Social Media & Teenage Girls
One of the guests on my show last night was Nancy Jo Sales, she is the author of "American Girls: Social Media and the Secret Lives of Teenagers."
It was chilling.
She educated me about girls love/hate relationship with social media. She highlighted anonymous texting apps that lead to cyber bullying and sexual harassment. And, she told us that the new flirting is sharing nude pictures.
Seriously.
When a boy has a crush on a girl he texts her, "send me nudes" and often she does it. This was confirmed to be true when I asked my 12-year-old about it this morning. She nodded, it happens, even in her school.
This opened the door a conversation about it, which is the goal of Nancy's book. These are hard conversations to have. it's much more than the birds and the bees. But these talks are necessary.
I wish I could hide my head in the sand from what is happening on social media but that would be irresponsible parenting. So, this morning was the first of many, many uncomfortable discussions. I plan to many more, I hope they get easier.
Have you had yours yet? How'd it go?
Here is a link to last nights podcast of my interview with Nancy Jo Sales.