Parents are getting more and more involved in the social media world. Facebook is every parent’s way to show family and friends what is happening in a child’s life. Many teens feel uncomfortable and annoyed when their moms or dads post pictures or long posts about their children. The New York Times says, “The son of a friend still brings up things his mom wrote about his picky eating when he was younger—years ago.” Here at WHHS, we decided to interview our own students under the age of 17 and get their views about parents posting on Facebook.

Some students had no opinion about this topic at all. If their parents want to post something, who cares? “I don’t have a problem with my parents posting things about me at all. As long as my friends don’t follow them, I’m fine with it,” says junior Jake Samieske. It seemed like mostly boys did not care about this topic that much. They hardly even realize when their parent posts about them. “Most of the time, I don’t even know they posted anything. I don’t have a Facebook so it doesn’t affect me that much,” says junior John Barone.

Many students thought that it was completely unnecessary for their parents to post on Facebook. “I actually deleted my mom on Facebook because I did not want to see posts about myself all the time. I don’t understand why a bunch of people I don’t know have to see what is happening in my life,” says junior Jaime Hyun. Other students agreed with Jaime on this topic. Junior Emily Gross says, “It’s really annoying when my mom posts pictures of me. I tell her all the time to not do it, but she can’t help herself.”

Certain parents didn’t even use Facebook at all. “My mom now has an Instagram and posts on there instead of Facebook. I hate it so much because not only does she post pictures of me, but she also comments on my posts,” stresses sophomore Isabella Czekaj. Is Instagram becoming the new Facebook for parents? A majority of students at WHHS have an Instagram account already, and now parents are starting to follow the trend. “My mom will only post on Facebook for me and my sisters birthdays. She uses Instagram a lot, but I think it’s hilarious. My friends also think it’s funny when she comments on their posts,” says freshman Chloe Pilione.

Throughout this interviewing process, we started to see a pattern of only moms posting ridiculous amounts of pictures on Facebook. Do fathers use social media at all?

The answer is yes. Some students claim that fathers use social media even more than mothers. Senior Sarah Joyce says, “My dad loves to post pictures of me and my brother. I don’t really mind at all. It’s just him showing his love for us and it’s cute.” Many students agreed with Sarah. “My dad has every social media account out there. He loves to Instagram pictures of me and hashtag everything. None of my friends follow him, so I don’t really care,” says freshman Kiana Garcia.

Even grandparents are getting involved in Facebook. “Whenever there is a holiday or a birthday, my grandma posts a bunch of pictures of me and my sister. I think it’s adorable, but I can see why people would get annoyed,” says sophomore Carly Sklar. Carly’s twin sister agreed. “I think it’s cute when my grandma posts things on Facebook. She still doesn’t know how to use it that well, but it makes her happy,” says sophomore Sami Sklar.

It all depends on the person as to whether they care about parents posting on social media. Let us know in the comments whether you think it’s ok for parents to post about you on their social media accounts!