Would it be possible for a teen to have no access to any social media until college?

[Anonymous]

Your friend is gonna have a bad time when her kids are teens.

[Anonymous]

Mine don’t use social media. They use educational resources and apps but never social media. It’s not necessary and works quite well for us. I don’t judge people that use it though. I know many families that don’t and some that do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine don’t use social media. They use educational resources and apps but never social media. It’s not necessary and works quite well for us. I don’t judge people that use it though. I know many families that don’t and some that do.

Do their friends use it? So they watch videos with their friends? Are they boys or girls?

[Anonymous]

I think if they aren't interested it is possible. I know some young people who don't bother. But if they are curious they have friends who can show them their accounts/activities, and I mean cmon, kids will find a way to circumvent the rules if they are motivated.

[Anonymous]

At the beginning of the pandemic my ES age kids got fb messenger since we were limiting in person get togethers. It's became necessary for them to not be completely shut out of the world. They continue to use it now and I'm GLAD they're using it early. It's easy for me to monitor and point out things like how what they say will be available forever, and how words without a tone of voice could be misunderstood. It's led to good conversations and lessons that would have been harder to learn later.

As they get older, how will they ask a friend what the homework is if they missed it, or get updates from clubs and teams...there are so many practical ways of using devices and social social media.

[Anonymous]

Having grown up in a pretty restrictive house, I am skeptical of attempts to control all of kids’ actions before they leave the house for college. Parents who do this seem to have an idea that a kid at age 18 will be mature and make smart decisions when never having to face any decision previously. It doesn’t actually work that way.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Of course it’s possible, many people do this every day

a teen in the US? I don't think so.

[Anonymous]

How is she going to avoid YouTube for classroom videos, or a friend saying "hey check this out" and showing them a funny video? Will they be allowed to text? How will she prevent group texts? How will they set up simple get togethers with friends?

I get it. I'm entering the middle school years now and am sort of terrified of how to help shape the situation, but yeah, it's impossible to avoid completely.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Is she including LinkedIn? What if the child wants an internship or mentoring in HS? Is she extending this to any form of virtual interaction— like online classes, MS teams, Dropbox etc? Does she realize that adults need to interact with other adults online and in person in today’s world?

OP here. She didn’t really seem to welcome follow up questions to her very firm stance. It was clear she did not want to be challenged on her views. She also seems to think by sending her kids to private school (large mainstream parochial Catholic) this will somehow insulate them. Like Catholic school teens don’t go on TikTok or something. Arguing would have been pointless and caused a riff.

That parent has their head in the sand, and the kid will probably end up doing all kinds of sh1t behind their back.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think if they aren't interested it is possible. I know some young people who don't bother. But if they are curious they have friends who can show them their accounts/activities, and I mean cmon, kids will find a way to circumvent the rules if they are motivated.

Teacher poster back again. It’s not even about rules and temptation. This is about unrealistic expectations. As I explained before, when I was out last year I posted a link online to YouTube of me going through the lesson. Students watched it and answered embedded questions, which they turned in. I’ve never had a parent say their kid couldn’t participate because they weren’t allowed on YouTube. YouTube is used for educational purposes a lot in high school so a complete ban can’t happen in 2022.

[Anonymous]

I’m not clear how your friend thinks they are equipping their children with skills to navigate the world.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’m not clear how your friend thinks they are equipping their children with skills to navigate the world.

OP here. The irony is that this friend is completely addicted to Instagram and curating her life for the “perfect family” image.

[Anonymous]

I don’t consider YouTube to be social media. There is much sharper divide between content creators and the audience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I don’t consider YouTube to be social media. There is much sharper divide between content creators and the audience.

Kids who don’t have TikTok but have YouTube can just watch TikTok videos on YouTube. I learned that the hard way.

[Anonymous]

My kid goes to a public high school and his coach (sports) gives all communication through social media. Things like practice times, and additional opportunities, reminders, etc.
He literally would not be able to participate in this sport without the social media account.
He's not really interested in social media otherwise, but maintains the account so he is informed of the sports info.

So is it possible? Sure...but could lead to lost opportunities.