“Becoming critical thinkers is one of the best things possible for children, as it will help them with all their life decisions, both analog and digital. Critical thinking looks very different at different ages. At age six, critical thinking questions about social media would likely include lessons such as how did that make me feel? Does this make me feel sad or happy?”
Remember that old carpentry axiom, ‘Measure twice, cut once‘?
“That principle of ‘Think twice, post once‘ is even more essential in social media today because social media is like cut, cut, cut. Kids often don’t think before they post, so as a parent, you have to tell them, think twice, edit twice, and then post once. You have to apply the principles of critical thinking to every aspect of digital life.”
“It’s so important to drill ‘Think twice, post once‘ into your kids so they always always ask themselves if-then scenarios, or what we in business call decision-tree analysis. As in, ‘If I post this, what are the potential outcomes?’”
“Setting the rules when kids are little means the price tags for mistakes are also little.”