FOURTEEN-YEAR-OLD Sheryl Seet does not just share photos with her friends on her Facebook profile.

She also shares them with her mother, whom she added to her list of friends on the social-networking site last December.

Sheryl's mother, 41-year-old manager N. Seet, also sometimes receives messages on her Facebook profile from Sheryl and will chat online with her at work using MSN Messenger.

In fact, it was Mrs Seet who introduced the teenager to Facebook. As Mrs Seet can reply to Sheryl's online messages even at work during periods when she is less busy, Sheryl said that 'it's easier to communicate with my mother online than to call her'.

Sheryl is part of a generation of Internet-savvy children who are 'friending' their parents on online social-networking sites.

An online global survey done in the last two months of last year found that one in four children aged eight to 17 added their parents to their list of friends on online profiles on sites like Facebook and Friendster. The survey, commissioned by IT-security firm Symantec, polled over 2,600 children across 12 countries, including the United States and China.

Clinical psychologist Carol Balhetchet told my paper the findings show that kids are opening up to their parents by allowing them to become part of their online lives. Conversely, parents are moving with the times and using the Internet to keep in touch with their kids despite their busy lives.

Dr Balhetchet said these are positive developments, but she cautioned against relying too much on the Internet. 'If parents communicate with their children only online without face-to-face interaction, their kids won't be able to learn vital social skills,' she explained.

Even as children develop online relationships with their parents, the survey also found that many adults underestimate the amount of time their kids spend online.

On average, the 1,300 adults surveyed with children aged eight to 17 said their kids spent 21 hours a month online. In reality, they spent 39 hours online. -- MY PAPER