Remember when I told you how stalking your kids on Facebook could be worth your while? Well apparently, there’s a mum who did just that and might have saved son’s life in doing so. The woman—who has her very own media name now; Utah Mom—is one of few parents who realize that a child’s digital life is just as important as their offline life.
The Story
When going through her son’s Facebook, the mother found threatening messages that some other boys had left on his wall. The threats were very specific, with a promise to shoot the boy at his high school. Anxious, the mother went to the police right away and shared these Facebook messages with them.
Now, you might think high school bullies make empty threats all the time, but get this. When the police found the accused boys outside the high school, they actually were carrying weapons and drugs on them. Those threats had been very real.
The Lessons Learnt
There are a few lessons to be learnt here:
- First, you are accountable for anything you say on the internet. Your computer screen is not a shield that would protect you from your wrong doing. You are just as responsible for what you say on the internet as you are of what you say in real life. Actually, you just might be slightly more liable for your internet messages because they leave a record. A digital footprint if you will.
The boys that made the threat probably did not realize this bit.
- Second, your child’s online life is not independent from their offline life. Think of it this way: social media is just a way to validate their real life interactions. This is why they feel the need to “check in” as soon as they enter a restaurant with their friends, or post a selfie on Instagram when they do something fun.
Sometimes social media is also used to further real life interactions. Other times, it is used as a substitute. Yes it’s true that kids sometimes have different online identities from their true ones. However, you cannot divorce their online self from their offline self. Maybe this visualization will help you understand…
- Third, that is exactly why you need to practice online monitoring. Parenting in this time requires you to be a lot more tech savvy. Keeping an eye on their internet usage is, for a lack of a better word, vital. You can’t go without unless you want to damage your kid’s cognitive development.
How Can I Monitor their Digital Lives?
It’s all quite simple really. First, make sure you know of their social media presence. And then, just like Utah Mom, go through their Facebook. Look at their Tweets. See what they’re blogging about on Tumblr. If you’re not sure what social media they use, use this handy guide to learn more about them or this infographic for a crash course…
Make sure you also go through their texts and IMs from time to time. You might find this to be the trickier part, but don’t worry. There are lots of great parental apps you can use to see what your kids are doing on their phones. If you think your kid is smarter with tech than you are, learn more about digital parenting here.
Don’t think of online monitoring as a chore. Think of it as a habit that could one day save your child’s life. Just like Utah Mom.
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