The Perils of Social Media

<p>Many parents are paying big bucks to have their child's digital history erased. I'm not surprised. It almost seems like it's becoming a common practice before applying to college. Even though many boarding schools address digital citizenship in their student handbook and provide in-depth seminars that clearly illustrate the perils of social media, the message still seems to be lost on many students.</p>

<p>Without bashing schools (we all know about the scandals in the past), do you think boarding schools are doing enough to promote appropriate/healthy digital citizenship, or are they falling short and ignoring the many potential pitfalls of social media?</p>

<p>DS says w an eye-roll that he hears admonishments constantly from the adults in his school about not posting inappropriate content to social media. </p>

<p>But last year, there was an off-campus incident during break-time. Some student got drunk & passed out, and his so-called friend took an inappropriate photo with his phone camera and distributed the photo electronically.</p>

<p>Though the school was not involved, when the administration heard what happened, there was hell to pay…</p>

<p>One of my kids told me about a student who was unhappy with some grades and said some bad things about the school/ teachers on FB. Even though he apologized and said it was a momentary lapse in judgement and would never happen again, he was still asked to leave.</p>

<p>Just wondering, who would you call to have a child’s digital history erased? There are some days when that sounds tempting…</p>

<p>@BSBound- I’m told many tech people can do it- it just involves calling around and finding someone with that expertise.</p>

<p>If anyone is curious who gives seminars: <a href=“http://campusoutreachservices.com/:[/url]”>http://campusoutreachservices.com/:&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

<p>They’re excellent. I attended one for parents and it was a real eye-opener- especially when they discussed Liability. By the time that segment was finished, every parent in the room wanted to confiscate their kid’s phones and computers. :)</p>

<p>Just in case the link is bad: </p>

<p>[Our</a> Philosophy | Campus Outreach Services](<a href=“http://campusoutreachservices.com/about/our-philosophy/]Our”>http://campusoutreachservices.com/about/our-philosophy/)</p>

<p>my S talks to “online friends”–aka “strangers” through online games—can someone pls tell me:</p>

<p>since when are kids allowed to talked to strangers? </p>

<p>I am lost as a parent as to what to do…</p>

<p>If you trust that your child is savvy enough to understand about not giving out any personal information online (and how dangerous it could be to do so), then you needn’t do anything. If you are concerned that your child either doesn’t understand or wouldn’t obey that stricture, then you need to take away access. My kids were taught social media skills in middle school, and they have actually lectured me on it, not vice versa, so I feel relatively confident that I can trust them to deal with “online friends.” But we do have reminder conversations about it every now and again (which usually results in them rolling their eyes and me and saying in tones of great disgust that of course they know not to give out any personal information online).</p>

<p>@Soxmom:</p>

<p>(which usually results in them rolling their eyes and me and saying in tones of great disgust that of course they know not to give out any personal information online)—exactly the same in our house.</p>

<p>I have 2 kids: same parents’ genetics, same parental nurture—yet they are attracted to very different things—good things for my D—I have worries for my S…</p>

<p>Just a friendly reminder to students applying to boarding schools: Tidy up your FB page/ photos and check your privacy settings before your interviews.</p>

<p>^ good advice</p>

<p>The first thing is to NEVER EVER post anything inappropriate on any social media platform. (you should not be involved in anything like this anyway, but unfortunately teens ARE teens and some are more mature than others) Colleges, Boarding Schools, they all lurk. It is now a common practice to look up an applicant while looking through their file. You don’t want Harvard to reject you because of some bad comments you made on your friend’s picture when you were mad at him.</p>

<p>Don’t post anything you would embarrassed for your grandmother to see. In fact, as a condition for our kids to continue to receive their allowance, they had to “friend” their grandma.</p>

<p>I like that. My wife “friends” both my children. Like they said in Monsters, Inc. “we scare because we care”… and “we’re always watching… always watching.”</p>

<p>I like that, too. I like your comment, too, tigerdad!</p>