Talk to Teens About Being Responsible on Social Media
Social media isn't just a fad for high schoolers, it's second nature.
But some adults say that teens' social media use could affect their futures.
"I am all too aware of the danger of social media," Laurie Weingarten, a mom of two teenagers and an independent college counselor, told U.S. News on Facebook.
"I tell my kids every horror story I hear of students being rejected from college or an accepted student having his/her admission rescinded because of something they wrote on Facebook or something they tweeted. It is very hard to eliminate a 'social footprint,'" she said.
More than one-third of college admissions officers have visited an applicant's social media page to learn more about them, according to a survey released last month from Kaplan Test Prep.
[Get advice on staying academically engaged with your teen. ]
"Admissions officers are increasingly open to what they once viewed as a dubious practice, while teens have come to terms with the fact that their digital trails are for the most part easily searchable, followable and sometimes judged," Christine Brown, executive director of K-12 and college prep programs for the company, said in a release.
Parents can help their kids make good choices online by talking to their teens about how to use social media safely and responsibility.
"The minute they are handed a keypad we should be discussing digital time and digital citizenship and everything that goes along with it, even beforehand," says parent and family Internet safety advocate Sue Scheff.
She says that discussions about a child's life online shouldn't be separate from discussions about offline life.
"Every single day, when you ask your child, 'How is your day? Do you have homework today?', 'Anything new in cyber life?' It's an everyday chat," she says.
Teens may think twice about publishing questionable content, for example, or take a step away from social media if they are starting to feel uncomfortable, she says.
Others say that parents need to be forthright with their teens about the realities of social media.
@USNewsEducation Talking to teens about social media safety should be more of an open conversation than a lecture #teensonline
-- Lauren Beeboop (@lra13c) November 25, 2014
Open communication w them is key. They must understand ramifications of offensive posts and how it may impact their future. #TeensOnline
-- Theresa Daniels (@t2009daniels) November 25, 2014
Parents can show their kids their curiosity too, Scheff says.
[Find out how cyberbullied teens can connect online and in person to get help. ]
"I find that if parents would be more interested and share their interests online, like, 'Hey, you know I just signed up for this Snapchat, can you help me with it?' The child is going to be more apt to be like, 'Here, let me show you, Mom,'" she says. "Then you are going to be able to learn more about what your child is doing too."
One Twitter user told U.S. News of a different approach.
Role play w/ #TeensOnline to show them how unwittingly they disclose personal information.
-- Bob Farrace (@BobFarrace) November 25, 2014
As parents think about how to have these conversations about safe social media use, some teens are becoming more aware of how their online reputation could affect their offline life.
Nearly 60 percent of teens have deleted or edited something they've posted online, according to a 2013 report from the Pew Research Center. And many others have managed their online reputation in other ways as well, the report said.
"They are becoming more conscientious about it, which is good," Scheff says.
Have something of interest to share? Send your news to us at highschoolnotes@usnews.com.
Alexandra Pannoni is an education staff writer at U.S. News. You can follow her on Twitter or email her at apannoni@usnews.com.
