Children post family secrets - leaving parents to pay.

It's all fun and games until someone gets hurt - or in this case, until someone pays.

These days it goes beyond advising children and teens not to post their private information online. Now you have to warn them not to post seemingly "harmless" information about their family, especially their immediate family members such as their parents.

Here's why: Police and employers are watching, snooping and finding all sorts of dirt and drama.

It turns out that teens have posted things about their alcoholic or meth-addicted parents which have resulted in jobs being terminated and even arrests.

And if the police haven't yet cruised by your online neighborhood, anonymous tips can land parents in trouble too. For example, one boy made a post which bragged about how his mom provided alcohol for his underage friends (a definite no-no) which was later reported to authorities by a casual visitor.

So be on the look-out for more than just information revealed by your teen that could lead to identity theft, be aware of information that could harm your reputation or land you in jail.

(And if you are doing things to harm your rep or that could get you sent to Club Fed - stop it!)

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