For many parents these days, the advances in technology with instant communication and immediate gratification have brought a new wave of concerns as they apply to their kids. While we are all probably guilty to some degree when it comes to checking our phones instead of doing our work, kids are even more vulnerable to living off their phones to the point where the real world becomes an afterthought. Rather than engaging, exploring, and experiencing the world around them, many are caught up checking text messages, Facebook, Twitter and various other virtual experiences.
Consequences of always being “connected”
One big concern always being tethered to social media is the tremendous time drain always being connected has on kids. In some cases kids can chew up hours upon hours with a phone or pad in their hands, completely missing the day going on around them. For student athletes, time that used to be spent running, lifting, studying playbooks, and doing other things to improve athleticism is now being dedicated to social media.
The second big concern I see when kids become addicted to social media has to do with focus — or lack thereof. In increasingly more families kids are splitting their time at the dinner table, in car rides, and seemingly everywhere else they go between attention to mom and dad and keeping an eye on their Facebook and Twitter feeds. Coaches have the same challenges when trying to keep their student athletes tuned in while simultaneously trying to get kids to “unplug” and step away from their phones. The danger in splitting attention is that it leaves kids at-risk for harm, injury, and if nothing else a much poorer job in sports/school than they would have done if they had given their full attention.
Social media isn’t necessarily bad, but since it isn’t going away it does prompt parents and coaches to dedicate time and effort to establishing communication and boundaries around social media usage. Some ideas for both parents and coaches to consider include the following:
Parents
- Talk openly about social media and the responsibilities that come with using, including posts made during emotional moments, and how once something is posted it rarely ever comes back.
- Discuss your expectations regarding priorities, including times where kids have to put the phone down (i.e. dinner).
- Warn of the dangers of using social media while driving and create a zero tolerance policy.
- If your child is struggling in school, closely examine the time drain social media is causing and if this might be the root of the academic issues being witnessed.
Coaches
- It is very important coaches address social media, especially as this pertains to heat-of-the-moment tweets that might be viewed as offensive and/or disturbing to others. Specific team consequences should be outlined and enforced.
- Create policies where the phone is shut off during practices and games.
- If a student athlete is struggling with sports and/or school, begin the conversation around focus and how social media might be negatively impacting staying on task. In many cases establishing better, dedicated focus immediately improves the situation.
- Encourage your team to use social media in positive, responsible ways — like creating a team Facebook page, or reminding people of fund raisers through Twitter.
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