Social media “confession” pages are all the rage. Students tell you that it is an opportunity to talk about important issues and problems in their lives. I often get tips from these sites about my students who are contemplating suicide or who are actively hurting themselves. These pages are often platforms where teens are victims of abuse and bullying. How do I find out about it? I go looking for these pages or sometimes a student tells me. I have yet to have a parent call me about one of these sites. [your school name]_confessions may have 100 or 1000 followers, and not one parent of these students is monitoring what their child is doing online. Children instinctively push and look for the edge of the boundaries.
Parents and educators must step in and create safe guidelines for their students, because the internet is the wild west – anything goes. If you are looking for help to create a safe environment for your child online, look though this blog and you’ll find articles to get you started; go to the resource page and download helpful tools; go to the events page and find a Cyber Safety Cop workshop near you; or contact me and find out how your school/agency/church/community center can host a workshop.
