News Alert: Snapchat selfie incident

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Here is a text book example of the problems that can arise with Snapchat, or any other social media app. Snapchat is probably the second most popular app among tweens and teens, with the most popular being Instagram. Snapchat, however, provides a false sense of security with the functionality of pictures, or snaps, ‘disappearing’ after a defined amount of time.

Here are a couple suggestions to help you prevent your child from making the mistakes the kids in the article made:

  1. Ensure that your child has the Snapchat account set up properly with privacy settings. In an earlier blog, Snapchat: Do those pictures really disappear forever?, the dangers and privacy settings are described and outlined for your convenience.
  2. Show your child the news article. This is current, relevant, and very relatable for kids. Do not simply tell them about it. The most effective way to help kids really understand the dangers and pitfalls of social media is to let them read, see, or hear real, live examples. While they can tell a parent that they don’t know what they are talking about or that it wouldn’t happen to them, they cannot deny what actually happens to someone else.
  3. Ask you child some open ended questions related to this incident. Let them share their knowledge with you. You may be surprised by what you hear and learn. I have heard things like ‘this happened to my friend’ or ‘so and so tried to get me to send an inappropriate selfie’. When parents stop talking, sometimes the kids start talking.

If you feel like you have had this conversation with your child before, DO IT AGAIN! I am certain that the kids in the article had heard it before. It takes lots of conversations, examples, stories, etc. to get tweens and teens to connect the dots of behavior to consequences.