First this week, a son sues his mom for harassment after she logs into his Facebook, changes his password, and posted slanderous things on his wall. (Link)
Now, a 12-year-old kid spends $1400 of his savings and his mom’s credit card bill on Farmville. (Link)
Parenting and Facebook. Epic Fail.
Parents (hopefully) pretty clearly understand the dangers of online predators (See LA Times article of a recent horror story: Link). It’s an extension of the age-old “don’t talk to strangers” mantra, and something parents can handle. It may be the subtleties of Farmville, and the capacity for absolute embarrassment, however, that are over parents’ heads.
Hopefully these two stories aren’t the norm, but there will always be extreme cases of poor parenting. These stories are evidence of social media’s movement into the everyday sphere, and into a new, and sometimes less than honorable, realm of our everyday lives. It won’t be long before “My mom dated my Facebook Friend” is an episode on Jerry Springer, and “Berenstain Bears: No More Farmville Spending” hits kids’ bookshelves.
It’s hard to stay on the very top of the every-changing social media game, but that’s what makes it fun. Parenting, and the online powerhouse category of “Mommy Blogger,” is actually huge on the Internet. Any one who doubts it, head over to Google and see how many hits you get with just those two words.
Sure, Facebook may make it easier for you to catch your kid misbehaving. But that doesn’t give you a right to hack it. And leaving your credit card out, or for that matter, giving your child access to his own savings account, without instilling teachings of responsible spending, is a pretty common sense “No,” too.
It’s the old rules, with a new twist. And with social media here to stay, parents, kids, and everyone else better catch on and learn how to use it responsibly.
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