Bonus Post! Exploring Parental Consent for Social Media

 

Social media can be intimidating. It has so many good and bad uses. I do not think its large scope should intimate people learning to use it as an educational tool.

As a librarian I want to make sure that young and old library users have the knowledge they need to successfully navigate social media. One way to do this is through library programs and clubs. But if minors will be using social media in a library sponsored events parental (or from here on referred to as guardian) permission. Making sure that guardians not only give consent to use these tools but they understand the purpose behind programing like this is vital.

In this sample guardian consent letter I am running a fictitious youth creators club. If I were to pitch this club to my library director I would describe how this would increase library engagement while also teaching valuable skills. This letter is specific for Youtube. 

See below:  



(Image by author)

Now there are a few things I want to point out here. 

One I started by give what we would be using (YouTube) and then I gave a brief description for those who may not be aware of this site.  

Secondly I described how I would be using this tool for youth creators club. In this description I tried to make it clear why this is a good tool to use.

Third I tried to cover any concerns guardians might have about using this tool. Hopefully I even covered things they did not think of while still advising guardians to be open and communicative with their youth about the tool and what their household policy will be.

Fourth I made sure guardians knew they could contact the library for concerns and questions. (If this was a real letter the name of the program runner would be given with an email and phone number)

Fifth is the section for guardians to make it clear what they are agreeing to and then a place for their signature.  

Hopefully this sample letter will help if you are looking for guidance in writing consent letters for your library programming.  


For an article that deals with using social media as an educational tool see here.

For social media and libraries see here, it is more broad but I think it shows how social media is a useful tool.


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