Is it fair for me to ban my nannies from using social media while in charge of my children?
My partner and I have decided to keep our kids as far away from social media for as long as we can. We don’t go on it when they are in the room and we don’t post pictures of their faces on social media either. As far as we know they haven’t been exposed to it any other way since they aren’t school-aged yet. I want to ask the nanny to not go on social media when they are watching my children. I feel that it is fair because we don’t want them exposed to it and we are paying them. Also, they should be watching our kids, not browsing social media feeds. I know that people are super into it but it’s not how we want to raise our kids and I would hope that the nanny would respect that choice. Is this okay for us to ask the nanny?
2 answers
I think it’s completely fair to ask this of a nanny, but it’s getting harder and harder to find nannies that will agree to this. I know from personal experience. Everyone has become so dependent on social media that they don’t want to go without it even for just a couple of hours while they are working. I’ve found that you have to be willing to compromise. Say that you don’t want them on social media while the kids are awake, but when they are napping or in bed it’s fine. Also, make it clear that it’s just social media that you don’t want to expose the kids to and that they can still use their phones for pictures, texting, and things like that. I like getting pictures of my kids throughout the day, as long as it doesn’t then go on social media without my permission, and I don’t mind the nanny answering texts if it is important or short. Make it clear what you are okay with them doing and what isn’t okay.
I also have this same conviction about not exposing my children to social media until they are of age. I feel it is fair since they are your employee and you are paying them to give you a service. I definitely think that this is an issue that can be discussed with your nanny. If you're just planning to get one, then I would discuss this in the interview. However, please bear in mind that your nanny might not agree to this condition due to a variety of reasons, and if they do not agree, you might have to come to a kind of compromise. Compromise in the sense that, maybe the social media can be restricted when the kids are awake and otherwise when they are sleeping. In my own case, I had to find a nanny that will agree to not being on social media when watching my kids because the current one was adamant about any change.
