What Will They Text Next:

Teen, Social Media, and

Technology
 The Screen Challenge
Take a moment to total how much time you
spend daily looking at a screen.

Then,
Take some time to estimate how much time
your teenager spends looking at a screen.
 Kids Today…
• 78% of teens have cell phones, almost half own
smartphones
• 1 in 4 are “cell-mostly” internet users
• 23% of teens have a tablet
• 81% use social networking sites
• 8-18 year olds devote an average of 7 hours and 38
minutes to using entertainment media across a typical
day
• 100% of EHS students have a laptop and access to the
internet
POP Quiz!
What Social Media Are They
Using?
What are they posting?
 Brain Changes:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
HffWFd_6bJ0
 Dangers of Social Media
What we know about teens:
• They are constantly trying
to define themselves.
• They crave positive
feedback to help them
see how their identity fits
into their world.
• They use social media for
this feedback... but they
are looking in a dangerous
place.
How is this harmful:
• The danger exists in the
possibility of a very public
rejection because
negative feedback is there
for anyone and everyone
to see.
• Another danger is that
teens ask for feedback
without learning first that
not everyone will respond
in a supportive way.
 What Can You Do
• In order to teach your children how to seek
feedback from genuine sources, parents
should start early by helping their children
identify trustworthy sources.
• Most importantly, parents need to
reinforce that the most influential voice
should come from within.
 Engage Your Family
• Engage your teen in meaningful conversation about internet
use
• Talk to other parents, deans, counselors
• Validate your teen's reality and their need to be connected
• Engage your child in drafting the rules for the family:
– guidelines for use
– consequences for breaking those rules
• Model appropriate use of technology:
– minimize texting
– don't use cell phone/laptop at meals
– don't use cell phone in the car
 Let Your Teen Know
• That you have the right to check their laptop,
phone, etc..
• What apps/media are okay and what are not
• That you need to know their passwords
• What their online responsibilities are:
– Protecting their privacy
– Not engaging in cyber bullying
 What Are You Worried About?
• Invading your kid’s privacy?
• Not feeling comfortable with being on social
media?
• That they have secret accounts?

Just as you would establish ground rules and do

diligence in person, there is a need to do the same
things - or even more - with the internet.
 Other Parental Concern
• 81% are worried about how much advertisers can
learn about their kid’s through their behavior
online
• 72% are worried their kid is interacting with
people they do not know online
• 70% are worried about how their online activity
might affect their future academic or
employment opportunities
• 60% are worried about their kids reputation
online
(Pew Research Center, 2013)
Apps to Protect Your Kid in the Car
• Canary
• MamaBear Child Tracker app
• Rapid Protect
• OnStar Family Link
• Travelers Insurance IntelliDrive
• Progressive's Snapshot
• AT&T DriveMode
• Sprint Drive First
• Cellcontrol
• Drive Scribe
 Apps to Protect Your Teen’s
Phone
• My Mobile Watchdog
• Mobile Spy
• Text Guard
• WebWatcher
 Scripture to Empower
Matthew 18.6-7
‘If any of you put a stumbling-block before one of
these little ones who believe in me, it would be better
for you if a great millstone were fastened around your
neck and you were drowned in the depth of the
sea. Woe to the world because of stumbling-blocks!
Occasions for stumbling are bound to come, but woe to
the one by whom the stumbling-block comes!”