Kindness Wins. Social Media Dialogue with Children.
Your child on social media equals a never-ending battle to keep up with what they are doing and who they are doing it with.
As a parent, I also worry about the disturbing trend of low-self image fueled by social media use. Example found in this Psychology Today article, I’m Ugly, I’m Fat: Self-loathing Among Tweens and Teens.
Adolescence has always been tough, but today’s youth experience the awkwardness of adolescent transformation like no generation before. What happens when your new selfie receives only five likes? Or worse, when things turn ugly and bullying starts.
Back when I was in school, a student who was the relentless target of putdowns or threats of violence, at least got a break once home for the day. With social media, bullying becomes 24/7 sport.
A freelance writer, blogger at These Little Waves, wife and mother of three, Galit Breen lives and works in Minnesota. Her work has appeared in online publications such as Brain, Child, The Huffington Post, TIME, and xoJane. A twist of fate surrounding a post of hers resulted in her current mission and book, Kindness Wins.
“I had a post go viral this fall about comments I received about my weight on an article I wrote about marriage. Not too long after that, my daughter and her friends began using social media platforms like Instagram. When I looked through some of the kids’ profiles, I realized there’s a lot of kindness terrain to cover. After my experience with unkind comments and fat shaming, I knew I wanted to do something about cyberbullying. This book is my ‘something.'”
Galit hopes Kindness Wins can be a guide for parents and a resource for teachers and leaders of any small group of tween and teens — such as a youth group or after school program.
I had the pleasure of getting to know Galit, her family, her work and her ideals through interacting a number of years on social media and reading her blogs and writing. Last year, I got to chat with her dear self in person at a writer’s conference. And had the opportunity to ask how to pronounce her lovely name. (Gay-leet).
In writing Kindness Wins, Galit drew upon her vast working knowledge of social media and her teaching background. With a M.A. in Education, she was in the classroom for 10 years as a reading teacher. And Galit listened to the counsel of her tween and her daughter’s friends in the writing and editing process.
Just a few of the endorsements Kindness Wins has received:
“An absolute must read for anyone raising a child in this unfamiliar (and slightly terrifying) age of social media. I’m a better parent having read it.”– Jill Smokler, New York Times bestselling author, Confessions of a Scary Mommy.
“An indispensable 21-century manual of manners written for 21st-century parents and their children. With compassion, humor, insight, and practical wisdom born of firsthand experience, Galit Breen makes a compelling case for online decency. What would happen if parents and kids everywhere could read these 10 simple rules of conduct, learn them by heart, and live by them each and every time they log in? The world would change dramatically–and for the good of us all.”– Katrina Kenison, author of Mitten Strings for God and The Gift of the Ordinary Day.
“Thought-provoking, inspiring, and simple to grasp, Kindness Wins is an invaluable parenting tool filled with extremely effective ways to teach our kids how to be kind online. Simply put, when kindness wins, we all do.”—Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia.
With an April 7 release date, join me in pre-ordering Kindness Wins.
As for my thoughts on this important subject —
I don’t write about the struggles with my children because it is their struggle, trying to find a true self, separate from me — as my children by adoption. But young people today are not only wondering who they are amongst their flesh and blood peers, they are contemplating who they are (or want to be) online.
Discuss online community and identity with your children. Our family does talk candidly talk about online behavior. Kindness Wins is a great way to open that dialogue with your tween or new teen. Take it from me, the social media waters drop off into a murky abyss the moment your back is turned putting a pan of lasagna in the oven.
Any tips that work for you discussing social media dos and don’ts with your children?
