It’s a funny thing, how new technology has changed the world, sometimes for good and sometimes not so much. Much has been written lamenting the invention of the blackberry; our children are jealous of the attention we pay to email instead of their soccer games. The internet has proven to be a highly powerful research tool.
I never, however, expected it to be a parenting tool. But here it is the end of the school year 2010 and my daughter’s facebook status says “I got sent to the principal’s office on the last day of school”. Now, you have to understand that my daughter knows that in order to stay on facebook she has to be “friends” with me and that I can read anything she writes. She is also “friends” with both of my parents, several of my friends and a few aunts & uncles. So how dumb do you have to be to put this on your status? I mean, really? It’s like taking out a full page ad in the Washington Post! At least that’s what I would have had to do when I was twelve to get that much attention paid to anything. But, forget the fact that I didn’t have access to facebook when I was a kid, I’m pretty sure I was not only smart enough not to advertise my misadventures, I worked really hard at keeping them to myself. Seriously, even my diary was kept locked in a secret location. My brother and I had a pact about these kinds of secrets. So what does it say about me that my daughter feels free to post this on her facebook status? I’m not sure – that may require some additional examination. Stay tuned…
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The problem/opportunity is that kids think that Facebook is a private chat among a few friends...even when they know their parents are either friends or have their login information and that they're connected with hundreds of people they don't even know IRL (in real life).
ReplyDeleteI think it's a good idea to use examples like this as often as possible to remind our kids that Facebook is PUBLIC and what you say there can and will be held against you, in terms of colleges, jobs, friends, etc. It's all fun and games until you lose your scholarship or job because of something you post on Facebook-- and it happens all the time!!
I'm a blogger on BitMoms (http://www.bitmoms.com/)--an online community/resource for information about online safety and security for kids/teens--there's lots of good info there on making sure kids are using technology wisely/safely.