Monroe Langston, Inc. had the distinct pleasure of being one the featured speakers at the “Let’s Talk Girls” Conference. This conference was held at the Savannah Civic Center and catered to girls ages 9 to 12. After speaking with the girls about social Media this is what we learned~ Knowingly, you need to be 13 years old to open and operate a Facebook page. If a girl under 13 wants to open a Facebook account she can – with little hassle or challenge. A Facebook account can be opened at the local library or anywhere there is an internet connection after the minor has fabricated the year of their birth. This is one instance that the girls don’t mind doing the math. After it was determined that you cannot stop the purpose driven child from having a Facebook account, we had the responsibility of giving the girls tips to keep them safe online. Most of the girls had more than one social media account like: Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, kik, and/or Instagram. There are several avenues of communication with young girls and the world – too many streams. The best thing we can do is to offer advice to keep our children safe. We encouraged the girls to give their parents their password. This went over like a lead rock. Next, we gave the girls a list of tips needed to stay safe online. The bottom line was We need to teach our children how to be safe, do not send half naked pictures online. Once you hit the send button on the picture, you no longer have control of who gets the photo next. You may start out by sending a photo to a friend, but you never know what other ideas the friend(s) have in mind. Also, don’t post personal information on Facebook; information such as physical address or full birth date. In addition, Children should avoid updates such as, “my parents are gone. I’m home alone and bored,” or “family is gone on vacation for three weeks!” Subsequently, we need to be responsible. Although no one , especially a child, can control what others write, we all can control how we respond to it. Even a child is responsible for everything written and shared under their profile. Finally, we should be respectful online and watch what we say; no swearing, threats, innuendos, complaining, putting people down or public fighting. Now that is a good start to some good, responsible online behavior.
Posted on: Thu, 26 Sep 2013 14:49:13 +0000