Should Kids Be On Social Media?

Would love to know your thoughts and have a conversation about this! More to come on what the Lord is walking our family through when it comes to social media. ❤️
#vloggingfamily #kidsandsocialmedia #kids

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Nick and Chels
600 W Washington St. #914
Greenville, SC 29602

CHANNEL BACKGROUND // Nick and Chelsea are a 24 year old married couple living in South Carolina. They had their first baby, Hudson in July of 2021! Chelsea has made videos on this channel for years starting in the beauty world and now venturing into the lifestyle/advice/family world. They both spend most of their time writing, capturing photos, and planning content around the issues that young adults face. They both have a podcast as well that calls out issues in culture, real life struggles, and fun times most of us go through like getting married or graduating school! The podcast is called "Forever Changed" with Nick and Chelsea Hurst.

FTC // Some links above are affiliate, and all opinions are our own! We appreciate the support and love you give our family!

[amberambie]

Hey Chelsea, I agree with you on protecting the privacy of a child's life within the midst of social media and the internet. I personally agree for young children that guarding their private lives should come from a place of love and genuine thoughtfulness of the child. Regarding them having social media and access to the internet at such younger ages than we ever did, I believe it's important to monitor the videos they watch and even the posts they make on social media, whether it's a comment on a "funny" video or instagram (if they have an account). Today's world is so infiltrated with mixed messages on social media that a child can become influenced based on the videos they watch, posts they make. Monitoring and having genuine concern for the child's well-being while engaging in social media and the internet, will hopefully aid them in realizing their lives deserve privacy and not everything needs to be shared. Thank you for speaking on this topic. As a daycare teacher, it's important for the children under my care to have boundaries while on the internet at the center and approaching it from a loving place allows them to see that I care for their well-being.

[flowerpower]

I would say privacy is really important for kids, and to be VERY mindful and selective of what you do share. The reason my husband and I have posted maybe one or two things of our baby is really just for safety's sake. The internet isn't a safe place, and you get all kids of different people visiting your social medias. I find I used to have a lot of trust for the internet when I was younger, but have really had my eyes open to the "creeps" out there that prey on small children. Especially if those children get lots of fame, it's more of a risk for them to show up on "sites" if you know what I mean... And that's the BIGGEST reason why I like to make the exposure of my own child very very limited. And I also agree with what you said about how the internet has changed so much over the years, with shorter attention spans, questioning self worth at times, mental health struggles, and so much more, it's scary to think of our kids being apart of that "world". So I know that once my own kids get to that age where we would feel like they're old enough, and mature enough, to have social media, we would teach them the benefits and risks of it all before they fully choose to participate. Who knows how much it'll change in 10 years anyway? I feel like children should be old enough and mature enough to fully consent to being on social media, otherwise they could look back and really regret what they were apart of, or wish the memories were just for them to have (like you said). This is a very good conversation to have, and I appreciate you opening up the conversation for us all to be apart of!

[Katie-etyv]

I've thought about this quite a bit since family and friends have had kids. I love that you mentioned that they might wish the memories were saved just for them, that's one I hadn't thought of yet. I think there's a safe way to share things with your kids online, but as the parent, there's a lot of forethought that needs to go in before posting it. One of my family members shares everything because she loves to see the memories pop up on Facebook later, and it's nice for us that live far away to be able to see what they're up to, how the kids are growing, etc. Another family couple has decided not to share anything online. I often think about the classic mom showing a scrapbook of all your embarrassing moments to your boyfriend/girlfriend, would my child want this out in the world for everyone to see when they're older? Does this respect their personhood? I don't think my husband and I will end up sharing much, if anything, mostly for safety due to one of our jobs, but also out of respect for our kids, so they can make the decision about what they want to share when they are ready.

[charleenbower]

I love the fact that you are mindful of 'the memories they wish were just for them. I don't have a Youtube channel, but I know for our family, even on FB. right from the beginning when we took pictures as a family, I always asked my children and grandchildren, "is this a just us pic/video, or a share with them pic/video, and we did this even before they were old enough to understand the question. in this way, by the time they were able to understand it, they were already used to their feelings counting, and us respecting their answer, We have also created a Family Album space for the pics/videos that they answer just us to so that we don't lose those memories.

