No More F*cebook

I love FB.  I love keeping up with friends and family I do not see often as well as reconnecting with friends I have not seen in many years.  It is fun to get a glimpse into others lives. 

The dark side of social media is what I believe it is doing to our children.  I have seen it with my very own child.  My oldest daughter is my only child who has had access to any social media so far.  She and her friends are not active on FB.  They have Instigr*m, Tw*tter, V*ine, and Sn*p Chat.  All of which took over most of my daughters day.  She had her I*phone attached to her 24 hours a day.  She even slept with it right beside her.  I would often sneak in after she was asleep and take it.  I do not feel like she needs to be "plugged in" and accessible 24 hours a day.   I also found that is gave her and her friends a sense of anonymity making them feel safe to say and post things that are not a direct reflection of who they really are.  They were (and many still are) posting videos, pictures and words that would never say or do in "real life". 

I pulled the plug on social media this summer.  I took the I*phone, all of the passwords and then deleted the accounts on all of her social media accounts.  I have banned all social media in my home.  I tell my kids in our home:

We talk to each other.  Face to face!

It has not been easy.  There were arguments, tears, accusations of being unfair, arguing, sneaking to get on social media, more tears, more arguing....

But it was worth it!  We no longer fight about the phone.  Sure, she wants it back.  But, she is surviving.  She still gets the information she needs, she still has friends, she still got asked to homecoming, she still knows where her friends will be and I have yet to forget to pick her up.  All of these were her arguments for keeping the phone and the access to her social media accounts.  Funny how we all lived without these things and made it into adulthood.  lol!

Since I took all of these things away from my daughter I have decided that I will also give up social media.  I am saving the last of my facebook photos and I will be closing my account as well.  I think it is only fair.  I am sure I will have much more time to get things done.  Since I am deleting my f*cebook (the only social media I used) I have decided to try blogging again.  We will see if I can stick to it.