AFTER helping my daughter move to university, I popped to her local supermarket before heading home.

I met a fellow student and chatted to him as we both shopped. He was tall, attractive and so nice - and it turned out he was at the same college and living in the same hall of residence as she was.

That night, on the Facebook page my daughter had set up for me only days earlier to enable me to keep in touch, I place a comment along the lines of: ‘Found a future husband for you’, followed by details of the encounter.

Her reply came back immediately: ‘MUM GET THAT OFF NOW!!!!!’

Then she rang me in a fury to reinforce the message.

I thought I was sending her a private comment, but it had in fact gone on to her public timeline. Thankfully, she had not at that stage added anyone from university, so no damage was done. But it could have been mortifying.

This is just one example of the ways in which I have embarrassed my children over the years.

Parents have been embarrassing children since time began, but the manner in which they do so has changed. A new study has found that the main route to children being embarrassed at the hands of parents is the internet, with three-quarters of the discomforting things kids say their parents do taking place online.

Research by Post Office Broadband revealed that today’s teens are suffering social media mortification at the hands of their parents, with more than three-quarters (78 per cent) of youngsters claiming they are constantly left red-faced because of their parents’ actions on sites like Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

More than one in ten (14 per cent) say they feel more embarrassed by their parents being online than in real life. Complaints from teenagers include parents posting old family pictures online and embarrassing comments being left for all to see.

I rarely post on Facebook, but I recently put what I thought was a lovely photo of my daughters at Castle Howard on their pages. My older daughter left it in place, but her sister hastily removed it and sent me a message saying how horrible it was.

It is a change from the more obvious forms of embarrassment, such as the way parents dress - my youngest daughter constantly criticises my clothes - and behave in public. I was seen as such a liability by my youngest daughter that I was not allowed to pick her up outside school and she refused to go into shops with me. Many a time, I have checked in the mirror to see whether I’ve grown a second head.

I used to remind her of what I had to put up with - my dad picking me up from discos wearing his pyjamas under his coat. I would dive into the front seat, hoping my friends who were having a lift home would not notice.

Where online embarrassment is concerned, my daughters should be pleased that I am not as bad as some mums and dads.

A fifth of parents say they often add their children’s school friends as Facebook friends. I would never dream of doing this. Of course, if they asked me, I would accept, but it would have to come from them. And I would never consider posting baby pictures - almost a third of parents admit to doing this - or snaps from their childhood.

I regularly look at my daughters’ pages and love seeing their photos. But I make sure I resist the urge to comment - even if there’s a potential husband in sight.

MORE FROM HELEN MEAD