This article was originally published in 2015.
If you ask my husband, the problem with the world today is Facebook. Typically, this comment is made after 15 minutes spent telling him about the latest drama in my Facebook feed. And normally, I would just roll my eyes and wonder if he’s going to be as grumpy as my grandpa in his old age. But recently, I started to think maybe he’s right (but I’m not going to tell him that!).
We live in an age where every moment of our life, from what we ate for breakfast to how we are feeling “lonely” or “happy” or “pissed” is displayed for the world to see and for what? Do we genuinely want 540 of our “closest friends” to know how we are feeling that day or how amazing our pizza was that night? Or is it because we secretly love having this platform that doesn’t offer much confrontation when we tell the world how we feel? social media and parents
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a perfect social media user. Now that my son is growing up, I know I’m setting an example for him on what it means to have proper social media etiquette, and it begs the question: do we owe it to our kids to be socially responsible social media users? I think the answer is YES!
Here are my top five guidelines for parents (and everyone else!) when it comes to social media:
- You have a platform, use it wisely. What’s the most beautiful thing about being a human being? Having a mind of our own and an opinion. But this doesn’t necessarily mean that we have to always make it known. I may not agree with my friend that curly fries are the best type of fry in the world, even though she posts weekly about how amazing they are. Let her have her curly fries…there are more important things to spend your time worrying about. Our kids are going to go through life alongside people that think very differently than they do – let’s teach them that it’s ok.
- Do NOT trash talk your child’s school, teacher or administrators on social media. Sometimes we have legitimate concerns with our child’s school but this is something you address in private, not on social media. Why? First of all, you may only have one side of the story (probably your child’s), and by posting on Facebook how wronged your child was because they didn’t get to play in the game that night, without knowing that he skipped practice the day before the game, is incredibly irresponsible. Second, if YOU are posting about the school or a teacher on social media, your child’s teacher doesn’t have a chance in the world of garnering their respect in the classroom. Set an appointment with the school, not your computer!
- Do NOT trash talk your child’s peers on social media. This should be obvious, but just in case it isn’t, don’t talk about other kids on social media. Growing up isn’t easy, and kids today have to deal with bullies face-to-face and online. They don’t need YOU setting a poor example for your child and fanning the flames.
- Let’s keep the family drama in the family (and off of the internet). I’ve seen this more times than I can count, and I feel embarrassed for the person posting. Trust me, there are times when my husband or my family drive me bonkers! But after those feelings are gone, I can never take back a post I made in the heat of the moment. Again, if I’m posting nasty things about my family on Facebook, why would my child think it’s unacceptable to do the same?
- If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say it at all – When in doubt, follow the golden rule. Remember the days back in school when a kid would get called to the front of the class for passing a note about another classmate? Typically, when they had to look at the face of the person they had written something nasty about, they would feel remorseful. Even though we can’t SEE the person we are tearing down from the comfort of our couch at home, they are a person and they feel every.single.word you type. If we can’t figure that out as adults, our kids don’t stand a chance.
What social media “rule” do you wish you could share with some people?
