What does oversharing on social media have to do with consent, boundaries, and setting precedent? Lots, actually. Of course, I’m not talking about sweet pictures of sleeping babies, but what about screen shots of texts from rebellious teens and tweens? How about the bathtub shots of a once tiny toddler who is now entering middle school?
When we overshare on social media with not so flattering photos and posts of our littles, and continue to share that type of information into their teens and beyond, are we really treating our children as we would like to be treated? Would we want a picture we think is embarrassing posted online for eternity? Chances are, we wouldn’t. So why should we do that to our children? The short answer, of course, is that we shouldn’t. We shouldn’t treat our children like property instead of like the human beings that they are. We shouldn’t blur the lines of consent by posting what we think is adorable while our children may not share the same opinion. We shouldn’t set the precedent that our children have no say in where the boundaries are. And we shouldn’t do things in the here and now that could damage our relationships with our kids in the long term.
What can we do? Ask permission where appropriate and consider how our actions will affect our littles once they are not so little. We teach our children about empathy, compassion, trust and love by following the Golden Rule and putting just a little thought into what we say about our children (and others) via social media. Peace.
Do you know your score?
Answer ten questions and
understand your future health.
Laura Fogarty
Editor, Ask Lala
Laura Fogarty writes “Ask Lala” for the Stop Abuse Campaign. She is a mother, an advocate and the author of two children’s abuse prevention books: I’M THE BOSS OF ME! and WE ARE JUST ALIKE!