Social Media and Your Teens

How does social media affect the lives of teenagers? 

I have my own experience as a mother to a teenage daughter and my opinion now is just based on my observation and how I deal with her regarding this matter. Through the Internet, all communications have been made possible. Everything that can be talked about under the sun is found in the Internet. The social media has its advantage and disadvantage. It is similar to the saying "nobody's perfect". 

Teens nowadays wants to be "independent", not because they want to prove that they can support themselves. They want "freedom" to choose their circle of friends, and this they can only do in the social media sites. Teens in today's generation have the tendency to be more rebellious. My daughter is no exception. This is the most difficult part of parents...how are they going to deal with this situation?

The solution I did for my daughter is, while sometimes I scold her of being glued to her gadget, I always remind her that spending too much of her time with her friends online should have limitations. I let her understand that her studies should be her priority. I gave her the freedom to explore her world online BUT I keep on reminding her that "trust" is my basis of her freedom. I believe that by giving her my trust, that will open her mind to determine what is right and wrong, to pick the right one and learn from the wrong then let it go. That will also build her self-esteem and she will prove that she is worthy of my trust.

My other way is, I respect her privacy. I never asked her passwords to read her messages. I always believe in the saying "what we give is what we get", this belief is my basis in helping my daughter not to be influenced in the disadvantages by the influence she can get from online...and offline friends. By giving her my respect and treating her as my daughter who can make wise judgement regardless of her age, the more she will prove to herself and to me that she is really what I expect her to be.

However, the MOST important one is "LOVE". I always tell her that "love" is the one that binds our relationship as a mother and daughter. I let her feel that I am not only her mother but her best friend. Her best friend because she can tell me "anything" about her personal matters...happy or sad. We talked like friends and we are very close. She is not perfect, after all, nobody's perfect, but so far, I am happy for what she is now. She always tell me that "Mama, just trust me and I will prove you that I can be trusted".