Facebook and teens: prefer parents but all welcome

[txinvestigator]

I'd want to know too.

Fair warning though: Some parents are put off that you're "complaining" about their kids when you're really trying to help them.

The most powerful force for good in my early adulthood was my grandfather's respect. He led by example and was the best man I've ever met in my life, hands down. I could give a ton of examples of great things he did, and still can't think of one where he didn't go above and beyond to do the right thing. I'm sure he had faults, but I had the utmost respect for him. I would literally stop and think about what he would think of me if I got caught doing what I was about to do. Point being: more important than any of these precautions is leading by example. You can't be there 24-7.

you are so right. Telling your kids not to drink while you put away your daily six pack is not a receipe for success. Nor is telling them to be honest when you realize you got change for a twenty but paid with with a ten, and you keep it, etc.

I also try to keep in mind that discipline is from the word disciple, and is more about leading and teaching than punishment.

 

[Vaquero]

I'd want to know too.

Fair warning though: Some parents are put off that you're "complaining" about their kids when you're really trying to help them.

The most powerful force for good in my early adulthood was my grandfather's respect. He led by example and was the best man I've ever met in my life, hands down. I could give a ton of examples of great things he did, and still can't think of one where he didn't go above and beyond to do the right thing. I'm sure he had faults, but I had the utmost respect for him. I would literally stop and think about what he would think of me if I got caught doing what I was about to do. Point being: more important than any of these precautions is leading by example. You can't be there 24-7.

Here! Here!
Well said!

 

[jocat54]

Lots of good info here-lead by example, you can't be your child's best friend and be a good parent (but you can be a friend), snoop and tell them you will, make dinner time (supper) a family affair everyday if possible-time for talk. And remember they will be gone be before you know it. The time my kids (5) turned 12 to 18 was like overnight it seems sometimes. (other times it was an eternity)

 

[ROGER4314]

I had a kid in my class who was really out of control. I contacted his parents and both came to school to meet with me. We discussed his behavior and I was totally honest........he was simply off the scale. You could tell the parents loved the kid but they had a hard time believing he had some problems. About two weeks later, he and another kid were leaving school in a car while trying to light a joint. They hit an "S" curve too fast and he was dead. The next day, I brought a basket with some flowers and put it on his empty desk. Hell, we all cried. It wasn't the only time that happened but it was the last time. I quit teaching.

The point is that you must steer them in the right direction so they can navigate their own course as adults.....or they die. Fail in your job and they die.

Flash

 

[txinvestigator]

I had a kid in my class who was really out of control. I contacted his parents and both came to school to meet with me. We discussed his behavior and I was totally honest........he was simply off the scale. You could tell the parents loved the kid but they had a hard time believing he had some problems. About two weeks later, he and another kid were leaving school in a car while trying to light a joint. They hit an "S" curve too fast and he was dead. The next day, I brought a basket with some flowers and put it on his empty desk. Hell, we all cried. It wasn't the only time that happened but it was the last time. I quit teaching.

The point is that you must steer them in the right direction so they can navigate their own course as adults.....or they die. Fail in your job and they die.

Flash

One of my biggest fears as a parent is being "that parent". I probably go too far the other direction to compensate.

 

[winchster]

IMHO it is virtually impossible to go too far in the other direction if you're looking at them in a realistic manner and not through rose colored glasses. Be realistic about your kids, know that they likely aren't angels ALL the time, and accept honest information when it's presented. Then be the custodian that God intended you to be and raise them with a good sense of right and wrong. That, isn't too far.
Just my .02 worth.

 

[majormadmax]

5 Social Media Dos, Don'ts For Students - Back To School News Story - KSAT San Antonio

 

[ROGER4314]

The list of brain dead parents is endless. I had a kid in my class who was high. His speech was slurred, he was disoriented, spaced out and as an old doper, I knew what it was so I contacted his parents. I had him on tape with slurred half coherent speech and there was no doubt he was zonked. Mom hit the roof, denied everything and got me in a world of shit trying to get me canned. A few weeks later, he took too much of his drug of choice and had to be hauled out of there with NO doubt this time about what the problem was. Do you think that Mom ever apologized to me? Hell, no!

Another time, the Dist Superintendents' kid was drunk in another teachers' class, passed out and vomited. They hauled him out in an ambulance and covered it up saying that he had a seizure! He had a seizure alright. He seized too much 190 proof before school.

A girl I had my class had her fingers slammed in the hood of a Ford Pickup truck. Her fingers actually bent the hood but she kept real cool until we got her out. After she graduated, she told me that she was blitzed on Vicodin and felt no pain at all. In fact, she was stoned every day. She dated and later married the areas biggest drug dealer. Where the Hell were her parents?

Those events could have been terrific learning tools but the parents were too busy trying to cover it up trying to prevent embarrassment. Those parents just drove another nail in their kids' coffin.

Flash

 

[majormadmax]

Found another good resource site I found today...

Net Cetera: Chatting with Kids About Being Online is a new guide from OnGuardOnline.gov with practical tips to help parents help their kids navigate the online world. The 53-page booklet was written by FTC staff with input from some of the leading lights in the online safety world.

Net Cetera is available here and through the FTC's bulk order site, bulkorder.ftc.gov.

Cheers! M2