Teaching your kids to be savvy about the internet and what they share on their phones can feel like battling an invisible enemy with a strategic attack plan. They can’t avoid the internet, but can you help them avoid internet regret? Today’s story from Chloe can help your kids realize the impact and permanence of their actions and give parents a plan of attack of their own.
In this episode, we’ll talk about internet regret in a couple of forms: viral challenges and sharing photos. Viral challenges can be fun—the original, the Ice Bucket Challenge, can even make a difference in people’s lives. But too many viral challenges encourage kids to engage in risky behavior or not think through the consequences of their actions. Sometimes the consequences aren’t clear until it’s too late.
Maybe you’re saying, “My child isn’t on TikTok, and she wouldn’t do anything like that.” That’s great, but if your child has a phone, you need to know this statistic: One in seven teens reports having sent a sexually explicit text message (a sext), while one in four has received one. And 17% of sexters share the messages they receive with others; 55% of those share them with more than one person. We have to talk to our kids about the dangers of sexting and remind them that anything they put out to one single person can easily be shared with hundreds. It’s a scary conversation to have, but it’s not as scary as the alternative.
Articles We Mentioned
5 Ways to Help Your Kids Be Wise About Viral Internet Trends
5 Ways to Monitor Handheld Devices
Which Social Media Apps Should I Let My Teen Have—Or Not?
My Daughter Posted Sexy Pics. What Do I Do?
Printables We Think You’ll Like
What’s your favorite parental control app or service? How are you monitoring your child’s online activity?
