he posts. You can also click "Custom" to make individual changes to each type of content.

×