is there any of you that DON'llowt your teenagers to "se social media

[passion4pno]

We don't because of internet safety reasons. Not to mention cyberbullying.

Why. Surely teaching them responsible use and safety measures is better than a blanket ban.

What internet safety issues.

For the record both mine use various platforms all of which I can and do monitor by insisting they follow me, checking phone / laptop histories and have the passwords.

Oh yeah and talking to them, engaging with them, understanding what they are posting and who they are engaging with.

The problem with not allowing them on social media is that at some point they will. Either behind your back or when they leave home! Best to prepare them and teach them how to use it appropriately and safely. What to do if they see something that makes them feel uncomfortable and to know they can talk to you. What counts as social media? Text messaging is an easy way to cyber bully are they allowed a mobile phone? Then a natural progression to whats app, snap chat etc. If they have a smart phone they will have internet so esafety is still very relevant. We teach pupils to be safe online in school from year 1...however I do think it is important to look at age restrictions eg.facebook when 12/13 (can't remember which) however teenagers should be able to use appropriately

Do you let them cross the road?

It's just social media that's the issue. We talk about and model internet safety through allowing them to use it for research etc. They have enough to cope letterwith at school with bullying etc with out having it online too.

Not aware of any kids locally that have had issues with bullying via social media. Text yes. The beauty of social media is you can block anyone you don't want to interact with. But also what do you class as social media - for me it's Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, snap chat, what's app, iMessage, tumblr, forums, google plus, periscope, YouTube, Flickr etc.

I'd rather engage with my kids and understand than block as said above it'll happen out your knowledge.

Also most of the out of school interaction happens by one or more of the above means and school uses Facebook Twitter to keep parents upto date with goings on at the school.

Social media = talking to other people.
Since when did talking to other people become huge safety issue.

What usual said. And the problem with that is that if there are bullying or other issues they are less likely to come to you.
Even my dc primary school ( and trust me the head is pretty humourless) have recognised the rise and future of social media so have introduced lessons in safety and connected them all to safe school based social media platforms.
You cannot keep them away from this forever I'm afraid. You need to rethink your stance on this because if you allow it you are far more likely to have an open dialogue when and if problems do occur than when they inevitably go behind your back.