Be Proactive, Not Reactive
Video Transcribed: So let’s talk about kids and social media. My name is Brian L. Jackson. I’m a Tulsa fathers’ rights attorney here with Dads.Law, where fathers are not disposable.
I want to talk to you guys about kids and social media in the context of the family court system. So this is another one of those potential pitfalls I could tell you about. Social media is kind of a touchy subject, and judges have different opinions about it. If you are dealing with younger children, you really want to be careful to limit or outright prohibit access to certain social media platforms. I’ve had clients get admonished because the kid had access to Instagram or Snapchat or one of those types of social media programs, and the judge was concerned that they weren’t uploading something inappropriate or that they weren’t exposed to something inappropriate.
So if you’re dealing with younger children, you really got to be careful with social media. Older kids, I think key things to remember, a lot of older kids have social media, and that’s a fixture in modern life. It doesn’t mean though, that you just go and don’t pay any attention.
You should be aware of what they’re doing on there because the court will definitely expect you to be aware of it. And if they are doing anything inappropriate that it’s time to restrict it. And when I say inappropriate, specific things, I can think about, obviously anything sexual, but also if they’re putting things up there that are involved like the use of drugs and alcohol, anything about self-harm, like if they’re indicating they want to hurt themselves, if there’s a discussion of anything involving eating disorders, like hardcore substance abuse, domestic violence, things like that, criminal behavior.
Some other things too, pay attention to who they’re communicating with because inappropriate could also mean there’s some random ass adult that’s been messaging them. And again, you know, you just need to be very, very careful about that because there are scumbags out there in the world. And unfortunately, the computer and particularly social media could be seen by them as a wide open door into your house and into your child’s life.
So it’s something to be aware of. And certainly, a family court is going to hold you accountable if you are not supervising your child. So that’s basically what I can say don’t fall down on the job. And if you have a child who repeatedly has problems with misuse of social media, then you need to be the bad guy, unfortunately, and take that away. And if you have questions about that for an Oklahoma family lawyer, one place you can get some good advice is at Dads.Law where fathers are not disposable.
