Social Media/Technology Tips for Parents

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Social Media/Technology Tips for Parents | East Valley Moms Blog

I have spent the better part of the last 10 years on social media so I have a pretty good idea what it’s about. However, my husband is the complete opposite. He has no idea what social media is about. He still doesn’t even have Facebook. 

When my stepdaughter turned 13 we promised we would let her have social media but only if she followed our rules. We set up her an Instagram account and after checking in on her a few times, it became CLEAR to me that other parents are most likely not monitoring their child’s social media. 

I do not understand this. Why would you NOT want to know what your child is posting online?!?! I have so many horror stories from seeing what my stepdaughter’s friends are posting I thought, maybe other parents just aren’t educated about social media. 

Here are some tips: 

1. Set their password.

When my stepdaughter got Instagram, I let her pick the username but I made the password. Now I can check on her account to see what she is doing. Also, I can go in and delete content that is not appropriate and check her DM’s. 

(She can have her password when she turns 18.)

2. Set screen time limits. 

I know as an adult it is difficult to monitor my own screen time. Sometimes I get my weekly update from Apple and wonder how I manage to do anything else. 

This is important for children. If you give a child a device, they will spend every waking second on it. We need to set boundaries so they fill their minds with other things. 

Through the screen time app on the iPhone, we allow 2 hours a day for social media (this is generous and she hits the limit daily). We also have all her apps go dark at 9pm. 

By setting this boundary, it gives us peace of mind that she won’t be staying up all night on her iPhone. 

3. Lock their browsing history. 

We have her internet search history locked. She cannot delete what she searched. This might seem extreme but it allows to me see what she is spending her time on. Most of the time, it is just hair tutorials but if there is anything more, I am able to have a conversation with her. 

4. Add your fingerprint on their cellphone. 

Both my husband and I have added our fingerprints in her cell phone so we are allowed to access the phone whenever we need. This ensures that we can access her phone even if she changes her password.

5. Check their deleted photos folder in the Photo App. 

This is just to make sure they aren’t taking pictures of anything you wouldn’t allow. Most people don’t know that once you delete photos on your iPhone, they go into a deleted folder and you still have access to them. They aren’t fully deleted. I just check this every now and then to see what pictures she is trying to get rid of. 

These are just a few of the tips that have worked for our family. I’m not trying to control my stepdaughter’s life but I do think it’s important as parents we know what is going on in our kid’s lives. This allows us to have peace of mind and we are able to let her enjoy technology with boundaries. 

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