According to a survey some parents use Facebook to spy on their own children

More than half of parents admit to using social media such as Facebook and Twitter to spy on their children, according to a recent poll.

Market research firm OnePoll interviewed 2,000 British parents for computer security software maker BullGuard. It found that 55 percent of parents check their children's social network profile to "keep an eye" on them. BullGuard announced another 5 percent said they would if they knew how.

Among other findings:

Four in ten parents admitted to checking their children's social media status updates;
39 percent use the Facebook "wall" to see who posts messages to their children
29 percent look through tagged images;
11 percent say they set up a Facebook account just so that they could snoop on their child.

About 16 percent of parents have tried to "friend" their child, with 30 percent of the requests turned down.

That doesn't stop the parents. The TIME Techland blog stated that the survey found 13 percent log onto friends' accounts who they know are connected to their children.

As far as why parents are snooping, LaptopMag.com reported:

36 percent say they are "overprotective";
24 percent believe Facebook is the only way to see what their children were doing;
6 percent said it helped them avoid "awkward conversations" with their children.

Social networking sites aren't the only method through which parents check up on their children, the UK Telegraph reported. About 76 percent of parents check Internet history searching for unsuitable websites.