Social+Media+and+Parenting


 * My Question-** I would like to learn more about how parenting has changed since the increase in usage of social media outlets by young adults. I'm interested in this topic because I see and hear all about how hard it is to raise a teenager in an era where everything is done online.


 * I Wonder-** I wonder if parents become digitally literate in order to relate to their children better or to monitor them better. I wonder what happens to parents who refuse to use the internet as a means to communicate with their children and how that may affect their relationship. I wonder if parents get frustrated or confused because of the fact that they are not "digital natives". I wonder if teenagers feel that their parents are being over-reactive when restrictions are put on their online lives. I wonder if teenagers believe that the dangers on the internet are just ploys to get them to adhere to their parents' advice.


 * My Work Plan**- I will use the library, internet and hopefully, a few interviews and surveys in order to complete my research project. I am going to look at many different articles and books on the parenting of teenagers and also on the types of parental limits that are set for internet and social media use. I will be looking for older articles in order to show the differences through the years (I'm thinking that I will go from the 70's to now). I would like to find articles and videos where teenagers give their accounts of the different problems that they have faced when it comes to dealing with their parents and social media. Lastly, I would like to interview a few parents and teens in order to get some direct quotes from them about how being raised in the digital era is different from being raised in any of the eras before.


 * My Expectations-** I expect to understand the gap between parent and teen and if social media really plays a part in it. Are parents really just over-reactive because they don't understand their children's fascination with Facebook and Twitter or are teens slowly moving father and farther away from the grasp of their parents by making their entire lives about being online? I expect to answer this question for myself and hopefully find some solutions to this problem.

GREENLIGHTED. Check out the work of CommonSense Media to explore the important issues of parenting children online. Also, take a look at Anastasia Goodstein's book, Totally Wired.

**PRECIS**


 * Cheney, Karen. (2010). Protect Your Kids on Facebook. //Money//, 42.**

“Protect Your Kids from Facebook” is a short article in money magazine that talked about how the different mistakes that teenagers make while using facebook and how parents can make sure that their children stay financially safe while using social networking sites. Facebook is probably the most influential networking site to date and with its ongoing popularity, the fiscal risks that have come about are problems that need to be checked up on and fixed frequently. There are three main risks that most teens tend to overlook and end up being trapped.

The first risk is identity theft. Teenagers are more likely to put their information out on the web because they don’t think that their identity will ever be stolen. Thieves will use this data in order to apply for credit cards or loans and most times scammers will use malware in order to find any passwords that may pertain to your financial information or just find your information in general. A parent’s information can be compromised if the child is using their computer so, it is always best to warn teens about this problem. Parents should tell their teenagers never to put their birth date or address on Facebook. Also, never make sure that their friends are the only ones that can see their information and keep your malware protection software up to date.

The second risk is hurting college and job proposals. Many schools and employers are now using the world of social networking in order to research their prospective student or employee. It is important for teenagers to know that the things that they do on the internet are public domain and that many times if an employer sees something that he or she doesn’t like then, they can refuse your candidacy for the position. Parents should teach their teens what is inappropriate online and help them to make sure that they are showing themselves in the best possible light by checking on their page ever so often and giving them advice on things to change.

The last risk is overspending. The concept of money for a teenager is nowhere near the same for a working adult. Teens can charge Facebook credits to their phone or Paypal account which makes it easier for them to rack up costs and not even know it. Most of the time the parent is paying the phone bill and the Paypal account is for the parent so the teens don’t have to worry about being billed themselves. Parents are encouraged to hide their Paypal account password and to set clear spending boundaries for the teens to follow while on facebook.

These suggestions should keep parents safe from their children’s risks and help for teens to become more financially responsible.

=Research Report 1=

This article is something like “No Crossed Wires…” in that it deals with social networking (and cell phone use) and how it is used by parents and teens to either connect or divide. The difference is that this article is more than just statistics. It also has real-life accounts of parents who have dealt with this and psychiatrists who have worked with parents and teens on their relationships.
 * 1.** Bernstein, E. (2009). The Helicopter Parents Are Hovering on Facebook. //Wall Street Journal - Eastern Edition//, B7.

This article would be a nice addition to my project because it is all about how certain parenting techniques can lead to Internet dependency. This would be a really great reference to use when I talk about the implications of the internet on the relationship between parent and teen.
 * 2.** Huang Xiuqin, Z. H. (2010). Mental Health, Personality, and Parental Rearing Styles of Adolescents with Internet Addiction Disorder. //CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking//, 401-406.

This article could be used but, I notice that this is the oldest article that I’ve found and I really like that most of my articles have the most recent information on their topics. I do like that this article is specific to Myspace because I can use this to break my project up into the various forms of social media. But again, this article is about the relationship between teens and parents and how Myspace changes those relationships in different ways.
 * 3.** Larry D. Rosen, N. A. (2008). The association of parenting style and child age with parental limit setting and adolescent MySpace behavior. //Journal of Applied Developmental Psychology//, 459-471.

This article would be a pretty good article to use because it is all about the dangers that parents see coming along with social networking. Many parents believe that certain social networking dangers are happening more often to their teens than they really are and there are some dangers that parents haven’t even heard of. This article addresses both of these problems.
 * 4.** Neil Ballantyne, Z. D. (2010). Corporate Parenting in the Network Society. //Journal of Technology in Human Services//, 95-107.


 * 5.** Weisskirch, R. S. (2011). No Crossed Wires: Cell Phone Communication in Parent-Adolescent Relationships. //CyberPsychology, Behavior & Social Networking//, 447-451.

This article would be great to use because it talks about the relationship between parent and teen and how cell phones can make a negative and/or positive impact on their relationship. Parents and teens both look at cell phones in different ways but, when they are able to work together, they can become the great communicational devices that they are meant to be.