Nearly everyone uses social media, and many positive aspects come along with it. But despite its positive aspects, parents must also understand that there are too many dangers that children and adolescents cannot avoid seeing on social media.
When your teens upload something on a particular website, they don't always make the best decisions, which may sometimes lead to issues. You don't have to wait for the problems to arise before you get your teen to stop posting inappropriate things on their social media accounts. So parents must discuss with their teens how to properly use social media.
Getting Your Teen to Stop Posting Inappropriate Things on Social Media
You may find our tips below helpful on managing disturbing things you'll see in your teen's social media;
- Always stay calm - There will always be a chance that you'll find disturbing things on your teen's account; if this happens, you must start by addressing your teen in a nonjudgmental manner. Inquire about it and let them explain it to you, and then pay attention to their answer before you evaluate and discuss it.
- Please don't make assumptions: Although you may find being direct and discuss directly to your teens about negative things you saw on their social media, it is essential that you dont make assumptions. You dont bring up their past experiences in the topic so that you won't lead to more chaotic talk.
- Give them limits in using social media - setting a limit will help you monitor your teen's attention to social media. Limit their time on their phone and other gadgets that may divert their time to talk to the household.
Give them strategies to control and monitor their time on social media.
- The front-yard strategy is when you ask them if they would be comfortable standing in the front yard with their comments and posts visible for everyone to see.
- The THINK strategy: This method is defined as True, Helpful, Inspiring, Necessary, and Kind. Let them internalize before they post or leave anything on their social media.
- The privacy settings strategy - this is the easiest way to do it; go to your teen's privacy settings so you can see what your teen is doing and set recommendations if you find something disturbing.
Discuss with your kids the good and bad side of social media
Positive things social media can help your teens with;
- Being connected to friends and family all the time
- Getting involved with volunteerism or charity
- Developed their talents in arts, music, and poetry
- Can interact with other who have the same interest with them
- They can easily communicate to education
Adverse effects of social media that may harm or negatively influence your teens are;
- Fraudulent or scam activity may use your teen's name or pictures
- Exposes private information
- Reveals locations and addresses
But the bottom line for this is for parents to be always on track in monitoring their teens' online behavior. We can't tame social media, and it will always be a part of our lives, so we must take all necessary precautions and try to avoid being ignorant when it comes to the world our teens live in.
Though we may find the risks and dangers our teens face continue to get higher, social media may also help them develop critical life skills and expound their decision-making skills. What's important is, we as parents are always behind them to guide them in the right direction.
