[Margaret Pilkington]

Well, Cashy...so far, so good.
Her children were not allowed mobile phones until last September...they are not allowed on social media(despite their requests).
The phones are conditional and their mum vets the history on a regular basis.
Their accounts are linked to hers so that she can monitor what they are doing.

Obviously as they get older there will have to be some changes, but these will be discussed with the children.
Children are not the equals to parents...you cannot be 'friends'(well, not until the children grow up to be adults).
Parents are there to protect children and this gets more problematic over the years.
It is not about control, it is about safety, security and trying to ensure that there is some protection from the things that are out there that can harm them.