‘REMINDING YOUR CHILDREN THAT YOU HAVE BEEN IN THEIR SHOES IS REALLY IMPORTANT’
Kym Marsh, 46, is an actress, TV presenter and singer, a mum of four and grandmother of two. When my kids David, now 27, and Emilie, now 25, were teenagers, social media was slowly creeping into our lives. They hit their teenage years just as apps like Snapchat became really popular, so I know all too well how hard it can be for parents to have conversations about the online world.
When I was a teen, anything you talked about with friends, such as relationships, sex, or grades, was all left at the school gate at the end of the day. We were able to go home and switch off completely.
I’ve always encouraged my children to talk to me about anything, but there’s no doubt that social media and the digital world has been a learning curve for everyone.
I was 18 when I had David and 21 when Emilie was born, and growing up, they felt like they had a best friend in me. But the world I’m bringing up my younger daughter Polly, 11, in is hugely different.
Now, at 46 years old, trying to convince Polly I’ve been through the same experiences as her is hard, and we do have to tackle more challenging conversations around online safety. But the reality is I’m learning about the evolving online world whilst Polly is too.
She’ll be coming into her teenage years soon and I’m very aware of the impact growing up in such a digital age will have on her teen experiences. Everything from communicating with friends to doing her homework is now online, and long gone are the days of leaving your social life at the school gates like I did.
This generation is growing up so much quicker, so it can feel like a lot to learn, but I’m trying to approach those tricky conversations and ultimately, just listen.
Common ground
Snapchat’s Take My Words initiative aims to help parents tackle conversations with their teens about staying safe in the digital world. They’ve done so by launching a nationwide diary revival, encouraging parents to reconnect with their teenage selves by digging out their diaries to help show their teens that although our lives weren’t played out online, we still navigated the same experiences.
Showing our diaries to our children is a nice way of finding some common ground. It’s a great place to start if you’re unsure how to approach this important conversation.
Drawing from my own experiences, my main advice for other mums worried about their kids’ safety online is that trying to talk to them should always be your first port of call. It can feel so daunting but reminding them you are always there, and you have been in their shoes, is really important.
Listen to their concerns and try to become as up-to-date as possible about social media and how they interact with it. So if a problem does arise, they know that you’ll be there. ✱ Find out more about Snapchat’s campaign at takemywords.co.uk
‘It’s a learning curve for everyone’