Having lived with 4 teenagers so far, with one more to follow, I have been inundated with social networks. When my 31-year old son was a teenager, home internet service was a new phenomenon. I can remember getting hooked on chat rooms until I realized that sleep was much more important.
Social networks have become much more sophisticated as have the teenagers who use them. I have had to learn about them just to be able to stay one step ahead of my 15-year old daughter, who is the social butterfly of the season. At first she wanted her own email account. I staved her off until my son’s girlfriend set her up an account. I reluctantly okayed it as long as I was kept privy to the password. In 8th grade my daughter begged for a Bebo account. ”Internet predators aren’t allowed on it,” she said. “Only kids from my school can be on it,” she claimed. I again, reluctantly allowed an account as long as I was given the password.
Now, two years and several suspended privaleges later, I no longer require the password. Most of her time is taken up with a boyfriend so she doesn’t spend much time on the computer. I still have my Bebo account after teaching myself how to set one up. I also have a Facebook and MySpace. They are pretty bare and not nearly as complete as some accounts. My reason for having these accounts is far less social than most. These accounts provide me with a link to stay in touch with my computer-savvy children. Once they accept me as a “friend” on their account, I can keep track of what they are posting on their pages without having to sacrifice privacy.
As with my personal kids, I have used these social networks to keep up with the goings-on in my students’ lives. I can find out many things about what my students do in their spare time, leading me to topics of conversation, suggestions for good reads concerning these interests, and just a general connection to what makes these kids tick as individuals. Some of it I don’t want to know, but, hey, they think I’m cool, and that puts me in a position to make positive suggestions.
