Social Media Smarts 4 TIPS TO KEEP KIDS SAFE AND HEALTHY ONLINE
BY EMILY FISCHER
How do we as parents help our children learn to harness the good of social media while also being hyper aware of the dangers? How do we teach them from an early age to create a healthy digital footprint with an awareness of our own family values? Two Oklahoma-based social media experts (and parents to boot) Skye Latimer, partner and co-owner of digital and communications agency Folded Owl, and Mike Koehler, owner of digital marketing and advertising agency Smirk New Media, provide much-needed advice and direction. First and foremost on many parents’ minds: when should kids be allowed to join social media? At Koehler’s house, when his kids turned 15 they were allowed to join one app of their choosing. Similarly, Latimer won’t be letting her little one on social media until high school. There’s a reason they, and most other experts, make their kids wait — younger minds often aren’t ready for the experience. Whatever age you decide is right for your family, here are Latimer and Koehler’s top tips as you help your children navigate their own healthy, happy and safe online journeys.
“I’m so happy social media wasn’t around when I was raising you and your sister.” I’ve lost count of the number of times my own mom has said that to me since my daughter was born seven years ago. The comment has always ruffled my feathers because, to be honest, I’m nervous about what the future holds. Social media adds another layer of complexity to parenting. And parenting is already so hard. On one hand, social media does a lot of good. It brings people together, fosters community (no matter how far away people are physically from each other) and can be a valuable source of knowledge. But there can be a dark side, too. Countless studies and articles speak to the psychological damage social media can inflict on our children.
58 METROFAMILYMAGAZINE.COM / JAN-FEB 2022
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