[stephaniealaia]

I enjoy you’re point off views in things Chelsea, that’s what drew me to y’all’s channel you and Nick see a different light on things then others do and seem so real and genuine and I thank you for that! 💜

[lornatw]

Appreciate your approaches in videos so much, balanced, honest, unjudgeing and genuine 💗 Sending much love and peace to you and your family 💗

[ThePurpleAlphabet]

These are some great thoughts... I have many on this topic too. There is a lot of thought that needs to go into how much families share... and thinking long term too. I'm very glad you shared your perspective.

[lianettferrer]

Watching your videos always feel so comforting and like listening to a friend talk, since we are walking through a similar season of life.

[onlyapilgrim]

so thankful for just to hear level-headed dialogue from a responsible young Christian family. i'm trying to branch out and cultivate more fellowship with young moms and married women because that's where i want to be someday. but to be honest, it's hard to cultivate those friendships. there are so many priorities to juggle when you have a platform online, but i know the whole reason y'all do what you do is to speak truth into the lives of young people like me, and i'm so grateful.

[jezlynbearden]

Love this topic and I agree with so much of your view point. Once something is on the internet it can’t be taken off.. letting kids choose when they want to participate and also protecting their more personal aspects of life on social platforms is SO important. I know people who won’t even post their childrens faces, to each their own (I love posting my kids and will continue to do so) but if our son doesn’t want to be in a Tik Tok we’re just like ok bud 👍🏼😂😂

Love your heart Chels!!

[madisonleroyy]

I have an almost 3 year old and a 3 month old. My perspective has definitely changed in the past year or so. I was always pretty private with the things I’ve chose to share about our child / our lives in general. But i share even less now. I’ve thought about not sharing them at all but that’s honestly unrealistic for me as a stay at home mom but I’m just very mindful of what i choose to post.

[msteel_]

Hi Chelsea! I love seeing how genuine y’all have become in regards to how you connect with your followers! It feels like y’all are definitely tryin to reach out and not just gain fame :) <3

[godistheanswerify]

I think parents should allow the kid the choice to choose if they want to be on social media. If the kids is too young then perhaps parents should wait until the child is of mature judgment to make the choice. Let’s take things back to the old times when kids weren’t easily posting online. The world is only getting worse as time goes

[godistheanswerify]

♦️I would also like to add this. Put yourself in those shoes. Would you have liked it, now that your older.. if your parents posted about you online a lot? I think that can help you both sympathize better with this particular topic. Just putting ourselves in other persons shoes help.

[andreapatane]

Social media is a serious business for people of all ages. Kids aren't alone at all. Did you and your husband know that I took child development classes in college? It was one of my majors and I got 2 certificates. The problem was, I was overqualified and I wasn't able to work as a para in a school setting.

[megandelli]

I like to make videos but I stopped showing my kids really because some popular influencer (not even THAT popular) talked about going out in public and people recognizing and talking to their kid and that being unsettling. If some adult recognized my kid and started talking to them I would be very uncomfortable with that as well…. It would be kind of scary.

[HannahBirzes]

I don’t think I will share my child’s faces or names on the internet ever- even though it would be nice to for family & friends.
It’s just too risky and weird.

They can’t provide consent & privacy is so important nowadays.

[cht]

My niece who’s 19 now wasn’t watched enough on social media and almost got sex trafficked when she was 14 sadly. She got sucked in and agreed to leave through a window in the middle of the night to meet up with a 19 year old boy…(leaving her little sister freezing, cause she left the window open) That set her in a series of events of bad choices sense then. I personally think her mom feel asleep at the wheel… I love my Sister and her girls and continue to pray for them… Too much more to the story I probably shouldn’t be saying but it breaks my heart! I was there when she was born and was her first baby sitter for the first 9 months…I wanted better for her. She grew up in a “Christian home” also.
I don’t think children should have phones 📱 until they have a job to pay for them and then they should be held accountable and checked in on.

[daniellekramer]

My 10 year old cousin and 9 year old cousin have TikTok and one has Snapchat. They watch YouTube all the time too and stuff they shouldn’t watch.

[axlfox]

I feel like it should be up to you and Nick weather or not to make your child's life public but the downfall to that is say he grows up not as into the idea of social media or being a public with his life as you and Nick are. He may become upset you made the start of his life so private without his permission. For example Teen Mom Macy's son Bentley is 13 and asked for social media but Macy and her husband had to explain to him the pros and cons of social media and tell him about the darker side of social media but I feel like he might not see the big deal due to the fact he's had cameras in his face 24/7 his entire life.