 "Photo: Yvonne Freckmann")
When it comes to the Internet, Esther Dufek and daughter Dominique have what some parents would consider the ideal relationship.
Dominique Dufek got her first e-mail account at 12, but her mother limited what she was allowed to do online.
Now, at 18, Dufek makes her own choices, still in consultation with her mother.
The Dufeks are one of many families dealing with tension created by teen use of social networking Web sites such as MySpace and Facebook.
Social networking sites are online places where people can create and customize Web pages, create a profile of themselves, talk to their friends, post pictures, music and videos, and even look up old friends.
Esther Dufek said her daughter is very open with her about her MySpace account. Daughter shows it to mom, and mom knows all the people on her list of friends.
She said she would worry if her daughter "were more secretive about it."
The Dufeks may be an exception. Many parents have started using the Internet to monitor, or spy on their kids.
Some parents, in fact, are creating their own accounts and disguising themselves as teenagers to talk to their children while pretending to be someone else - sometimes on the same sites as their children.
Mieya Hardee, 14, who will be attending high school next year, said that her parents check up on her MySpace account and don't allow her to talk to people she doesn't know.
Mieya said she doesn't mind the rules because she knows her parents are trying to protect her from the potential dangers.
The Internet Keep Safe Coalition, an organization formed by governors and first spouses to teach the importance of Internet safety, reports that 54 percent of teens frequently have private online conversations with strangers.
As in Mieya's case, many parents monitor their kids for safety. In other cases, they're snooping because of a lack of trust.
Brandy Burow's parents knew she had a MySpace account. It wasn't until her stepfather saw the reports about the dangers that things started to happen.
"He was very angry," Burow said. "He asked for my login, my password, so he could delete my account."
Burow's stepfather thought she was going to be irresponsible, like the people he saw on the news reports, Burow said.
Even Dufek has her own share of problems concerning online activity. Although her mother approves, she said she gets into arguments with her father about her MySpace account.
"He's afraid that unsavory persons are going to find me," Dufek said.
Every time something comes on television about the dangers of MySpace, he calls her over to show her.
With all his concern, Dufek's father does set some understandable rules. She is not allowed to use her last name or the name of her school.
Internet safety has been ingrained in Dominique Dufek since she was 12.
"At some point, they're going to be away from you, you have to teach them," her mom said. "I think - God, I hope - that we've taught her."
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