Social media is an integral part of the Internet culture that many teens seem to have adopted in today’s digital age. Socializing, sharing photos and videos, blogging, all this has become a norm. However, being young and therefore lacking real-world experience, they may not be navigating these areas safely. As a parent, it’s your responsibility to ensure your kids’ safety while using social media. Social media tips for parents involve teaching them responsible online behavior and its importance, and reminding them of the consequences that online activities can have on their real-world lives.

Tell them to be careful about what they share

It’s not unusual for kids to get carried away with the freedom that they enjoy online. However, you need to help them understand how and why keeping certain information private is an integral part of social media safety. Make them realize why sharing certain information about themselves, their family, friends, is not only inappropriate, but also dangerous. Also tell your kid not to talk about sex online. Warn them of the predators who commonly prowl social networking channels, searching for innocent and naïve victims to prey on. Talking to sex offenders online increases the likelihood of kids coming across such people in real life.

Encourage them to remain polite and courteous online

Your child may be living up to your expectations as far as manners are concerned in real life, but you also need to ensure that they’re doing the same online. Stress on the fact that the virtual world is not very different from the real world and that they need to continue being polite and courteous just like they are offline. Also make them aware of the fact that putting long rows of exclamation after a word or sentence, or writing in caps is equivalent to yelling in cyber space and therefore should be avoided. Make sure they understand that private messages exchanged via social networking channels or cell phones are not an exception to this.

Talk to them about privacy settings and its importance

Social media is not the safest place on the Internet. On the contrary, it’s over-run with a plethora of threats of various kinds. Fortunately, many social media platforms have privacy controls that can be used to improve their security. Talk to your kids about these controls and the importance of using them effectively. Convincing them to take privacy controls seriously may require you to make them aware of the threats that they are vulnerable to on these platforms.

Remind them of the consequences of online actions

This is probably the most important discussion that you need to have with your kids about social media. Remind them that whatever they put online can be seen by the entire world, which is why they should only post or share what they are comfortable with other people looking at. Also warn them against using offensive language and sharing inappropriate photos or videos online, as once these things enter cyber space, they may stay there forever, possibly coming back to haunt them at some later stage of their life. Also tell them to abstain from imitating real-world people such as their teachers, friends, or celebrities online, as this can lead to serious and even legal trouble.

Aside from talking to your kids about being responsible on social media, it’s advisable to take an interest in what they do online. Asking them if they’ve done anything interesting on the Internet lately and if they’ve made any new friends can give you an idea about whether they are staying away from trouble. Be sure to check out the profiles of any new friends they’ve added. Keep your young ones safe online is a continuous job, so don’t let your guard down, assuming that you’ve taken care of all the threats.