We have kids in all ages of the spectrum: older kids who are out of college, in college, and we have younger kids who are in elementary school and pre-school. People ask all the time, “What’s different?” There are a lot of things that aren’t very different, but one thing that has changed is social media.
Our young kids already know how to get on Facebook. They know how to stay in contact with friends and it’s great. Our older kids talk to their high school friends, they stay in touch with everybody, and they even talk to each other on Facebook. But you have to be careful, especially with our younger ones, about what they’re going to be exposed to and how to monitor that.
My wife and I are still learning that. Someone will tell us, “Oh yeah, I talked to Jordan on Facebook the other day,” and we have no idea! You’ve got to be careful, like with anything else. Technology can be great, useful, and helpful, but it can be destructive if you’re not careful.
So my big advice to parents would be to learn about it. Don’t stick your head in a hole and say, “Oh, I don’t want to know and it’s just terrible. We’ve got to keep them away from it.” No, learn about it. See what can be good. See how it can be used beneficially. But make sure you know how to monitor it.
