I hate hate hate what social media is doing to young girls

It’s not social media, it’s shite irresponsible parenting. You probably don’t feel able to frame it that way because step parents get a rough ride on here. Her mum is useless, it’s fine to say that.

FWIW I have a 7 year old and the only thing she’s ever seen on YouTube is cosmic kids yoga. She’s never heard of TikTok. She wears whatever she likes, she climbs trees, makes fairy doors in the garden, she and her friends make up plays, write stories, play with play dough, normal child activities.

Carry on trying to engage her in age appropriate ways and do whatever you can to counteract the dangerous crap her mother is exposing her to.

OP there is a YouTube creator called HannahAlonzo who you might want to check out. Not for your step-daughter, it's not kid content, but she makes these videos where she talks about influencer content and the ways in which it's untruthful or manufactured. She'll show how the timestamps on videos don't match evidence from the videos, the way props are used, etc. It really helps to show just how much of this stuff is totally artificial, just a big ad for a life that absolutely doesn't exist. It might give you some tools for talking about this stuff with your stepdaughter, to help her start to see some of the artifice and manipulation herself. Ultimately while I agree she is being exposed to this content way too young, all kids come across it eventually, and they need the tools to evaluate it for the gloss and lies it really is.

I agree @catcat9719 it's depressing and, to be honest, just a bit weird to me !

To be honest I've only got a son, but he's the same age, turning 7 in December. He's all Lego and star wars and making dens at the moment, but I'm amazed at the amount of parents we see who say their kids this age "don't really play with toys anymore" ...

Am I old now and just don't get it or is it odd?!

I agree its utterly grim the way they target kids.

I don’t think its necessarily a foregone conclusion that social media has to funnel kids into being shallow and image driven though.

Its partly how you talk about it: I have always talked to my DD about the relationship between social media and commercial and political interests and tried to get her to understand that this is all about pushing a sale or a vision.

Digital and political literacy goes a long way here. My DD is nearly 16 and is pretty online but is utterly scathing about the image insecurity which is shoved down their throats. I know she’s only 6 but you can start to educate her on how this works.

You have to get them to understand what the impetus is behind it and you can start this pretty young.

It really is awful. Children should be allowed to be children. It is largely parenting that must deal with this, but also there's a social media ban incoming by early next year that will ban children under 16 being able to view any of that type of content. The EU has also just introduced a social media ban. A lot of countries are doing similarly.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c3j4jz8vpz1xo

This is partially true, but there are also specific aspects of social media which are not a factor in a cosmo magazine. The endless scroll, the dopamine cycle of short form content, the amorphous line between content and adverts, the ability to flick between an endless variety of pictures and videos, the influence of the algorithm. These are all characteristics of social media which make it incredibly addictive, and significantly broader in scope than a magazine.

So absolutely yes, it's a parents job to monitor what their children access, but the impact of tiktok or instagram is significantly wider, deeper, and more harmful than the impact of magazines.

It is so sad and something we will be keeping our own children away from for as long as possible, still too young to even know about it all at the moment.

I do think it’s difficult though because you can’t police everyone and if the other kids at school are consuming this content then it seeps in anyway. One of my goddaughter’s is 8 and last Christmas she was also asking for drunk elephant products, Adanola clothes, makeup, Marc Jacobs perfume, she isn’t on social media but her friends are and so she gets it anyway.

Keep buying the slime making kits. My youngest granddaughter liked the mini world create kits. Go to soft play/bounce. Do themed events at Halloween/Christmas. Break up the constant bombardment.

Well my mum would not have let me read Just 17 or Cosmo at 6/7 - there's always been harmful content somewhere to protect children from. The issue is with the moronic parents who think it's appropriate to let their children access it when they are too young.

There are a lot of people in my hobby group who bring their DC along and they pop up as suggested friends on my Facebook feed. All of their profile pics are heavily filtered and most are sexualised poses, girls must be 8-10. Honestly I'm shocked that they are doing it and that parents aren't stopping it.

That was my granddaughters at 7, by 8 1/2 they'd grown out of it. We counter acted it by teaching reasoning and critical thinking and taking it through. There's always been popular fashions, there'll always be an element of that.

That’s incredibly upsetting. She is being denied a proper childhood. And her value system is going to be a mess through the absorption of such toxic ideas. All you can do is encourage her in doing normal child-friendly activities and talk to her about not taking the things she watches too seriously when she is not with you.

That is crazy and terribly sad.

At 6 she should just be having fun.

You're definitely not being unreasonable, that's so sad and she is still so very young. I only have boys, and have tried to limit their exposure to SM, but I've seen elements creep in anyway via school - they come home talking about memes or repeating crap that other kids are talking about, or acting out creepy poses and dance moves. Social media, and the internet in general really, has ruined childhood.

I would say that it's lack of appropriate parenting that is causing this situation rather than social media per se. Can your partner have a constructive discussion with her other parent to try and minimise the harm?

YANBU OP, that's really upsetting. That is so, so young to be wanting expensive skincare and makeup, let alone the body confidence issues and the concern about shorts and hairstyles.

I plan to keep my children away from social media for the longest possible extent. I really do think it's a parent's job to preserve childhood for their children, and social media is anathema to that.