Can I just say THANK GOD I DID NOT HAVE FACEBOOK AND INSTAGRAM AS A CHILD! The trouble I would still be digging myself out of … Now go back to when I was even younger and I rode my bike and played in the dirt, I made games up to fill my time, I had few channels to watch, and when I did it was only on Saturday morning with an occasional Blossom and Fresh Prince here and there.
I ask my oldest to give me suggestions for Christmas gifts and I get Grand Theft Auto! Are you kidding me? Did that just get uttered out of those sweet baby lips?!? What happened to Maggie and the Ferocious Beast, and Backyardigans? I get that we are in the teenage years, but I found that blue puppy much more endearing than these bloody video games.
While shopping in the electronic section a few days ago I thought I would just ask that teenage boy stocking the shelves about Grand Theft Auto, question 1 “does the player assault the women or is it consensual sex?” Answer, “consensual” wait? Is that supposed to make me happy? It doesn’t. Question 2 “can you beat everyone up including the police officers?” answer “yes”. My child asked Santa to bring a game where you can have sex and beat up police officers. Merry Christmas to me! Are you wondering if I got this sweet child of mine this horrific game? Do you have to ask? NO! Never! So now my oldest child wants to be on these social networks (instagram, facebook), and I’m having trouble separating the wild mess I was as a young teenager, and the responsible well mannered person my child is becoming. I can’t protect them forever, but this one seems to big. Did you know if you don’t set up the right privacy settings all it takes is a simple click on the picture to see the location of the home the photo was taken in? Did you know that kids are rating each other from best looking to ugly? Did you know the fastest growing form of bullying is on the web? I cant find a reason to let my children open up accounts … Can someone give me one? Actually don’t I will keep things as safe and sound for as long as I can, if we are even safe at all.
