Why is it hard to navigate social media with your kids?

Because there’s not a precedent.

We are the guinea pigs.

We are the first generation of parents in the history of mankind that has to have a digital footprint conversation with our kids.

Your parents didn’t need to do that. Your parents’ parents didn’t need to do that. Your parents’ parents’ parents were trapping muskrats for their pelts.

You will go first. I will go first. My wife will go first. That is a lot of responsibility, and that’s why we’ve already started figuring out some very deliberate social media lessons for our six-year-old and eight-year-old.

Is that too early to have that discussion? Nope. Because the world starts talking far earlier to your kids than that. And it’s not a question of whether they will learn to navigate the potentially awesome, potentially dangerous world of social media.

They will. When you refuse to address something with your kids, it doesn’t mean it won’t get addressed. It just means it won’t get addressed by you. The world is more than happy to fill the void your absence creates.

There is a tremendous responsibility in setting precedent, but there is also tremendous fun. We get to be the pioneers! We get to set the pace! We get to go first!

The next generation of parents will learn from us how to teach kids about social media. My hope is that we will leave them a legacy of directions to follow, not a history of disasters to avoid.

Question:
Do you have any rules about social media with your kids?