Social Media and Your Child

It is your responsibility as a parent to monitor your child's activities on any and all social media. You may think your child can "handle it", but that doesn't mean they don't need your protection, wisdom or discipline.

Many parents allow social media for their kids because "everyone else is doing it" including parents. And let's be honest, it keeps the kids quiet and occupied if they can stare at their phones and be connected 24/7.

Don't sleep on the job. Social media is a pandora's box and it is your job to put a lid on it!

• It's a safety issue - There are all kinds of creepy people out there that are very social media savvy. You are fooling yourself if you don't think they have their eyes on our children.
• There is a record of social media activity - Colleges, employers, and others can search these sites and see what your child's activity was like.
• It makes an already difficult time in our children's lives even more difficult and public - Now kids are open to criticism and bullying from thousands of people rather than their immediate circle of peers. Why do we want to do this to our kids?
• It's addictive - Kids get sucked into this and feel they can't function unless they see what their friends have been doing.

• A lot of parents are clueless about it - Making social media even more of a minefield for their children. If you're going to let your kid be on these sites, at least watch them like a hawk and be present yourself.
• Social media makes our kids have an unnatural obsession with themselves - Just look at the amount of "selfies" kids are posting. Would you walk down the street and shout, "Look at me? Don't I look great today?". Probably not - yet this is what social media does.
• There are so many other good things for our children to be doing - Encourage more hands-on activities such as reading books, creating things, actually talking with friends, and family.

Please visit the follwing website for more information on protecting your child from social media dangers.

• OnGuardOnline.gov