moms and social media,
What parents need to know about popular apps
It has become an integral part of how Americans connect. Recent data compiled by the American Academy of Pediatrics suggests that social-media venues such as Facebook and Twitter have surpassed email as the preferred method of communication in all age groups.
Apps such as Whisper, Secret and Yik Yak offer users the ability to post messages anonymously without accountability, thus creating easy opportunities for cyber bullying.
Pamela Wright, a licensed clinical social worker and the owner of Wright Choices in Searcy, said she has seen numerous clients who suffer from the effects of cyber bullying.
“We see a lot of young teenagers, ages probably 10 and above, that have a lot of self-harm behaviors that have been increased over the last year,” Wright said. “I have noticed a huge increase in my private practice from those type of behaviors.”
Wright said the root is that the children suffer from low self-worth and self-esteem and have used social media as an outlet.
“I’ve numerous girls and boys referred in the last school year for those types of issues,” Wright said.
Terena Woodruff, the director of counseling and student services for the Cabot School District, said awareness is the key and stressed that point during a parent training session in February.
“They need to be aware of what the apps are,” Woodruff said. “We spent time on what some of them are and encouraged parents to stay active and searching, because there are new ones popping up constantly.”
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, while today’s tweens and teens may be more digitally savvy than their parents, the youths’ lack of maturity and life experience can quickly get them into trouble with these new social venues.
That’s why it is imperative that parents talk with their children of all ages about social media and monitor their online social-media use to help them navigate the online social world. How parents talk with their kids and teens will vary slightly by age, depending on the topic being discussed, the organization’s website states.
Woodruff stressed that parents keeping their eyes and ears open is vital in protecting teens. The first step is staying up to date on what is out there.
“We encourage parents to stay connected and continually search,” Woodruff said.
Opening the lines of communication is also important, as well as taking ownership of the teen’s technology.
“It’s very important for parents to monitor what kids are saying back and forth to each other,” Wright said.
“We encourage the parent that if the teen is underage, the parent is typically the purchaser of the phone, the iPad, the computer,” Woodruff said, “and they have the right to go in and monitor what [the teens] are doing.”
Being in possession of the child’s password and monitoring his or her digital activities is also very much encouraged by the Cabot administration, with the approach that it is for the child’s safety.
“I’m not going to let you go out in the street to play, or drive if you’re not fully trained to do that yet,” Woodruff said.
Woodruff conveyed that putting in effort on the front end with awareness and monitoring could very well prevent inappropriate behavior before it ever has the opportunity to arise.
“If you are monitoring,” Woodruff said, “and you say, ‘That is not a good app for our family values,’ with parental supervision and parents being informed, there is no reason for them to be alarmed.”
The Cabot School District’s message is not only of technological prevention, but deals with the possible consequences of questionable Internet behavior.
“We tell them it’s about their digital real estate,” Woodruff said. “What you put out there is out there. … You are building up a persona, an image that in the future, colleges and employers can look at … and see what kind of person you are.”
Woodruff said there are measures in place to allow enforcement of Internet-use policy but stressed that communication and awareness are the key.
“My biggest point to parents would be just be involved and know what your child is doing,” Woodruff said. “That’s in social media, who their friends are — anything.”