My daughter and I have a saying that we use as a reminder to think before you act. “Just because you can, doesn’t mean you should.”

Sometimes we are joking, and sometimes we are serious… more often I am the serious one. The words do make a point.

We all can do great things with social networking. Sharing, collaborating, connecting with old friends. There are so many ways to use social networking for positive outcomes. But like anything, technology also gives us, and our kids, the opportunity to make mistakes in a very public way. Just because you can tell everyone that you are angry at your best friend on Twitter, doesn’t mean you should. Just because you can post a picture on SnapChat, doesn’t mean you should.

So why is it that our smart, wonderful kids post some very unattractive things at times? Part of the issue is the frontal lobe. According to Dr. Adriana Galvan, director and principal investigator of the Developmental Neuroscience Laboratory at UCLA, the human brain develops into our twenties. And the part of the brain that develops last is the pre-frontal cortex. This is the portion of the brain that helps us to consider the consequences of our actions. It’s why our smart kids don’t always make good choices and why they may “post” before thinking.


So what is a parent to do?

Turn everything off?

Petition Congress to outlaw social networking?



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