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“What My Friends Think I Do” Meme!
Jeremy Lin!!
”Dad uses Facebook to teach daughter a lesson” is a viral video that is going around the past couple of days. I’ve had a few people ask my opinion so l decided to give my 2 cents.
First of all I think it is a good viral video. So good in fact that I question if it is real or not. I’ve been fooled by several videos so I’m skeptical.
Assuming that it is real I think parents of teenagers relate to this a lot. I have felt those same feelings. I’ve been frustrated and even angry regarding my teens use of Facebook.
When I think back to my teenage years I wonder if I would have posted such a thing on Facebook had it been around. We definitely had those same feelings about OUR parents when we were teenagers. Instead of posting our thoughts online to our friends we talked about our parents on the bus and at school or we wrote notes or made entries into our diary.
While I do not support what the girl posted on her Facebook wall I do understand why she did it. Adults don’t understand how teens communicate these days. Teens communicate via text messaging, social networks, Xbox, Skype, etc.
This father knew how to find out what his daughter had posted. Sadly most parents are ignorant of what their kids are saying or doing online. Teens have not grasped that what is posted online is public … and could come back to bite them one day.
When this father posted the video on his daughter’s wall it was sent out to all her friends and now is public. Embarrassing your daughter publicly is not a good response to being embarrassed yourself. My guess is this video will drive an even bigger wedge relationally between them and the fall-out could be permanent.
Grounding teens for a little while from computers/iPhones/Facebook is a good thing. Teens need to learn that those are a privilege to be earned. Grounding them until they are 18 however is a recipe for a lot of problems.
You cannot stop your teens from communicating with their friends. You can take away all electronics from them but unless you lock them up in a room 24/7 they will have access to the internet via their friends. Whole countries have learned the lesson that when you try and shut down the internet to stop protests people will still find a way to communicate. Cutting off all access only will lead to deceit and more rebellion.
What should we do? In a word: Parent.
Our job is to help our teens transition from childhood to adulthood. There is rarely a week that goes by where I don’t have a conversation with one of my two teenagers regarding their online communication.
In order to do this I, as a parent, must understand how to use social networks and teach my kids how to use them properly. I need to understand technology and I need to teach my kids how to use it properly. It is not an option. Many teens will have major issues in the future because of the stuff they are posting online.
Let’s not ban them and blow up their computers! Let’s teach them!
Go Blazers! Beat LA!
I smell roses! #GoDucks
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Feast at Lele luau in Maui
Can’t wait to go to Maui!
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