Parenting in the age of social media comes with a set of challenges previous generations never had to deal with. Don’t have a social media faux pas-learn how to parent in the age of Snapchat and Instagram with advice from local expert Robert Torres, chief technology officer at Stockton Unified School District. Not only will you have numerous ways to keep in touch with your kids but it’s something you can share together but also something you can monitor with ease. Who knows, you might get Tiktok views by the thousands if you start making videos together! By involving yourself with your child’s social media pages, you’ll be able to see what they post and sometimes who they’re talking to. Sharing social media with your children is also a bonding experience and something you can do together. Soon enough, they might even be teaching you how to use Nitreo so that you can get a bigger following on your platforms. If you’re new to social media, it may seem like a daunting task, but fear not, it is relatively easy to understand. In fact these tools can be quite easy to acquire if you do want more followers, and there are many out there – especially Instagram ones. If you do want to look at using them, make sure you read their online review first, so you know the pros and cons of each one. For example, clink this link to find a review on one of Instagram’s tools, Upleap. (https://tool-busters.com/upleap/).
Q: Should you ‘follow’ your children on social media?
A: Yes absolutely, this lets them know you will be monitoring their activities on social media for chats, pictures, videos, playing games, etc. Besides, there are dangers with the power of social media applications and the use of GPS tracking technology built-in that, if turned on, allows friends and followers to know your location.
Q: What rules should you have in place for posting photos of your kids on your own social media?
A: Keep it to a minimum and appropriate content in the event someone tries to share your photos with someone else intentionally or accidentally. Make sure your privacy settings on your social media applications are set to private and model good behavior on your own social media accounts. Obviously, there are some parents who have a career using social media. Some parents use platforms such as Instagram to make a living, possibly even purchasing automatic Instagram likes to gain followers. There are no set ‘rules’ for how much you can post your own children on social media. It’s you’re own private platform to post as you like – whether that’s for business or just for entertainment.
Q: What is an appropriate age to have a social media account?
A: If you follow the guidelines and age restrictions on most of the popular social media applications, the minimum age is 13 years old. Before granting permission, do some research on the internet to see what guidelines you, as a parent, should be providing kids before they create their first account. This is also a perfect time to let them know they must share their account information with you and that you will be monitoring their activities.
Q: How much monitoring should you do of your child’s accounts and “friends?”
A: If your child uses social media often, your frequency should become regular to check their activities. An easy way to do this is have your child accept you as a friend or follow them on their social media to see what is being shared or posted. In the best case scenario you should become familiar with the popular social media applications (Snapchat, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook) and learn how to use them so you can verify your child’s activities by asking for their mobile device and reviewing their online activities for yourself.