A Lesson Learned
My Chronicles — By Dr. Mommy on September 25, 2009 at 2:27 pm
With the age of technology now a days, we as parents must stay ‘plugged in’ to keep up with our children.
What do I mean about that? Well, as a mom of 5 children, with 3 of them being teens..I have learned to connect on many of the social groups they are involved with. I don’t necessarily ’stalk’ my children, but I am involved where they tend to visit.
So, with that said, let me share this story.
One of my teens decided to share her feelings about a notorious teen star. She shared her feeling on one of the big social media networks, but she not only shared her feelings but also used inappropriate language. After the initial shock of reading what ‘my’ child actually shared..then I proceeded to breathe, and think with a level head on how I would approach the situation.
After calming down..which is something that I highly suggest to all parents, I called her into my room and discussed what she shared online for all to see. I explained that although it is fine to share your feelings it was inappropriate to use the language she used. I also told her and made her aware that many people read those statements and it was not a way she would want to be addressed or be thought of. After explaining to her why what she did was inappropriate I proceeded to give her a list of what she had to do as part of her punishment.
Here is what she was to do:
1. She was to remove her inappropriate remark.
2. She was to apologize for the remark she shared and apologize in public on the same network she had decided to post it in the first place.
3. Then of course, she lost her online privileges for 1 week.
Although she was not happy, she understood why she needed to be punished and honestly learned for the mistake she made.
So, why am I sharing this story with you? I want you as parents to know that our children are learning from us and monitoring everything we do on a daily basis.
Our children are also easily influenced and will fall prey to peer pressure. We as parents must be aware of all these issues and share the responsibility that comes into play with online social networks. Lessons need to be taught and reinforced daily and remember that if we don’t want our children doing a certain something, we must be aware that we are not doing the same thing.
In conclusion, did my child learn a lesson? Yes she did! Will she ever do it again, possibly but I can assure you she will be aware of the punishment that may follow, so she will rethink her actions.
Tweet This
Digg This
Save to delicious
Stumble it
RSS Feed
