I wonder what worries my parents had when I was a teen? I guess not too many when I was at home. Way back then if you were home there was nothing to worry about. There wasn’t anything like Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, Cellphones, iPods with chat, etc, etc…
I worry about things like sexting. That probably sounds wrong. I don’t mean that I worry about her doing these things, but I can not control what other people send her in messages.
How easy things must have been. But then they had the worries of not being able to get a hold of us when they needed to. Checking is was difficult as well.
With the positive comes the negative. A lot of negative.
I recently allowed Morgan to have a facebook account. She is 14. I can only hope that she makes the right choices. Although, I am sure she will make mistakes…I can only hope they are not too bad and not too often. She also has a cell phone. She pays for it herself with money she earns. She is (for the most part) very responsible.
It’s still hard on me to know she has all of these devices and social networks. I worry that she will fall into the issues that I know some of her friends have.
What are some of the things that you worry about while parenting your teen in a digital age?
Girl on Fire
The thing that worries me most is the fact that my children may fall victim to a sexual predator.
On another note, I totally agree with the idea of letting your child pay for her phone. It builds responsibility.
Yes I totally agree! I know she gets mad that I do not let her walk to the lake with her friends. I have tried to explain to her that these things can happen to anyone!!!
Also, yes we try to make our kids very responsible with money. Phones, pets, etc are all paid for out of money that they earn. I think it is very important.
I think that what worries me the most is cyberbullying. Of course sexual predators too, but cyberbullying most of the times are from school, children from their same age, is difficult to control that…
Yes, We have dealt with the bullying and my girls don’t even go to school! They are all homeschooled, yet the bullying still makes it’s way in. All I can do is build my kids up.
I worry that there are too many new things for me to warn her about. I’m sure much will rely on our communication with her, hoping we taught her well enough to at least identify when a red flag should go up or if it’s something that doesn’t quite ‘feel’ right. I’m more worried about others than I am her as girls are such targets for so many.
Yes, I think Jealousy is a huge factor in the way girls bully other girls.
I worry about the digital footprint my child is leaving behind. Mistakes made online have the potential to linger and could, quite possibly, follow them for years.
I also worry about sexual predators and cyberbullying. We’ve discussed both issues and I monitor their online behavior, but I’m not foolish enough to believe I know everything they’ve said or done online.
I do not have a teen, but the biggest thing I hear about is cyberbullying. I guess the best that we can do is educate our children, and always keep a watchful eye.
This is so tough for me… I have a 13 year old daughter and currently she does have a cell phone but no texting. I haven’t let her do anything on facebook without my supervision yet – she doesn’t even know her password. I am not sure when that will change… Lord knows I am not ready yet anyway… lol
They grow up WAY to quickly as it is. The only thing you can do is just teach them the skills to protect themselves the best that you can and hope that they remember your guidance when confronted with situations.
It’s so hard to find the right age for technology. While my son is more mature and I let him do more my daughter gets upset that “Gabriel” did it at my age. Then adding in predators and cyberbullies and it’s just blah.
Kas