Social media is all around these days and becoming a necessary part of life. We can deny it all we want, but teaching our kids how to effectively use social media is now a parenting must.
From the response to the Parenting Lounge #7 topic, Social Media and Your Kids, I knew this was a parenting issue that confused and concerned a lot of moms. Some moms wanted to ignore it and hope it went away. Other moms set time limits and blocked certain things online. However, no one had an answer that really got to the root of the issue and addressed how to teach our kids to use social media in a positive way.
This is a sponsored post for the book Kindness Wins, which is available on Tuesday, April 7th. I received an advance copy for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are entirely my own.
Social Media and Your Kids
Galit Breen’s take on social media and your kids is different than what I have seen from other mom’s, which is interesting because she herself was the victim of cyber bullying about her weight. Her view is that social media is actually a positive thing when used appropriately and with kindness.
[Tweet “”Scrolling when you see online bullying is the equivalent of walking away when you see it in person.” #KindnessWins @GalitBreen”]
According to Galit Breen, it is not enough to try to block the negative aspects of social media from our kids. They will find it in ways you don’t expect and can’t block. What we need to do is teach our kids how to act appropriately on social media – how to be kind.
The other piece of good news is that there’s a simple formula that works to effectively teach someone just about anything and this is it: short, repeated, direct lessons, followed by modeling and the chance to try, make mistakes, and try again, all bookended with check-ins and gentle reminders. This is the best way to teach everything, online kindness included. – Kindness Wins
This book is not a shallow overview of a problem with no solution. My favorite part of the book is in the Discuss With Your Kids section at the end of Chapter 1, where Galit talks about modeling good online behavior. This doesn’t mean just talking to your kids about what is “right” or “wrong” but actually showing them posts and discussing the subject, the picture (if there is one) and the comments. This is not something you do only once either, you do it continually, so your children can learn with real life examples of how to be kind and act appropriately online.
If you are the parent of a tween or a teenager, you NEED this book. There are so many “games” on social media that kids are playing that I personally had no idea were out there. Games like posting a selfie online and asking for comments using a hashtag such as #rateme. These types of games are things moms need to know about.
To purchase the ebook, you can find it on Amazon or Barnes and Noble.
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With so much cyber bullying these days, we should definitely teach our kids to be more careful about social media and teach them about good online behaviour.
You are absolutely right! Thanks for stopping by 🙂
My 9 year old keeps finding inappropriate stuff that I didn’t expect, like a game on his Kindle. At least he is telling me so far.
It’s hard to even know what we should be looking out for! Thanks for stopping by.
Kristen, I can’t thank you enough for this thoughtful and generous review! I’m just so grateful to you!
It’s a great book and so timely!
wow… i am so scared to find out what will be out there when my kids are older and on social media! Great points here..
Too true! And kids are using social media younger and younger every day.
My daughter is currently 12 and I have held off letting her have a social media account until her next birthday. I am a bit worried as I see her friends who already have accounts and some of their posts concern me, especially the selfies that ask for likes.
That is a scary thing! Self esteem is so fragile at that age.
With so much bullying online – it is so important that kids are raised to know what to do when they see it or it happens to them – great post <3
We’ve avoided smartphones and tablets so far (along with the expensive cellphone contracts!), but my oldest son is getting to the age when social media accounts are allowed (by them). And the school keeps giving them homework to do on the computer. So that minefield is just about to come up for us!
This is great because I have an 8 year old and we are constantly talking about this. I am so scared raising kids in this world compared to what I grew up in. Constant communication is SO important.
Great post! Sharing on FB!
Thanks!
Thanks so much for sharing this as I am so fearful of how social media is going to effect my children. It’s really scary when you think about it. Have a wonderful Friday! xx Ashleigh @SimplyWright
This is a really great article! It points out some things that I totally agree with, but hadn’t really thought of before! This is an area that I need to be more proactive with!!