Does social media have a place in our U-10’s lives?

My daughter turned to me the other day and said: “Let’s take a selfie!” She was dressed up in a new dress and did look extremely pretty, but I was a bit taken aback. How does she even know what that word is? She’s only four! Did I teach her that word? When was the last time I used that word?

 

I couldn’t remember. I’m not a big fan of selfies. Yes, I love taking photographs but if someone wants a photo of me, even if I want a photo of me, I hand my phone or the camera to someone else. I might have used the word in passing now and then but I really began to wonder and realise just how much she takes in. In the few short weeks since she has turned four, I can already see my little baby girl becoming a much more confident and world aware big girl. Suddenly I’ve started worrying about her, about the world she’s growing up in and about the constant barrage of self image which is perpetuated by the ever present social media.

 

I’m worried about the level of access a lot of young kids seem to have to social media. Through my work, I’m on a lot of social media platforms and I’ve found out that most mums and dads are on completely different planets when it comes to their kids’ social media use. I went on Snapchat after numerous students told me it’s their favourite social media outlet. When I asked them about Facebook, I was told in no uncertain terms: “That’s for mums!”

 

I adore social media. I think it’s an amazing tool for businesses, for people to stay in touch and generally to make our world a smaller place. But I wonder, does it have a place in our under-10s’ lives?

 

After the Selfie incident, I began taking more notice of my Snapchat feed and realised a lot of it is filled with a couple of these under-10s posting selfies and videos of themselves online from their bedrooms. Now I know Snapchat can be considered safer than other social media as the snaps expire but I don’t think that is appropriate behaviour for eight-year-olds, especially not to be posted online. And I wonder, do their moms know that they are doing this?

 

Some of these selfies could be described as promiscuous, I know these kids are naively copying what they see their idols doing (yes Ariana Grande, I’m looking at you). It pains me to see young innocent girls posing like this because they don’t know what they are doing; they don’t know what that means to older, not-so-innocent people. And that’s where our jobs as parents has become a whole lot tougher.

 

How do we give our kids their independence while also keeping them safe? Even if we go all 1980s and ban technology and wifi, what’s to stop their friends posting pictures and videos of them online? How are we ever going to teach our girls that the world doesn’t begin and end with selfies?

 

One thing is for sure, by the time my little girl is of an age where I might consider letting her go online, the latest social media craze will have changed and I’ll have to start back at square one. I’m just glad I have a few more years to figure it out.