A teacher recently asked her 9th-grade students to anonymously finish the statement "What my parents don't know about social media is..." The students responses proved to be both eye-opening and heartbreaking.
Over 80% of the students wrote that they have social media accounts even though they were instructed by their parents not to have accounts. One student wrote "You can send nudes, receive nudes, sext, buy drugs, password (protect) pictures, delete texts, buy bongs, pipes, hookah" all from home.
The teacher's response was emotionally driven and went so far as to say that teenagers should never have smartphones. It is important to remember that shock and fear are not reactions that will bring change and encourage conversation with your teen. Read last weeks article Being a Safe Source for Conversation to learn how you can better respond to your child's mistakes and help create a safe space for future conversations.
Looking to purchase a smartphone for your teen soon and don't know where to start? Learn how you can develop your own parent-teen smartphone contract HERE.