Teens using social media is like letting a ten year old child drive – well almost. The difference is most teens are unsupervised on social media and the ten year old driver wouldn’t do it without requesting an adult be in the vehicle.
Teens use social media networks. Ask yours how many they’re on.
My youngest is eleven, she is on four social networks. I know her passwords and check her privacy settings monthly.
My teen is fourteen and on five. I remind her to check her privacy settings as I stand there available to help. They’re both monitored on social media and they both know it.
All pre-teen and actual teens are at risk on social media and it is your job to protect, teach and help them.
Here are 7 ways to help your teen with use of social media
- Create a social media policy setting up rules, discuss positive good and negative bad behavior.
- Separate fact from drama (there is a lot of drama on social media).
- Talk to your teen every day about what’s up on social media, car rides are great for this. Don’t talk just listen!
- Follow, friend, like and circle them as your social network contact.
- Set a good example on your own profile and posts, tweets or shared content.
- Know your teens privacy settings and take time to check them at least monthly.
- Learn a neat trick and share it with them such as how to post in English (pirate) or English (upside down) on Facebook or how to double tap (with a mobile device) any photo on Instagram to like it.
I’ve heard someone say at a social event that they didn’t want to friend their teen on Facebook because they were afraid the teen would see what they were posting. It was heartbreaking.
I’ve heard many ask well how do you do that? Or the scary “they’ll be mad at me if I friend them” – I think the teen runs that household.
My kids both know that if I see something inappropriate I’ll speak up immediately. My ten year old thinks I know the owner of the social network and can have their account deleted – I let her believe it without saying a word.
This summer my daughter showed me a photo on Instagram of three eleven year old kids sitting on a second story roof acting like they were cool. I sent a text then called a Mom I know and immediately drove by the neighborhood home because I couldn’t reach her. I saw one of the roof sitting kid’s Mom on an errand later that day and I told her even though I don’t know her well. All the Moms took action and spoke to their children about it. The kids were safe but all mad that I told on them. How many roof sitters didn’t get caught?
Tricks you can use to monitor your teen
- Inform your social network connected Cousins, Aunts, Uncles, Grandma, close friends and family members your teen is on a social network and ask them to also friend, follow or circle them. Let them know about your social media policy. Tell your teen about your monitoring team.
- Subscribe to your teens updates via text on Facebook read how here: https://www.facebook.com/help/?faq=116324615117911 the setting is under notifications.
- Subscribe to their Twitter tweets via text (near the bottom of the page on the linked article) here: https://support.twitter.com/articles/20169920-how-to-get-sms-notifications-for-tweets-and-activity#activity-notifications
- Set up a Google alert with your teens nick name and city and Google will email you when Google detects such activity.
- Tell your teens friends that you are monitoring your teen on social media.
- Tell your teens friends parents that you monitor your child on social media and offer to share information with them.
- Set up a free profile with your teens information at https://brandyourself.com/ It’s a free and premium service offering reputation management and alerts for improving what appears online.
My kids teachers know I monitor my children on social networks and I share tips with them all the time.
What tips and tricks do you have? Leave them in a reply below.
