Social networking sites have taken over the lives of teens everywhere. Logging on and spending hours socializing with friends (old and new) interferes with study and family time.  As you get closer to finals and deadlines for college applications, for example, something has to give.

Carlos Fenollosa (Flickr)

“Defriending” has arrived and even Facebook recognizes the need. They are keeping track of members who choose to defriend to kick the habit. Some users are temporarily signing off to lessen the distraction during crunch time.

16-year-old Monica Reed and Halley Lamberson, age 17, go to San Francisco University High School. They recently made a pact to log on only on the first Saturday of each month. They wanted to take a break from spending too much time obsessing over Facebook.

As you know, blogging, chatrooms and the Internet in general can become addictive. Do you know anyone who can’t live without Facebook or MySpace? What can you do to remind them that there’s a real world beyond the virtual?

Some teens who recognize the need to take a break from the digital world are deactivating their accounts, and joining support groups to enforce the break. It’s hard to wean yourself away from the computer but it can be done.

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