Victor PTSA Fall Forum Don’t Lose Touch With Your Teen Tuesday, October 22, 2013 – 7PM Social media is now an integral part of our every day lives. For our teens it is especially important to understand the implications of social networking. It can affect their self worth and feed into their insecurities. Bullies and other predators can take advantage of that. This affects our children in ways we don’t always see. It is important for parents to stay up- to-date with the technology kids are using as well as being aware of the impact this has on their behavior and the world around them. Below you will find some general information and tips on popular social media sites and their use. Hopefully, these tools and tips will help your family to stay in touch with your teens. Social media that is popular : Teens are using multiple applications of technology to communicate more quickly and easily without lengthy details and profiles. Facebook may be the #1 social networking site, but it is becoming less popular with many teens as they do not want parents seeing everything they post. Below are some popular social media sites among teens. Take some time to investigate these and talk to your teens about their familiarity with these social networks. Twitter – users send and read “tweets” which are text messages limited to 140 characters. Ranked as one of the top social media networks for teens. Instagram - online photo-sharing, video-sharing and social networking service that enables users to take photos and videos and share them on social networking services like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, Flickr, etc. Snapchat – exchange customized photos with friends and by default gets deleted a few seconds after viewing. More photos were exchanged via Snapchat last year than Instagram. Vine - it’s like Instagram for videos. Has less visibility. Allows users to create 6 second videos and they can use hashtags and obtain followers. Pinterest – pinboard-style photo-sharing website that allows user to create and manage theme-based image collections of events, interests and hobbies. Reddit – social news and entertainment website where users submit content in the form of either a link or a text. Tumblr – blogging platform that emphasizes imagery and short posts. Most users under the age of 25. Kik – quick messenger system instead of and texts where users can exchange videos, emoticons and drawings and users can search and share images. Pheed – #1 social network iPhone app - allows user to share all forms of digital content – links, images, videos, audio files and live stream. The majority of users are between ages 14 – 25.

There are many ways you can keep your teen safe with technology as well as follow your child’s activity. Below are some tools to help you accomplish technology safety with your family. Be a good role model. Kids are watching our every move and learning from our behavior. Tweeting and updating your Facebook constantly and taking every opportunity to follow others on social media is setting a poor precedent for social media usage. Get to know your child’s habits. Be aware of the sites they frequent and the people they associate with. Check to see if their online friends are the same as their real friends they are hanging out with. If they aren’t this should be a red flag. Get to know the technology your child uses. Time is tight but the best way to get to know the technology your child is using is to use it yourself. This will give you the opportunity to pick up on some of the nuances that accompany it like chatting, tweeting, etc. Use the internet as a resource. Read the tips and hints for each social media area your child uses. Watch videos on how to use them via YouTube and other sites. Check your privacy settings. Adjust the levels and settings for cookies, third party sites, etc. Create ground rules. Kids need to understand that there are rules and consequences for using technology properly. The best way for families to agree on ground rules is to create a contract that all parties must sign. Visit for a good example. One rule suggested is to have full access to their social media accounts allowing you to take a look whenever you wish. Some kids will find a way around this by creating multiple accounts but creating a family policy can help teens realize their limitations and social responsibilities while building trust together. Limit technology time. Only allow it during certain hours. Teach kids about an online reputation. Their online reputation will affect them in the future for college, work and relationships. Online information is permanent. Consider buying software to monitor your child’s internet usage. Many programs allow you to view the exact keys that were typed by sending you s with that information, as well as time spent online and all computer activity in general. Net Nanny, Text Guard, DadGuard and PureSight PC let you monitor social media sites, block chats, filter content and much more. You can also monitor your child’s cell phone with a software program like My Mobile Watchdog, and the Find Friends application on iPhones. Sources: