Starts so young.....

Well, I know Allison isn't involved because she has neither a phone nor accounts at any social media sites.  However - I always worry that she'll still end up the victim of cyberbullying or whatever else kids might do today.  I do not know what the problem below is; and Allison also did not know.  We did have a discussion in the car this morning about how the kids should not post anything online that they wouldn't feel comfortable saying to that person face-to-face.  I don't know if that's a good rule, but it seems a good enough place to start.  I think the problem sometimes with kids and social media stems from the ability to do things anonymously or "removed" from the effects of their actions.  Humans (and especially kids) are not good at judging the "rightness" of actions when the consequences are at some indeterminate time in the future.  If we were - I would totally have not had that second handful of Easter candy. 

The other issue is how does a parent "monitor" their kids' social media.  Jacob, for example, has started playing Clash of Clans, which is an open social gaming app.  Brian also downloaded the app and joined Jacob's clan.  Right now, Jacob thinks that's pretty cool and Brian gets to monitor the other people who join Jacob's clan (which I think is awesome and totally appropriate at his age).  But there will be a day when the kids don't want to "friend" mom and dad and/or get savvy enough to block mom and dad from seeing the content.  And I don't think that's necessarily bad.  I mean - I wouldn't have wanted my parents listening in on every phone call I made when I was in middle school. 

But the list of cyber rules is long and the kids don't always understand why the rules are important (and thus, I think, less likely to take them seriously or follow them).  Rules we've already shared with Jacob:

1) never use your real name

2) never tell anyone your age, address, or other personal information

3) tell an adult if someone starts asking you questions you think are creepy

4) don't put anything online you wouldn't say to someone's face

Their questions continue, though, and I don't have good answers.

A) can I leave comments on a you tube video (apparently Allison does this, if you ever see that Brian "liked" a Monster High video, it's because Allison is logged in through Brian's You Tube account.... or he likes Monster High).

B) but so-and-so will send me a free ______ if I like their page and write a comment

C) I want to follow ______ on Twitter to get good seeds for Minecraft

We're stuck teaching our kids to socialize in real life and also in this ever-changing online world.  And as much as I'd like to stick my head in the sand, I know there will be a time soon when the majority of their friends have accounts on website xyz and they will want an account on website xyz.  

Anyway my long-winded writing today is all in response to this letter we (and all 5/6 parents at the school) got yesterday (some names removed):

Dear Parents,

It has been brought to our attention through many different sources that our 5^th and 6^th grade students at our school are using social media sites in unkind and inappropriate ways. Due to the nature of what has been brought to our attention, we feel strongly that as parents and teachers we need to be fully aware of the activities and sites that many of our children are using on a regular basis. We have asked our police liaison officer to come speak to our students on Friday about the seriousness of their activities on these social network sites. Officer _____ is more than willing to have a parent meeting as well to help you become more informed and knowledgeable about how you can help as a parent.