Teenage Social Media

While I write this post, I have to admit that I am a social media junkie myself.  I check my Facebook several times a day.  I am completely addicted to Pinterest.  I do use Twitter, but I have not caught the Twitter fever.  Maybe I am just not "following" the right people?

However, I do believe Facebook has an age requirement for a reason.  There really is a lot of dangers for children online.  Children who are too young to make good decisions on their own, should probably not be on social media.  There are predators lurking about looking for young children to prey on.  Parents need to be vigilant of their children's activities online.  There was a story on WLOX.com today about an 11 year old girl who was "friended" by a 23 year old man.  He asked her for improper photos of herself.  Her mother used the evidence she gathered to report him to the police.  I think this is all well and good, and the mother did the right thing by turning him in... but what was an 11 year old doing with a phone and a Facebook?  And if you are going to allow her to have one, she should have never been allowed to have a public account that anyone could send a friends request to her.  The mother failed to take the precautions necessary to keep her child safe online. 

Teenagers are increasingly active on social media.  Their lives seem to revolve around it.  There is quite an epidemic of bullying online as well.  I am encouraged that the schools have stepped in and made rules against cyber bullying.  Children can get in trouble now at school and with the law for harassment online.  I think that is a positive thing because kids can be harsh in person, when they can hide behind a computer, it can get real ugly real fast.  Kids have enough to deal with, they don't shouldn't have to worry about being harassed online as well. 

I believe social media has a large upside too though.  It provides people access to real time grass roots movements. Here in Mississippi, we do not have a lot of political happenings, but we can feel a part of the larger picture through social media.  Kids can get involved in their government through social media.  So, it can be educational... or at least that is what I will keep telling myself. 

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