CONGRATULATIONS!! If you’ve made it this far, you deserve a milkshake or something! The posts in this series have been quite a bit longer than I usually write, but the information on this topic is just so important, I couldn’t…
Parenting Teens in a Virtual World (Part 2): Guidelines for Staying Safe, Steady, and Sane On-line
I will never forget the first night we brought Sarah home from the hospital. She was screaming her little head off and then doing this weird gagging thing, like a cat with a hairball. As her face turned purple, we panicked and called the nurse line, and all I could think was, “How in the world am I supposed to keep this little person alive?!”
Parenting teens in the technology age can feel a lot like that.
It’s scary and dangerous and there are so many unknowns. It can be hard to know where to start and even harder to control. We want to protect our children and give them independence at the same time, all without causing World War III in our homes. Is that even possible?
In Part 1 of this series, we covered some things you can do before your teens enter the digital world. Today I want to share some things we have learned as we’ve navigated this challenge with our teen girls over the past few years…
Parenting Teens in a Virtual World (Part One): 8 Things to Do Before You Give Your Teen Access to Social Media
I should be honest with you. If it were up to me, our kids would never have gotten phones or texting or social media. Ever. Between the danger and the drama and the addiction, I would have been happy to pick us all up and move to the Amish country. Fortunately for our kids, Jeff is way cooler than I am, and he was able to convince me that technology- and social media- are likely going to be a part of their lives forever.
“We have a choice,” he told me. “We can deny them access now and risk them sneaking it behind our backs or having to figure it out on their own in a college atmosphere, or we can choose to navigate this road alongside them, allowing them to make their mistakes with us by their side to guide them, and if necessary, protect them.”
Yeah, I married a good man. I think I’ll keep him.
So anyway, here are eight things we recommend you do BEFORE you give your teen access to social media…