Teaching Your Child Responsible Use of Social Media

Social media is something that we will all have to manage as it becomes the norm for general interactions, communication and for making friends. It can be seen as a risk for some children however, if used inappropriately and if it becomes addictive, as seen in many teenagers. Here are some ways you can help your child to responsibly use social media, as recommended by this girls school in London.

Show the pros and cons of social media
There are many advantages to the use of social media, but they are often coupled with the bad things that can cause major issues for children. It’s still important to take your child through these considerations and not to label social media as a bad aspect of life, rather they should be aware of every aspect of social media in order to use it responsibly.

Let them use social media at the right age
For most children there will be an age minimum they will have to reach before creating a social media account. Stick to these so that they are actually ready for using social media at the recommended age - normally around 13 years old. You may see a lot of children pick up social media far younger than this but it can cause more damaging effects if they are introduced to this way of life too early.

Give them limits on social media use
For the most part, children in this day and age will be accessing social media through a smart device - be it a tablet or phone. It’s therefore a lot easier for teenagers to grab their phones and scroll online for multiple hours than loading up a computer, which is why it can become so addictive.

Like with mobile phone use, limiting their social media use can help them learn to control these urges. Ensure your child is heading to sleep at the right time and take their phone away within an hour of heading to their bedroom so that they can rest at night. Blue light can often be an issue with children and adults alike in terms of getting a good sleeping pattern, so removing the temptation can be a good step towards managing their relationship with social media.

*Collaborative post