You may be wondering, “is social media safe for kids?”
The answer is that there are definitely risks involved with letting your kids use social media platforms, including privacy risks and risks of developing mental health problems such as eating disorders.
When it comes to social media safety for teens, there are steps you can take and things you can teach kids in order to improve social media safety for kids. This is important since the average teen used social media for around an hour and a half per day in 2021, and around half of teens feel addicted to their smartphones.
The following social media safety tips regarding social media and children’s safety should help keep your children safe online:
1. Keep Yourself Educated
You may remember when Myspace and Facebook were the only popular social media sites. However, nowadays there are many more popular social media apps. It’s important for you, as a parent, to make yourself familiar with what social media websites exist and which of these websites are appropriate for your children. Some of the most popular social media websites for teens and kids include:
- Youtube
- TikTok
- Telegram
- Snapchat
- Tumblr
- Kik
- Pheed
- Yik Yak
- ask.fm
Parents should check each platform out and create dialogues with their children to see what social media platforms their children use and how they use them. If your child uses a social media platform, you may want to create your own account to see what it’s about. You could even check their followers to ensure they are using social media safely.
2. Adjust Their Privacy Settings
One of your primary concerns should be protecting the privacy of your child on social media.
Ensure you understand social media privacy settings on each platform and set your child’s social media accounts to be the most secure they can be to protect them from things like online predators and identity theft.
Here’s how to change the privacy settings on several popular social networking sites:
Snapchat
- Change the settings your child has to private. This will limit the ability to see the snaps of your child to only people they follow and know. This also goes for those who are allowed to send your child snaps.
- Make sure you report and block inappropriate content and inappropriate people who have interactions with your children. You can read the community guidelines of Snapchat so you understand what kind of content is allowed.
- Snapchat privacy settings can be found here.
- Make sure your children have their accounts set to private so only people you allow them to approve can interact with or view their content.
- Instagram privacy settings can be found here.
TikTok
- Make sure your child’s account is set to private so all friend requests which are unknown can be denied or approved. You may also restrict all content to the setting “followers only.”
- Enable all of the digital well-being features in order to control your child’s content, screen time, etc.
- Explore additional parental controls on TikTok.
3. Adhere to Age Limits
You probably wish to keep your children off of social media for as long as possible. However, this probably won’t last forever.
Websites which collect data from users need to follow federal law in the United States which requires that they notify parents as well as gain consent before they allow children under the age of 13 to sign up. This is part of an effort by the government to keep children safer when they are online. For example, one platform with this rule is TikTok, who says they will take action when they catch others violating this rule.
However, it is very easy for children to lie regarding their age when they sign up for an account. You, as a parent, have the responsibility to supervise your child’s online activity and enforce any of your own rules within your family. If your child is of age and wishes to join a social media platform before you think they’re old enough (for example, their friends might all have accounts), consider additional ways to monitor and limit their time online like parental controls.
4. Understand the Risks
Some of the most dangerous risks associated with social media use include:
- Addiction
- Cyberbullying
- Online predators
- Sedentary behavior
- Interference with sleep patterns
- Reduced self-esteem
- Exposure to inappropriate content
5. Establish Family Social Media Rules
You need to set clear ground rules for what your kids are and aren’t allowed to do on social media. These rules should involve what they’re allowed to post, what kinds of accounts they can follow, how long they’re allowed to use social media, etc.
Perhaps you can establish rules to stop technology usage before bed, or to leave phones away from the dinner table, or to restrict usage until after homework is finished.
6. Keep an Open Dialogue
You cannot monitor the social media activity of your child 24/7, so it is important to maintain strong communication in order to understand what your child is doing online. Ask your children to inform you when strangers send them messages or invites. Talk to your children regarding the consequences of social media misuse. Ask your children to tell you when others harass or tease them online as this could be cyberbullying.
It’s important for your children to be able to discuss any issues they have with you. If your kids don’t see fairness in the rules you set around social media, it may result in them trying to skirt around your rules.
Have a conversation with them about your reservations with social media usage and hear them out. That said, stand strong by your rules after you’ve laid out your justifications.
7. Utilize Blocking Tools
Children should be taught to utilize tools to report or block suspicious accounts or individuals who are trying to harass them.
The benefits of doing so include teaching your kids to fend off bad actors and keep themselves safe.
8. Explain the Internet is Forever
It’s important to emphasize to kids that anything they post can remain on the internet forever, having long-reaching consequences.
Make sure your children know why it is important to keep personal information private, such as:
- Addresses
- Phone numbers
- Passwords
- Social security numbers
- Credit card info
9. Recognize Social Media Addiction
It’s important that you recognize the signs of social media addiction. These signs include:
- An inability to disconnect from social media
- Defensiveness and secrecy
- Neglect of responsibilities
- Social isolation and withdrawal
- Sleep disturbance and fatigue
- Mood swings or irritability
- Relationship problems
- Fear of missing out
- A constant requirement for validation, or low self-esteem
- Physical symptoms like headaches, carpal tunnel syndrome, back pain, neck pain or eyestrain
It’s important to recognize addiction as early as possible so you have a better chance to intervene.
Severe consequences of social media addiction in children and teens can include:
- ADHD
- Anxiety disorder
- Body dysmorphia
- Eating disorder
- Depression
- Sleep disturbances/problems
- Suicide
- Suicide attempt
- Suicidal thoughts/ideation
- Cutting
- Cyberbullying
- Sexual exploitation while a minor
If you or your child has suffered from any of the above after social media usage, call us today for a free consultation. You might qualify for financial compensation in a lawsuit against social media companies.
For more social media safety tips, check out our infographic below.
