To ask whether your 11 year old is allowed Tik Tok?

[devadreams]

DS (11) keeps asking for Tik Tok and I'm unsure whether to allow it. Lots of his friends have it but I am wary having heard quite a lot of bad press about it. Main concerns are him seeing (and potentially sharing?) inappropriate content and the fact it's a huge time sap.

Is your 11 year old allowed it and if so, what controls/rules do you have in place?

If you don't allow it, why not?

It's all quite new to me and would appreciate views from both sides before making a decision.

Mine is, but everything is set to private.

Mine isn't. We watch it together on my phone where I can monitor the content of what is being watched but they aren't allowed their own TikTok accounts and I don't post any videos with them in. My 8yo tells me all about how unfair it is because her bestie has an account, I got opportunity use the reply "well I'm not mum, I'm your mum and I say no..."

You can set everything to private and it’s really safe. It’s certainly less problematic than Facebook or twitter, say, but if you are 100% no social apps then fair enough

Does he want to watch them, upload them or both?
Does he have other SM? Year 7 is a popular time to want SM like Snapchat and Instagram. If he's on those, the most popular TikToks are shared there so whether he watches on Instagram or TikTok doesn't really matter.
There is inappropriate content on TikTok and other platforms and if he has a smartphone, he can have people send him links anyway.

TikTok are notorious for not banning adults who have been proven to groom or troll kids. Make sure his name doesn't give away his age (some online accounts have usernames like ThomasK_2009 which screams 11 years old)

Errr after seeing some very disturbing things on there I wouldn’t.

No - we've had constant warnings from both my children's junior and senior schools so I've continued to say no. (My eldest is 14 and youngest 10 and it's a no for all of them).

No way, pedo's playground is what it is commonly referred to!

Having a husband who watches tiktok compilations on YouTube I absolutely would not allow my children on it. (But then I don't particularly use social media and personally think it can do more harm then good, specially when I think about what I got up to as a tween!!).

Disclaimer im in my mid twenties (so grew up with tech and social media), build my own top spec gaming PCs, a researcher who specialised in data scientist and statistics, total computer nerd, and play mmorpg's when I get some spare time. So I'm not a technophobe. But I do think we have sacrificed so much meaningful interaction in the name of technology and would still rsther pop around to see someone for a cuppa then speak to them regularly on social media.

Setting to private just limits the reach of a users posts but it doesn't restrict the videos or comments they have access to.

There is some very adult content, 'kinktok' for example, and the comment sections are basically unmoderated. Things that go reported often get left up.

The app is 13+ for a reason, I would police use by an 11 year old vigilantly and not have it on their own device.

My daughter wanted to upload vids because all her friends were so I set up the account and everything goes through me first. I see everything and can change anything

My 10 yo does but he's not really bothered by it and doesn't watch it much.

My 10 year old has it and everything is set to private. There is a restricted mode which can help moderate whats seen. A condition of him having it is I sit and watch the videos with him and we haven’t come across anything that’s horrific, a few swear words in songs people are dancing to mostly.

If you install it on a device with no sim like a tablet or iPod then you cannot send or receive private messages which is helpful.

My DS mostly likes doing the dances. He doesn’t care if they’re seen so his account is ironclad.

TikTok requires you to be 13 and over to have an account, so no your 11 year old shouldn’t have it and neither should any of the kids mentioned on this thread.

For that age it isn’t safe, it isn’t appropriate and the majority of parents don’t even understand how it works or what their children can really do and get up to that they don’t realise.

DD got it aged 12. She's now deleted it because it is boring crap and full of bull (age 13). I'm glad I didn't say no because she came to that conclusion herself but clearly not all children will.

It’s a high tech version of what I was doing with friends- dance routines! Think it’s fine but be vigilant our rules are set to private and only viewable by friends you know. If they do this I think it’s fine

@netflixismysidehustle

TikTok are notorious for not banning adults who have been proven to groom or troll kids. Make sure his name doesn't give away his age (some online accounts have usernames like ThomasK_2009 which screams 11 years old)

No, because of what netflix said above and its not for under 13s. And it causes issues with kids filming and giving away their school, local park etc which makes it easy to identify them.

The under 13 thing is due to a specific American law that doesn’t allow services to be used by under 13s. It’s not a British thing unless you want America to rule what you do.

Fuck no.

My DD is 12 and isn’t allowed it. She’s not that fussed about it, thankfully.

I cringe at some of the videos I’ve seen of kids grinding and thrusting like strippers to really inappropriate lyrics.

Even if they don’t post the videos or only share them with friends, the content they can see is pretty shocking.

Yes. I check what she posts and settings are private

@MsTSwift

It’s a high tech version of what I was doing with friends- dance routines! Think it’s fine but be vigilant our rules are set to private and only viewable by friends you know. If they do this I think it’s fine

No it isn’t just a “high tech version of dance routines” and no, it’s not fine.

A private account does not change what your child can view. You have absolutely no idea of the videos she has access to; it isn’t just dance routines — that’s a very small part of TikTok.

Your nativity surrounding the app is exactly why your child shouldn’t have access to it.

@ludothedog

Yes. I check what she posts and settings are private

You have no idea of the content she has access to, the videos she can see. Its not just dance routines—there’s a lot of very dark stuff on there she has access to.

Don’t be so naive to think a private account and checking her posts is what it takes to keep her safe. It’s not.

No. It's hideous. Not for children. Watching it with them is no use when a dead animal pops up on the screen. By the time you acknowledge and respond your child has that image imprinted in their head. You will see glamorisation of self harm, is that something you would like your 11 year old to see? The app is rife with that stuff. And paedophiles.

A private profile does not stop them seeing things. Don't allow it. It's the most dangerous app going.

No.

I agree with posters saying it’s not what they post/their privacy settings, it’s what they have access to. Even stuff that isn’t that bad, is still not what my children thinking is normal (sexualised dancing, bad language etc).