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A social media speaker recently went to my friend?s 10-year-old daughter?s school to talk about online stranger danger. He asked the students to raise their hands if they?re on Instagram. Not surprisingly, about one-quarter of them identified as Instagram users. He then told them that it was illegal for them to be on the popular platform and recommended that they delete their accounts immediately (citing the social site?s user guidelines, which state that you must be 13 years old to sign on).
I asked my young friend how she felt about this. She explained that she felt scared and angry because she loves posting filter-filled photos of her family and friends. Plus, as she described, ?Insta? helps her stay in touch with people she cares about. In her mind, this man was clearly from another planet because he didn?t understand a thing about how her world works. She then told me she hated him. Her strong words didn?t surprise me: Kids take their Internet lives and online communities very seriously. I recently read Jessi Cruickshank?s Flare article about how the #MendesArmy horrendously bullied her after she made a joke about the pop star at the Junos. Hers is a frightening?and, unfortunately, all-too-common?cautionary tale.
The web, as wonderful as it is, can be a dangerous place, but how parents manage these dangers is up for debate. ?The longer you keep Pandora?s box shut, the better off you are,? says online safety expert Jesse Weinberger. ?There?s no con...