The textbook answer is that children under the age of 13 aren’t permitted to be on Facebook or any other social network. That’s been the standard operating procedure—at the very least—since I was eleven. How do I know? Because I fondly remember blowing past those warnings when I set up my first Geocities account in 1995. Obviously, I’m very aware that our students today don’t pay any more attention to those warnings as I did at their age. Fair enough.

It’s pointless to reaffirm the fact that they’re not allowed to participate in social networks. If that was in any way effective, you wouldn’t be asking me this question, right? That said, I have a problem with the way we go about teaching responsible Internet use to our students (as well as adults).

The Internet never forgets.

Most people regard that sentence as a bad thing. The Internet will never forget that picture of you at a fraternity party that everyone seems to remember but you. At the same time, the Internet is never going to forget your awesome answer to a programming question on Stack Overflow or your thought-provoking poem on Facebook.

In my less-than-humble opinion, our time is better spent citing positive examples of how you can use the Internet to establish a reputation as a thoughtful, creative member of society. It doesn’t help to live in fear of Google’s long arm. Instead, I challenge you to embrace it and create something meaningful that will draw positive attention to you.