Let’s admit it: Adults and children are too much into social media these days. According to a recent study by the American Academy of Pediatrics, almost 22 percent of the teenagers log onto their favorite social media sites more than 10 times a day. And some of their favorite social media sites include Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, YouTube videos and more.
No doubt, social media actually wears the crown in terms of increased communication, access more information, developing a sense of self and things like that. That said there are serious downsides to it as well such as cyberbullying, sexting, inappropriate images, Facebook depression and more.
To monitor the social media behavior of kids, parents should install apps such as WebWatcher and Net Nanny on their children’s phones, without the child coming to know of it. These apps will allow the parents to keep track of everything and respond immediately if they come across sexting and cyberbullying.
According to recent studies, 15 percent of youth surveyed admitted to sexting and 25 percent of receiving a sext.
Few Social Media Do’s and Don’ts for Tweens and Teens
- Kids younger than 13 years shouldn’t be allowed to have a Facebook profile.
- Disable the location services on apps. This keeps the predators from tracking their location.
- Download programs such as Net Nanny to filter content, block chats and more. Plus, you can download a software program like My Mobile Watchdog to monitor a child’s cell phone. For more information on social media tracking apps, consult top mobile app development companies.
The role of parents in keeping a check on children’s social media usage
#1. Talk to them
The more you talk to them, the better. Your children need to know what’s happening around them and why is the world going crazy mad about Instagram and Facebook. That said they also need to know that they will come across indecent images, cyberbullies and even people asking personal questions.
Kids also need to be told as to what kind of images they can post on social media. Sure they may be more tech-savvier than you but then that doesn’t vouch for their maturity. This is important because predators most likely approach children who have posted inappropriate images.
The idea is to build an open, positive family culture, where social media can be discussed uninhibitedly.
Remember: Introducing children to social media is part of parenting now. You need to walk them through all the pros and cons before letting them start and operate their accounts.
#2. Frame a Social Media Contract
Experts in the industry recommend preparing a Social Media contract in writing, wherein you and your child decide on a few guidelines to comply with. Both the parties, the parent and the child, will be signing the contract to ensure that the contract is strictly followed. One of the contract rules could be that as a parent you will have complete access to all his social media accounts.
Put the contract on the soft board so that your kids can see it easily and follow it.
#3. Track the Followers
Of course, you need to keep a track of your child’s followers and those following them. In fact, you need to sit with them and give a complete once-over of their profile. Teach them to unfollow and block irrelevant people. Initially, you may have to spend more time helping them unfollow and block people. They’ll gradually learn that following brands that sell salesy stuff will only clog their feed. Plus, if they come across some indecent, inappropriate images, make them block the follower, and even report it to Instagram.
#4. Educate Yourself
If anything, even educators should make an effort to integrate social media in school and college curriculum. For that matter, even parents should learn to operate the apps and website their children mostly frequent. Because, in case, if a child is cyberbullied, a parent who’s familiar with the technology can easily intervene and help the child out of that situation.
Parent and educators should be on the same page as their children in terms of apps and websites that children mostly use. For developing kid friendly apps, speak directly to top mobile app design companies.
#5. Set an Example for Kids to Follow
If you are into tweeting and updating your Facebook page time and again, in a way you are tempting your kids to do the same. Remember, the kids are always seeing you. So, ask yourself whether you are setting a good example and demonstrating proper technology etiquette.
#6. Limit use of Phone
Some of us parents don’t see TV at all. We consider it to be an Idiot box. Phone and social media sites, to some degree, fall in the same category as well. So, limited use of the phone by parents would automatically mean limited use social media. So make sure the usage of a cell phone in the house is minimal.
Kids, on the other hand, should be allowed to touch the phones only when they have finished with their homework and during the assigned hours only. And, if you have teens of driving age, under no circumstance should they be using cell phones while driving.
Wrapping UP
Parents worrying about social media effects on children shouldn’t dismiss the brighter side. Thanks to social media, children can easily stay connected with their relatives and especially their grandparents if they are not living with them. Even if a child’s friend moves to a different city, they can still stay in touch via social media.
But, as we know, negative effects of social media outweigh the positives. So, a constant check on your children’s social media profiles does help.
Author Bio: This is Jennifer Warren, staff writer at GoodFirms – a review and research platform for top ecommerce development companies, digital marketing companies, among many others. The company publishes several research papers on timely basis; PPC Management Research being the latest one.
