A lakecity mom is warning parents of the perils of social media following an incident with her daughter recently.
“She’s a good kid but she’s very easily influenced, which most kids are at this age,” said the mother, who asked that her name not be revealed to protect her daughter’s identity.
Despite checking her 14-year-old daughter’s phone and social media sites such as Facebook and Instagram regularly, the mom said she was mortified to discover her daughter had posted a photograph of herself on the popular teen site, Hot Or Not, and was texting with a young adult male from northern B.C. who approached her online after seeing her picture.
“This was all about getting attention, and that’s what social media is,” said the mom, adding she’s afraid to even think what kind of trouble kids who aren’t being monitored regularly are getting themselves into online.
“Our world is scary, and I want parents to know just how easy it is for people to prey on our kids.”
The mom said she was able to recover enough information to get a clearer picture of what her daughter was up to online and has since taken steps to restrict her access, but she worries that increasingly parents are not as tech savvy as their children.
“I think it’s really important for parents who don’t understand all this technology to get the information they need,” she said, noting she’s hoping to gather more information for parents in order to eventually host a workshop on the topic.
“I’m not a perfect parent, but I do love my daughter, and I don’t want to see her or any other children devalue themselves.”