Are you ready for Social Media and your child?????

So I don’t have a teenager or even a pre-teen so technology for me and my son stays strictly to apps and games that I choose for him.  But my sisters and my best friend have teenagers and the choice of what their kids read and see is out of their hands….so to speak.  For the parents that I know somewhere between the age of 10 and 13 kids have their own smart phone and or tablet.  This means that these kids can download and go to basically any site they like.  Hearing this freaked me out.  How do you keep you kids off non-child friendly sites??  How do you keep them from predators?? How do you keep CONTROL?? Ok, I needed to take a deep breathe.  At some point I am going to have to let go and trust that you taught your child right from wrong and what is dangerous and they will heed to those lessons. BUT before I do I am going to have to know how to teach my son the dos and don’ts of selfies and what social media sites are ok and what is acceptable behavior.  So I had to do a little research.  The media would have you believe that selfies can be dangerous and damaging to the child.  As what you put on the internet stays on the internet FOREVER!!  And what about making “Friends” on social media….you don’t know who these people really are.  But according to the article The Upside of Selfies and Social Media  it really isn’t that bad.  Teens actually feel more comfortable via social media as they can be themselves and aren’t afraid of being judged as they are in room full of their peers.  So there is a point for social media and creating confidence in teenagers.  I remember being 13 wearing glasses and being too shy to participate in extracurricular activities, social media could have helped me.  But how do I monitor what my child is doing and saying and to whom.  Well in the article 5 ReasonsEvery Parent Should be Aware of Instagram it advises that you should create your own account and “Friend” your child so you can see their page.  This made complete sense to me.  When I was a younger teen I used to wait until my mom went to bed to talk to boys so she couldn’t hear what I was saying.  Having your own account will allow you to see what your child is saying and what people are saying to them, but far less intrusively.  So maybe social media isn’t as bad for teens as I had thought……but it’s a good thing my son is only 8 because I am certainly not ready for it.