Facebook...again!

Those who know me have heard me say that I don't think children should have Facebook accounts. And yes, I realize that certain children are more mature than others, and there are parents out there who have the good sense (and the time) to monitor what their kids are putting out there for the world to see. However, yesterday I saw a frightening example of why I am still of the opinion that young kids should NOT be on Facebook.
The following status update was posted yesterday by a 10 year old child that my girls are friends (actual friends, not FB friends) with: "Home alone until 5 o'clock! Does anyone want to come hang out?" In this kid's mind, this was a completely innocent request for her friends to come over and play. In my mind, the mind of a parent, this is how tragedies that we hear about on the news start. Here is the issue: this kid thinks she's just talking to her "friends." I really don't think it's crossed her mind that all it would take is for someone like me to comment on her status and 600+ other people, including grown men and people I barely know, know that she's home by herself. I can't begin to explain how hard it was for the mom in me to keep from showing up at her house and trying to talk some sense into her! I looked for the post again this morning and it had been taken down, so perhaps someone has talked with her about it and explained the dangers.
I completely understand the urge to shelter kids as long as possible. But if you are going to allow your child to have access to this many people that they don't know at one time, you need to explain that there are people out there who would read that post and see an opportunity to rob, kidnap, rape, kill, or do any number of other horrible things to a little girl left home alone. The mother in me just shudders! The bigger issue to me is this: this kid doesn't think like a parent. Her youth and inexperience don't permit her to consider all of the repercussions that those two little sentences could have set into motion. Thankfully, in this situation nothing bad happened, but it sure could have. She could have been looking back on that one simple post in twenty years and saying, "That's the day my life was ruined."
Please don't get me wrong. I'm not suggesting that kids who are old enough and mature enough (and that's totally at a parent's discretion) shouldn't be left home alone. I'm just saying that they shouldn't disclose that fact to everyone they have ever met and thousands of people they don't know.
I love where we live. We are completely settled in Small Town, USA. The kids are great, the neighbors are great, the schools are great. We moved to this community specifically because we wanted this lifestyle for our children. However, it's becoming increasingly apparent to me that kids who grow up here have a false sense of security about where they live. So what's a parent to do? I have no idea. But please, please, if you are going to let your kids be on Facebook, at the very least, friend them and monitor their posts!