Sarah Michelle Gellar Says Kids Posting On Social Media Is Like Getting A Face Tattoo
The actress and husband Freddie Prinze Jr. keep a close eye on their two kids, banning social media posting.
There’s no question that the internet and social media can be a dangerous place for kids with no preparation or guidance. While some may find it unrealistic to keep kids off social media until a certain age, some parents believe it’s possible. Take Sarah Michelle Gellar, for example. She explained that she keeps her kids from posting on social media, but occasionally allows her kids, 13-year-old Charlotte and 10-year-old Rocky, to browse on her phone.
She noted that while the kids think she and husband Freddie Prinze Jr. are super strict parents, the kids’ friends still love hanging out at their home, so they must be doing something right.
“Our rules are probably stricter than most. Our kids don't have social media,” Gellar told Yahoo Life. “They're allowed to look sometimes when it’s our phones. Sometimes, our kids will be like ‘You guys are the strictest household!’ But I say, ‘Yes, but everyone still wants to come here!’”
Gellar compared the permanence of social media to getting a tattoo on your face. You think it’s a good idea in that moment, but people’s interests and beliefs change (especially impressionable young kids.)
“Because at that age, there’s nothing better than Paw Patrol. And now you're 10 and [13], and you still have these tattoos on your face and it's not even who you are anymore,” explained Gellar. “That's a very hard concept for young kids to grasp.”
She went on to say that the rules she puts in place are not meant as punishment for her kids or to hinder them in anyway but actually to help them thrive. “I believe kids need to know what their limitations are, and they actually thrive in that environment. We’re not mean, we’re not unnecessarily strict, but we have rules,” the actress says. “And the same way I abide by my code of rules, I expect the same from our children.”
Gellar works hard to be present in her kids’ lives. So, when the Do Revenge has to travel for work, she feels the mom guilt hard. “I think in any profession people can relate to [that],” she told US Weekly. “But at the same time, I’m also showing my children that you can be a good parent and also chase your dreams and that they should do the same.”
Thankfully, Prinze is there to pick up the slack, almost too much, according to Gellar. “My husband is completely fine running the household almost to the point where then I get back and I am like, ‘They don’t need me,'” she joked.
