16 Questions to Get Your Kids Talking to You about Social Media

Over the years, I’ve had more retail sales jobs than I care to count. At one of them, my manager, Rob, gave me some excellent advice on how to improve my sales. I kept asking people, “Can I help you?” or “Can I help you find something?” It was so easy for customers to shut me down simply my saying “No.” Rob taught me that I would do much better if I asked opened-ended questions or questions that required more than a one word answer.

As parents, we often have the same issue when asking our kids how their day went at school. We hear that it was “fine” or that they did “nothing special” at school today. As important as their school day is, it’s just as important that parents know what happened to their kids when they were online. Here are 16 questions that you can ask your child that will help prevent them from shutting down the conversation.

How often do you see cyberbullying online?
What was the best thing that happened to you online today?
What did you learn online today?
What would you do if someone tried to cyberbully you?
What would you do if you saw someone cyberbullying another person?
Did anyone “push your buttons” online recently?
What was the hardest thing that you did online today?
What would you do if someone you didn’t know asked to meet you, but didn’t want you to tell anyone about it?
Which social media sites do you use?
Which groups do you belong to on social media?
Which social media sites have you stopped using and why?
Who would you come to if you have a problem with another person on social media?
What can I do to help you use social media?
How would you feel if I were to sign into your social media accounts right now?
What would you like to learn about when it comes to social media?
What part of social media do you like the most/least?

As parents, we have to realize that we never went through social media as children/teens. That means that we don’t/can’t have the same frame of reference that they do. One of the biggest mistakes I made with our daughter was assuming that her experiences would be like my own. Big mistake, since I never even touched a computer until I was in 10th grade and she started using them in day care.