Whether your tween just started texting with friends or they’ve been interacting online for years, you can show them what being part of a supportive online community feels like.
While there are many hallmarks of a supportive online community, in this blog we’d like to focus on shared expectations about how to interact. When expectations are collaboratively set and agreed upon, online interactions have the potential to go more smoothly.
Why not create a shared set of expectations about how you and your tween will interact together online? You may want to consider doing the same thing with your tween’s Trusted Team.
When we model the behaviors we want our kids to learn, it is more likely that they will integrate them into other interactions.
Examples of Expectations About How To Interact Online
1. We will ask for clarification whenever we are confused or don’t understand what someone is trying to communicate.
2. We will start from the assumption that everyone in the online community is coming from a place of positive intention.
3. If any of us are told that we have unknowingly had a negative impact on someone, we will make efforts to learn from our mistakes. People who are intentionally hurtful will not be part of our online community.
Don’t just follow your kids online. Lead them.
