Teaching your child to use social media responsibly

Social media can be great as it can help us to stay connected with friends and family all over the world. We can choose to follow and keep up to date with everyone from our favourite celebrities to the brands that we consume and TV shows that we watch. The problem is that it can be highly addictive. Before we realise it, we have spent the last few hours aimlessly scrolling. Other than being a distraction, social media has its dark side which is something to be mindful of when giving your child access. I’ve teamed up with a group of academic professionals who have produced the guidance below on teaching children to use social media responsibly.

1. Digital footprint and privacy

The internet lives on forever and what we share can be accessed by almost anyone which is why children must take care when posting online. Safety aside, employers like to perform background checks when considering candidates for positions. If your child’s not made full use of the privacy settings available to them or has posted anything inappropriate, it is likely that it will be discovered. This is something you can help your child to easily avoid by teaching them about privacy and oversharing on social media.

2. Screen time and procrastination

There will always be things that your child does not want to do such as revision and their homework. Social media surfing and just about anything will look more appealing but it’s important that your child develops the willpower to fight their temptations and get their work done. This can be hard as the platforms are designed to make you spend longer on them but it’s not impossible. To help, you can implement structure and routine and turn screen time into a thing that they earn. 

3. Apps and restrictions

If you still struggle to keep your child’s screen-time in check, then consider using app-specific timers that you can set on devices, that block access once their time limit has been reached.