Most of us realize that by the age of 8, our kids know more than we do about technology. As far as my own knowledge is concerned, I think the age might be 6 1/2. And when they enter the world of social media, as soon as they see we are into anything they are using, they quickly move on to whatever OTHER form of posting or messaging they can find.
Which makes parenting in the digital age one of the greatest challenges of this century.
It goes without saying that it is a good idea to protect any social media connection you have with them. I discovered one way to almost kill it is to post pictures like this (even if it IS Mother’s day):
And IF you can hold on to the privilege of having your child follow you (without you forcing them), you have to be prepared that their comments often come paired with the willingness to be humbled. I discovered that last week when I posted a short video clip from the Creation music festival on my Instagram feed.
A year ago at Creation, a storm blew in and it was disastrous for attendance.
Here’s what it looked like when I got up to speak: 
But this year, I’m happy to report they had a few more folks:
Since I was the “in between band” speaker, I briefly shared my testimony. I shared that even in seasons you’d rather not live, God can use you to change someone’s life. However the only part that was videotaped was when I shared about not getting married till I was 49. So when I posted the clip on Instagram, our 13 year old left this precious comment for all of my followers to see: 
If you’re getting out your glasses to try to read it, it says “I’VE HEARD THIS TALK TOO MANY TIMES TO COUNT.” (At least that’s the way it looked to me).
So the moral of the story is if you are a parent and you share social media space with your teenagers, be ready to be humbled. But remember it is STILL well worth it to be included in their tribe. Given the alternative, it’s definitely best to have this connection and maintain some knowledge of where cyber land is taking your kids.
And when you are put in your place (digitally speaking), remember you have a God who gives grace for such a time as this: http://bit.ly/29ziAbT
For more Digital Parenting tips, check out this link: http://bit.ly/29zj4Ph