The way parent shaming is displayed in the media can be quite obvious or it may be so subtle that you don't know it's happening. Either way, I imagine you have been victim to parent shaming through the media at some time in your life whether it was related to your child's ADHD or not.

Parent shaming has always been around, but social media has created a new outlet for people to express their opinions on parenting style. Celebrities have been classic targets for parent shaming through tabloids and gossip magazines. Social media has provided anonymity for posters to hide behind and not worry about being identified. Posting anonymously also gives an unexplainable sense of power and superiority and could be the reason social media provides the perfect place for parent shaming to occur.

Social media is a hot spot for parent shaming and you must be aware of this as you engage in your consumption of media. On most any parent and child related post you will see opinions commented that range from positive and rewarding to negative and intended to shame parents. To give you a better idea of this I took to my own social media accounts and found examples for you to observe how to spot parent shaming:

Here's an example from the Natural Parenting page on Facebook in response to a Nature Valley commercial about how families need to get back to nature by having their children engage in activities that do not involve technology.

We can see that the two of the top responses varied greatly in content. The first comment outright shames parents for buying their children this technology. The post then takes a different tone and states that all parents want whats best for their children. I found the closing statements interesting-that starting reading at an early age will help children excel in school and LIFE. I am unsure about their connection to excelling in life but it seems that it is an indirect way to shame parents who do not start their children reading at a very young age.

The second comment supports technology use for children and encourages readers to use it for engaging in learning but to also participate in non-technology based activities. Instead, this poster decides to target Nature Valley foods for trying to make parents think they are feeding their families wholesome snacks when in reality they are packed with sugar.

Both interpretations are similar to comments you might see on any child related ad. There are often people defending an argument from both sides and using forceful language to do so. You must be aware of the use of words to sway an opinion on a topic.

Other features you may encounter in posts include:

-Extreme criticism of an image or story

-The use of other articles to back up someone's comments (we will explore credible sources on the next page)

-Direct targeting of another commenter in an attempt to feel superior