What do you need to know, and how can you keep your kids safe?
In today’s world, many teens communicate the most through social media. No, it isn’t like when we grew up and wrote notes and folded them up into tiny triangles and passed them between classes…. now there are texts, selfies, snaps, tweets, etc. It can be downright scary for us parents wanting to keep our kids safe. Here are some tips to help you feel more comfortable helping your kiddos stay safe.
*Set rules and an age limit for use. Make sure that your children understand your expectations for using the internet and social media. You may choose to have a contract in place with them before they use social media so that you can refer to it and remind them of the rules as they go. Reviewing the rules on a regular basis can help them to remember.
*Educate yourself. The first step in this process is to stay aware of new trends that arise in the social media world. For example, some of you may have heard about the “tide pod challenge” or some of the other challenges that were popular not long ago, that could cause a great deal of medical and other issues. Kids were videoing themselves doing these challenges to post them on social media, even though they were very dangerous. We must remember that a part of what our teens are going through is that their brains are still developing, and they crave risk taking activities. Being aware of these challenges gives you the opportunity to talk to your kids about the dangers before they decide to try it. Usually you can do a simple google search to find social media trends, but you can also ask your kids. Sometimes our kids would like to talk to us about these things but aren’t sure how to start the conversation. Make sure you give them praise when they do choose to talk to you about things, because it encourages them to continue bringing things to you.
*Sharing safely. Talk to your kids about what is okay to share and what is not. Kids don’t typically think in terms of safety, so it is important for you to explain to them what is not safe and why it isn’t. Talk to them about not sharing address, locations, and other identifying information. This information in the wrong hands can be very dangerous and put your child at risk. Talk to your kids about pictures that they share and what is okay and what is not. Tell them about how their words once on the internet may as well be carved in stone and how that can impact them throughout life.
*Who is okay? Talk to them about WHO is okay to talk to. Kids don’t always remember that there are bad people out there that may seem very nice. They need to know who is okay to talk to on social media. Tell them not to accept friend requests from strangers and not to share information with strangers.
*Keep it secure. Remind your teens to never give out their password information to anyone but you. Help them keep their security settings set to private. Make sure that they don’t have any information on their profiles that would make them unsafe. Do regular privacy check-ups on their accounts to make sure they are still secure.
By Jen Bernardi, DFCC Prevention Programs Coordinator
LEARN MORE on May 21st at the ProActive Parenting Town Hall! Drug Free Charlotte County is partnering with the Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office to bring you important information and tips for parenting your children and teens, including social media, underage alcohol use and drug trends. There will also be activities for 5th – teens – and of course, pizza for all! Sign up on Facebook at:
https://www.facebook.com/events/2337970703106768/
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