More from CafeMom: Mom Charged After Video of 9-Month-Old Crawling into a Busy Street Goes Viral The key to keeping our kids safe and smart while using social media lies in trust, education, and communication. Experts have discovered that social media makes teenagers feel less lonely, helps them express themselves emotionally and creatively, and teaches them a lot about human empathy. More from CafeMom: This Viral & Graphic Circumcision Post Is Making Parents Think Twice But that doesn’t mean it isn’t also dangerous, and we should do everything we can to combat that. Choosing to wait to give your kids smartphones, putting boundaries on the amount of time they spend online, and even making certain social media sites off-limits are all great ideas. We need to be open with kids about online safety, the dangers of risky behavior, and the harm they can cause themselves and others. No matter how much we wish it would sometimes, social media definitely isn’t going away, which means we have to do what parents do best — adapt.
