Self-Esteem and Social Media

With pretty much everything related to children, I believe the foundation always starts at home. So how can we, as parents, help our child's self-esteem that builds a strong foundation before we send them out the door everyday?

I've always said, I am SOOOOO grateful social media did not exists when I was a kid. I have always been pretty sensitive as a child and I let things get to me easily. If social media had been thrown into the mix...I may have just melted into a pool of insecurity from time to time. I have two daughters quickly entering these years and want to help them the best I can. That being said, my first piece of advice is to strongly monitor your child's social media connections and activity. Especially in the pre-teen years because this is when most kids begin to experiment with social media, not to mention they are still young enough that you can (hopefully) get away with it as part of the deal when they initially sign up for some of these sites. If it is part of the deal from the beginning, you may have a much easier time than if you spring it on them when you suspect something may be happening. It may even be a good idea to make up a contract with your child that you both sign, laying out some of the ground rules, and posting it somewhere you both can see, You can make the contact fun..it doesn't have to be scary or intimidating or make your child feel like they have no privacy. That is definitely not the intention. It's also a good idea to sit down with your child and you both write up the contract together and let them decide some of the rules. Have consequences for not following these rules you've both agreed upon. Follow-through with the consequences.

If you work to set these ground rules when they are still young, and remain consistent with following through (and updating the rules as needed), you have set a clear expectation that will hopefully carry into their teen years...when things will only get harder!