collaborative guest post
Social media is something that your child may become interested in as they grow up. With 4.48 billion users worldwide, they may see friends and family using the platforms and want to set up their own accounts.
It’s a great way to stay connected with those around you, learn new things and explore interests, however, there are dangers that both children and parents should be mindful of. In this post, we share guidance from an independent school in Warwickshire on teaching children to use social media responsibly.
Talk About Their Usage
A good place to start is their usage. Ask your child if they have ever used social media before, what their experiences have been and explore their profiles. This will give you the chance to educate them on ways that they can better use social media and stay safe online. Being open and communicating with children is really important, not just around the topic of social media. There are wonderful tips and advise on parenting on Life, Love and Dirty Dishes.
Their Age
It’s important to note that there are minimum age requirements for making particular social media accounts. For most sites this is 13 years old. This is because of data protection purposes.
Privacy
Privacy is a big concern when it comes to social media as anyone can view a public profile, potentially steal images and message them pretending to be someone else. For their safety it’s important that they utilise the privacy settings made available to them and only add those who they know in real life.
What They Share
We can share funny cat memes and updates of where we are and what we are doing within seconds to all of our friends and family thanks to social media. Oversharing is something to be mindful of, however, as once shared, whatever they post can be saved and potentially hard to remove so it’s important that they think about whether what they are posting is appropriate.
Again, children can control who is able to see their posts by amending their privacy settings. As a general rule they should avoid posting anything deemed offensive and sensitive information such as where they live and go to school.
Reviewing Their Use
If you’re worried about who your child talks to online or what they post, consider adding their social media accounts so that you can keep a close eye.
Remember, social media is not the enemy and can actually be great for children from a social perspective. These are just a few things to be cautious of as a parent. What’s key is that you have a good relationship with your child where they feel comfortable approaching you with anything that they’re dealing with.
