“Don’t put something on Facebook that you wouldn’t want your Grandmother to see!”
“If you wouldn’t say it in person, then don’t type it on social media.”
“Stop wasting all of your time watching those stupid YouTube videos!”
How many times has that advice been given out to kids by parents and teachers alike? There is a lot of attention on what not to do with technology and social media, but what about encouraging the next generation about all of the positive things that can happen because of social media?
I am an optimist. I always believe that great things can happen. #KindnessWins – always. And that becomes even truer when I think about what our kids are capable of if challenged in the right direction. Here is just one amazing story of what kids can do with the help of the internet and social media.
Makenzie Lawrey, age 10 from Cape Coral, FL had her world rocked when her little brother got diagnosed with Mitochondrial Disease (Mito) in 2012. Of course she was sad and didn’t really understand things at first, but then she made it her mission to inform the world about the rare illness and raise money for a cure.
How did she start? This young lady wrote a book called Mighty Mito Superhero and self-published it through Amazon’s CreateSpace platform at age 9. Through the sales of Mighty Mito Superhero and other fundraising efforts on social media, she has raised over $43,000 for the United Mitochondrial Disease Foundation.
Pretty nice for someone that hasn’t even hit her teens, right? But she is not stopping there. She has made it her goal to raise 1 million dollars for the cause.
Makenzie is one story of many kids out there who took adversity and turned into something positive. With the help of internet and social media, she is making a difference in the lives of thousands! Check out their Facebook page here.
Share this story with your child and/or your students. Let’s change the “don’t do that” scoldings to “what can you do” questions. I have a feeling our kids will show us how simple it can be to change the world!
Images used with approval from Makenzie’s family.
