Don’t TV stations do a great job of pulling you to a must see show? I had seen the ads for Tyra and knew it was one I didn’t want to miss.
In her very frank way, the talk show host was dragging all “private” issues out in the open as she interviewed a panel of teen girls. The topic: sexting. The surprise guests: their mothers. Wow were they surprised as these moms heard their thirteen, fourteen and fifteen-year-old girls talk freely of the explicit language and NUDE pictures they regularly exchange with their friends. The shock on the mothers’ faces proved they had no idea it was happening. The nude girl on the phone was a totally different girl than the daughter in their home…or so they thought.
I don’t know about your community, but it is a common occurrence for my girl to see phones passed around in her school. It’s no secret. She and every other student know exactly what the kids are sharing.
“Nudes” as they are called, fall under the topic “No Mom Wants to Talk About”. Tough conversations are more than uncomfortable, but we must have them. Nudes have become common place in our kid’s culture. We cannot pretend it is not happening. When we turn an eye, we’re turning to hide.
For starters, Mom, it is important to know who your child is on social media with. Are you following her on Instagram, Twitter or Snap Chat? Is the boy at the supper table each evening the same guy on Instagram? Is she one girl when praying at night, and a different one when texting in the dark?
Maybe you don’t follow your child because they have protested; pulled the “privacy” card. In our house you have a right to your privacy when you begin paying for the roof over your head. Giving too much privacy when a child is still maturing puts a child at risk.
As their parents, it is our responsibility to challenge our kids to live a life that honors God in every aspect of their lives, and social media is no exception. This is the platform where they can begin to display their bravery with their faith, like Peter did.
In Acts 5, Peter was being pushed and pulled by those around him who called the shots, the guys who determined who was in, and who was out (they had so much power they could determine who would live and who would die!) Peter’s answer to these dudes was “It is better to obey God rather than men.”
Does the life of our kids’ reflect Peter’s statement?
Standing for something when everyone else is falling for everything is beyond hard. Yet in 2 Timothy 1:12 ESV, Paul challenges Timothy, “ which is why I suffer as I do. But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that he is able to guard until that Day what has been entrusted to me.”
Don’t be afraid to challenge your child. Who are they going to be, and what are they going to stand for?
And before you have some words to say, take some time with some words to pray:
Jesus, help ___________ to want to stand up for you. Holy Spirit, whisper to her if she is being fake. Empower her to be real and choose to obey you. Amen.
Ask your child to be honest today. Is the the girl she is projecting and the girl she is at home one and the same?
Lynn Cowell is a Proverbs 31 speaker and the author of several books including her newest “Magnetic: Becoming the Girl He Wants”. Lynn helps set girls and women on the path toward wise choices by leading them to the only love that can fill the love gap in their hearts. Her husband and their three children live in North Carolina where they love hiking, rafting and anything combining chocolate and peanut butter. Connect with her more at www.LynnCowell.com.
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