The fist bump over the handshake. Hottie over hunk. The Jonas Brothers over well pretty much anyone else. Your kids don’t need to be told what’s “in”. They already know because they are the ones creating the trends. That puts them squarely in the driver’s seat – whether they are 16 yet or not – of anything and everything on the cutting edge.
Right now that cutting edge revolves around anything technological, interactive and increasingly wireless. All of this is like second nature to your kids and their peers, while you might feel like you are repeatedly playing catch up. That’s why it is imperative for you to take the wheel and guide them as you have in every other aspect of their upbringing.
Sure, you might get your share of eye rolls as you warn them of the potential Internet hazards that they insist they already know but stand firm. Your words of wisdom will serve them well even if they’ll never admit it.
They believe that their “sick” ‘net skills trump all. You have something even better: experience in the “real world.” Teaching them to conduct themselves online the same way they would face-to-face is a great place to begin.
Sounds simple, right? It is and yet many kids have taken careful strides to construct an online persona that only vaguely resembles their in-person self. So give them this refresher on why they should be themselves, online and off:
Forever is a long time. Saying or doing something inappropriate or embarrassing used to be forgotten with the passage of time. Now—with the Internet, mobile devices and video—something you write, upload or post online can be like a permanent reminder of every single thing you ever thought or did. Yikes!
Make sure whatever you type, post or text is something you’d be okay with anyone – parents, teachers, college admission counselors, future boy/girl friends etc. – seeing!
The same rules apply. Internet life is really just an extension of real life. So who you are online is who you are in reality. And not the kind of pseudo-reality like that portrayed on The Hills. Abide by the following rule to stay on the right path: if you wouldn’t do or say something out in the open—in “reality”—then don’t do it on the ‘net or on your cell.
True story… Sometimes it takes hearing or watching what has happened to someone we know or at least someone our own age, to make us realize how our own actions, no matter how seemingly insignificant, really can lead us down a path we never wanted to go. Take a look at some real-life stories from NetSmartz.org.
Have you ever found yourself blurring the lines between your real life and your ‘net life? If so, how did you go about turning things around?
