When a child doesn't use social media responsibly

apresski
Wed, 07 Jun 2017 17:35:26 +0000

I think it’s completely unrealistic for parents to say “I won’t let my kids be on social media.” That’s what my very well-meaning parents, who just wanted to protect me from all the nastiness out there, said. I made an FB profile anyway and would just check it when they weren’t around (on school computers, on home computers before they got home from work, etc.) That’s how kids made plans and interacted with each other, and I would have been kind of socially isolated and left out without it. And nowadays you can get a very cheap burner smartphone, so banning/restricting smartphones, locking down apps/texting, or keeping computers in public areas might not help; a determined kid will find a way.

I think it’s better (at least for FB) to let your kid have an account, but insist that they friend you. You’ll be able to see what they post and like, but at the same time they’ll be able to interact with their peers. Insist that their profile is set to “friends only.” Insist that they allow you to follow them on Instagram, and so on.

But beyond that? I wouldn’t really interact with them on those online platforms too much if at all (they might get embarrassed and start to be more sneaky about it) but you’ll be able to watch out for inappropriate postings and weird behavior/warning signs. Watch, and step in if things start to get bad, but for the most part let them interact on social media as if you weren’t there. Allowing them to have the fantasy of freedom, for lack of a better phrase, might discourage a lot of kids from lying to their parents about social media usage.