NJ Mom, Therapist Offers 10 Tips: Healthy Social Media Habits For Kids

According to New Jersey mom and therapist Nancy Kislin, it’s not cool to be the “cool” parent.

This simple tip – along with 9 others - can help a parent to recapture their kid’s attention from the social media zeitgeist, she says.

During a recent Millburn Municipal Alliance Committee event – part of the group’s ongoing Empower Hour Parenting Series – Kislin gave attending parents 10 tips to help recapture their kids’ attention from social media, video games, YouTube videos and TV shows.

1. All phones and ipads are to be left in a central area of the home, not children’s bedrooms.
2. Phone alarms should not replace alarm clocks. This can help prevent children and teens from texting each other at all hours. This may also help prevent bullying and via social media.
3. Turn off the WiFi at night. Facebook messages can be received without your network on.
4. Spend time getting to know your children’s friends and their parents.
5. Remember your primary role as a parent is not to be your kid’s friend.
6. It is NOT cool to be the cool parent.
7. Parents who host can lose the most.
8. You are the role model – what have you role modeled for your child today?
9. Overscheduling stresses out parents and their kids.
10. Remember that laughter is critically important for healthy and successful lives.

Kislin, a local therapist, resident and mother of two daughters who successfully navigated the Millburn School system, says that one of the current issues trending in the local community is the “overexposure of teens on social media.”

In addition to the above steps, Kislin recommended that parents take steps to let their child know that they’re watching their social media activity.

“During the setting up a child’s cell phone so that the parent has all passwords to the phone as well as social media apps,” Kislin suggests. “Let them know that you will periodically sit down with them to go over their phones including texts, Instagrams and photos. Discuss what the consequence will be if your child takes a nude picture of themselves and sends it to someone, as well as if your child has a nude picture of someone else.”

For more information about upcoming Empower Hour sessions, email [email protected].