Discoveries and Reflections

Throughout my blog I have discussed, discovered and shared resources on how social media and technology usage impacts children, teenagers, and adults. Some of the statistics tied to my investigations were eye opening such as the average user spends around two and half hours per day on social media which equates to around nine-hundred twelve and half hours per year! There is so much content on the internet. Some of which is buried within sites terms of service and privacy policies that skirt by unnoticed by most. It is important to take your time and learn what you are agreeing to before just clicking accept.

Children and teenagers engaging in social media, online sites, and apps need guidance on how to use these platforms. They look to their adult role models to help them traverse this content and lead by example on how to properly use it. Social media is an excellent way to stay connected, learn new ideas, share content, and create community. It is equally as important to teach digital citizenship and online safety as it is to teach everyday safety such as looking both ways when you cross the street. 

Children and teens are using social media and it is our responsibility to help them as they develop their own voices and content. Adults should try to respect their privacy but provide a roadmap on how to use online content. Having set times of use may be a good way to begin. An interesting take on creating a balance of connection through devices and a life balance to ensure you or your teen are getting a good nights sleep is to create a "bed" for your phone that is outside of your bedroom to cut down on endless scrolling at the end of the day keeping you up later than intended. If you are asking your teenager to disconnect at bedtime, you should too.

Public facilities such as schools and libraries are great resources to help parents and children learn how use technology and have precautions built in to their organizations to protect children. When these organizations build their technology and computer policies, staying up to date on which social media sites and apps are relevant is a great place to start. Most policies are made by the organizations leaders or community influences such as school or library boards. It is a good idea to read through and ask questions about these policies to have a better understanding of what protections are in place and where you can add support and guidance to the child in your life to enhance what is already out there.

In summary of my findings I have compiled my top eight takeaways from my research.

Photo Credit: Top Takeaways Infographic, Jenny Marose

No matter how you choose to use social media and online content, it is important to do so safely and responsibly. It is up to the parents, teachers, and librarians of the world to help teach our future generations what this looks like by modeling responsible digital citizenship. 

For a plethora of additional resources on what it means to be a responsible digital citizen, safety and privacy, social media platforms, using social media in the classroom, statistics on social media, and how to draft a parent consent form for your classroom, please check out my Social Media Handbook website.

Be curious,

Jenny