Social Media and Children

Social Media and your Children

Christmas is a mere couple days away, and children all over the world will be opening new phones, Ipads, computers, etc.  They will be logging on to Facebook, Instgram, Twitter, Snapchat, and whatever other social media I am too old to know about.

As a parent, I believe it is important to be vigilant and monitor your children's social media.    Not that there is any way to have access to everything, but you have to at least try.   My kids are required to add me as a "friend" on all social media as well as give me the pass codes to their phones.   I know what you are thinking... that I don't trust my kids.   I do trust my kids, but they are still young and learning.   And they have friends who are trying to influence them from the outside.   My two teenage daughters have a fair amount of common sense, and they often censor themselves.  

I have seen some very interesting stuff posted by middle and high school students.   A middle school girl who tweets "Fuck fake bitches" and other profane statements.  I am pretty sure her mother has no idea.    Or the high school freshmen who posts pictures of herself smoking pot or posing in lingerie.  These accounts aren't private.   They are public.    

So why don't I contact the parents and let them know.   A couple of reasons.   1.  I don't always know the parents.  2.  I have done that before, and the parents make me out to be the bad guy.  So enough of that. 

The students at the school I work at say that I am doing too much.    They think my kids need their privacy.   I agree that teenagers need privacy to grow and learn to make great decisions.   But social media is SOCIAL... and if accounts aren't private... there is no privacy there.   If you need privacy, text or talk in private.    Just remember that texts can be screenshot and sent to someone else.   Is there privacy in that?   And if your accounts are not private and I can see them, future employers and colleges can also see your accounts.   

The images that you post on social media help people form a judgment on who you are as a person.   Is what you are portraying there really the person you want people to think that you are. 

I may be seen as a strict or mean mom.    But guess what?  I don't care.    Raising my kids to be upstanding citizens who make good decisions is my priority.   

Do yourself a favor.... check in on your kids every once in a while.   You don't have to know EVERYTHING they are doing, but knowing that you are checking on them might just make them think twice about posting inappropriate and stupid stuff.