You may have been caught unaware with a recent trend when it comes to freedom of expression for teenagers and kids alike. If your generation can perfectly do with a simple notebook for a daily journal, today's tech-savvy teens have moved on to online diaries in the form of online blogs (web logs), as well as social networking sites which also feature similar opportunities for expression.

While this is a welcome venture only for the fact that it allows teenagers another medium of expression, one which is constantly updated and can be shared to a certain extent. The medium itself is too vast and unregulated that your teenager may become an unwilling target for conmen and predators, so much so that you have to ensure that your teenager subscribes to such sites responsibly enough to prevent exploitation.

Although blogging is essentially a personal activity, you might want to talk about your teenager about the dangers of disclosing information which can be too revealing. An online journal is less private than a diary tucked under the pillow, and even a person's full name can be used to his or her disadvantage.

It also helps if you stay abreast of your child's knowledge of the web so that you have first-hand experience of what to expect and what to do in case such a situation arises. You might also want to enforce parental control of your teenager's online activity, particularly the correspondence aspects of such. Now, make it clear that you are doing this not to snoop on his or her privacy but to monitor online activity for the latter's personal benefit.

Since most blog sites also allow users to post multimedia content as part of an online blog (audio and video content), your teenager may have posted something which can set him or her up at part with online porn stars in comparison. This may not necessarily deal with homemade adult videos (although such materials have been known to circulate on the net without the participant's permission, qualifying them as unwilling porn stars in consequence).

Suggestive pictures and even manipulated images can also qualify as adult content, and you need to draw the line when your teenager practically follows through on the steps of porn stars with such attempts at recognition, voluntary or otherwise. Tell your teenager that the internet is a free-for-all medium, and he or she has to keep this fact in mind before doing something similarly imprudent.

Make sure that you have the addresses of your teenager's blogging sites including the login passwords for the accounts. If your teen changes the login password, let him or her inform you of such. Your teen may feel that personal privacy is encroached with such an effort, so you have to do your part to assure your child that you have no intent to spy on your teenager's journals.

Keep your promises by browsing the blogs only on occasion, and leave an encouraging comment which lets your teenager know that you've browsed the site and was pleased with what you've read. Your teenager deserves the right to freedom of expression, but for his or her own good, regulation is necessary, at least for the time being.