Children, obey your parents in
everything, for this pleases the Lord. –Col 3:20 (NIV)
Fathers, do not provoke your children
to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.
–Eph 6:4 (NASB)
I was recently posed with the question as to whether or not it was right
for us to allow our children to have a social media account, such as Facebook.
While there are multiple cases I could make for each side, as always, we need
to turn to the Lord for answers.
I have read several articles (such as this one: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/22/facebook-study-envy_n_2526549.html)
on the correlation between people being on Facebook and experiencing feelings
of depression or less self-worth afterwards. In short, we compare ourselves and
our lives to what we see online and act out accordingly.
As fathers, one of our number one responsibilities is to instill a strong
self-worth and confidence in our children, and to point out the lies and flaws
with anything that may inhibit those qualities in them. This is accomplished
through our knowledge and passing on of Scripture to our kids and spending
quality time with them so they don’t go looking to fill that gap somewhere
else. We are also to set firm and realistic boundaries for their protection. If
you love and discipline your kids in the same way God does us, then you will
have their respect when it comes to topics such as social media usage. If you
do not, then you still have the right to petition the Lord on their behalf.
I am not going to make a judgment call for your household. We all
understand the risks and dangers that lurk in cyber-world; but I believe an
even greater danger is our sons and daughters not having a father who is active
in bringing them up in Christ. Seek His guidance today through the Word and
prayer and ask Him to lead you when it comes to leading them. 
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