- Image via Wikipedia
I’ll never forget the time when my then-five-year-old daughter asked a question at the dinner table. Neither my husband or I knew the answer, so she chirped, “Let’s Google it!” She got up from the table and headed for the computer. My husband and I looked at each other half smiling, half shocked. How did she know about Google? When did she develop this understanding of what Google is? And when did Google become an accepted verb in our language?
When I was in college, the Internet didn’t exist, let alone Google. And now our children are these technology super-kids, growing up with the technology, accustomed to it, taking it for granted, and having so much more information right at their very fingertips than we ever did. In many ways it’s very exciting and will open up immense opportunities for them. And in other ways, it’s concerning.
Safety First: On the streets and on the ‘net
Let’s take a FaceBook discussion that came up in our office recently. The question was asked whether it would ever be appropriate for an 11-year-old to have a FaceBook page. While I recognize the benefits that this social media platform can offer some audiences sought by our marketing firm’s clients, I fail to see the benefits it offers our young children.
And, should we even be having this discussion? If you check FaceBook’s Statement of Rights and Responsibilities, it says in item number 4 under Registration and Account Security, you must be over 13 years old to have a FaceBook page — a policy used by social networks to stay in compliance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Many parents may not be aware of that.
But really, why would even a 13-year-old need a FaceBook page? So she can connect with Grandma? Nope. Although the 55+ group represent a growing segment on FaceBook, my daughter’s grandmothers are not there (yet). Write a letter and send it snail mail. (Remember stamps and envelopes?) If you must use technology, then email her. Next? So my daughter can connect with her friends? Don’t buy that either. That’s what school and weekends are for. So she can open her life up to total strangers? Yeah, right.
Thankfully, my daughter hasn’t asked if she can have a FaceBook page. But she is begging for a cell phone. I find this somewhat interesting because up until a few months ago, she didn’t even like to use the home phone to call her friends. Why does a cell phone change that?
Okay, so some will say there’s the “safety issue.” What if she misses the bus after school and needs a ride home? How will she contact you? Well, she can trudge back into school and use the office phone like we did when we were without cars and phones.
It’s funny how the safety discussion seems more likely to come up with the cell phone, but doesn’t seem to come up when discussing whether children should be allowed to have a FaceBook page. Why is that?
Perhaps we feel that online activity is safer than “in real life,” in person, activity. Well, let us not kid ourselves. A recent study showed that excessive texting and social networking may actually lead to other risky behaviors among our youngsters.
Just Say “No!”
So why do we think it is okay to unleash our children to the electronic world, which we know is full of predators, distractions and other temptations? Why don’t we, as parents, just say “no?”
Call me old-fashioned, call me techno-phobic, call me what you want. But first and foremost, I am a parent and it is my job to protect my children and teach them how to stay safe in our world—electronic and otherwise. Yes, there are privacy settings and all sorts of filters on FaceBook and the other platforms, but please, give me a break: how many times has your debit card been reissued because of security breaches?
For me the lesson is this: If we’re raising our children in a digital world, it’s up to us as parents to be “digitally-responsible” and teach our children to be the same. That means understanding these platforms and technologies, and knowing their capabilities and limitations, before we let our children explore this “wired” frontier. And it’s up to us as marketers using these tools to help inform parents of the new responsibilities of raising children in a digital age.
For more on internet safety: http://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/publications/parent-guide/parent-guide
