Get your kids off TIKTOK. It's evil

[Codswallop20]

I've just joined in order to report a video about one of my kids.

This is a dark and evil place that no teenager should be on.

What nasty little shits kids can be. Get your children off it, for their safety and mental health, and for that of others.

My kids aren't on it but I am seriously shocked as to how vile children are to each other. Please please stop your kids.

All these posters banging on about algorithms are purposely missing the point.
Bullies will tag their victims and victims friends in videos. You can report their accounts until you’re blue in the face, as soon as one goes down they’ll replace with another and another and another. They are relentless.
Those that have teenagers who have no problems with the tiktok platform should consider themselves lucky and not berate some poor parent for having a different experience with it, the child is being bullied via the app, all this questioning of algorithms is victim blaming plain and simple.

It always makes me laugh when people talk about how the TikTok FYP is such a terrible terrible place with half-naked young girls dancing in inappropriate clothing and the likes - what you see is based on what you search and interact with! Mine is a lovely, funny place.

Well said @AmazingBouncingFerret

My children are 11, 12 and 14 and are not allowed to use Tic tok. I literally just signed up while reading this thread and the first video that came up was a nurse lying on top of a patient about to have sex with him when his girlfriend comes into the room, the nurse hides under the bed and the girlfriend looks like she is about to inject poison his drip bag ... wtf is this shit, imagine my kids watching that!
The children might want to use it to watch funny animal clips but they have no control over what else pops up.
My kids use snapchat only and I monitor and vet all friends. 11 and 12 year old are only allowed to be friends with their young cousins and a couple of school friends. They use my phone for it as they dont have phones of their own.

I just want to make clear, because I feel a few backhanded and rather sneering references have been made to my comment about my friend and what he watches on there and that people are implying that I myself have been watching questionable content, that I don't have TikTok and never have done. My comment was about what my friend watches, not me.

I don't know about evil, but I definitely agree that parents should more actively monitor their children's use of all forms of social media. I think there's a lot of naivety on the subject.

11yo ds keeps asking us to allow him various things that have age ratings higher than his age. I include 15 rated films and TV programmes in that. He's in such a hurry to grow up, they all are at that age, but he's not allowed any of those things and I've explained it's not because I don't trust him but because I don't trust others. He's on WhatsApp and even that has caused problems, with some kids getting bullied. As a result, he's agreed to let me see his phone periodically - again, he knows this isn't because I don't trust him, I just want to make sure he's safe.

All social media is dodgy as hell. It's like the matrix - all of us plugged in, oblivious. Everyone should stay off it (although realise this won't happen).

Also going to state the obvious that being part of Tiktok and social media in general is the norm amongst young people these days. Being allowed to do things their peers do is often crucial in building self-esteem and the feeling of belonging. It's the parents responsibility to teach their children how to use social media responsibly and think critically about the content they consume. If social media is being used as a tool for bullying then it's also entirely the parent's role to help their children out of it, whether by contacting the school or changing schools.

Giving a child an outraged blanket ban on a near-universal activity which is trendy and popular right now is almost a surefire way to ensure the child being seen as more different and becoming the target of more bullying. Surely everyone remembers "those" school friends with crazy strict parents who refused to let them watch any TV or play video games. Pretty sure those kids didn't grow up feeling grateful their parents banned them from all popular culture, but they do have lasting memories of never being able to join in conversations with their friends about popular cartoons/shows, or always losing in video games in the two minutes they were allowed to try it at friends house.

The major problem here is bullying and not a specific app. If you delete Tiktok, the bullies will pop up on Snapchat or Instagram. Or create Whatsapp groups dedicated to tearing down the victim. If you take the phone away entirely then the bullying will still go on behind their backs.

Thank you @CorneliaMarie

this thread has made me so cross because I’m living it right now. when my daughter had tiktok I was signed into her account on my phone so you couldn’t get more monitored, yet the bullying still happened. Alongside all her art videos, Marvel comics, and Stranger Things were vile videos posted anonymously under accounts that bore the school’s name but were obviously not official.
Delete the apps and the bullying still happens unfortunately but at least she can have some respite from it whilst she’s at home.
She’s a trooper though, she is using her experiences and turning them into art to help deal with it.
12 years old and these are just some of the things she has been sent via cyber bullying.

@PlayDohDots

I agree with the sentiment of teaching children how to do social media safely, but comparing it to what it was like back in the day with kids who couldn’t play video games is way overly simplistic. Children who are guided about content etc. have ZERO control on some other little shit using it as a channel to bully them. Of course parents should report to school but a child gets bullied and they have to move schools is ridiculous and in itself is potentially traumatising. Kids would just be playing musical chairs up and down the country to the detriment of their education and mental health.

Schools need to impose far harsher penalties on the bullies, like expulsions when reported with proof. One red card and you’re out. No victim blaming, no minimising, no exceptions. Social media giants should be forced to give up the identities.

Tiktok is no worse then others in my opinion.
I have TikTok as does my son, a majority of the time I have only seen funny dances/shopping hauls nothing terrible at all. I check my sons account daily and his is all about football and the gaming world.

The problem isn’t TikTok or any other platform its the parents who let their children on them and don’t keep an eye on what they are up to.

*it's a reservoir for evil.

i love when some internet softcore-bully posts quips like this with crying laughter face.
A rather flaccid and immature attempt to ridicule the OP.

U luk STUPD, mwaaaaahhahahaa! ffs.

And why are kids still using 'GAY' as an insult?
I'd ask WTF is wrong with parenting?

Adults posting about what lovely videos come up on their account are missing the point. Children don't have the same capacity as adults to monitor content on their social media.

My dd has the same content in hers, I monitor it constantly and we often sit and watch together as we have shared interest/hobby which has wide coverage on TT. We talk often about internet safety and unsuitability plus they learn a lot at school too.

Quite. I had this conversation with ds recently. Can't remember how it came about, but I remarked that this was commonplace 30 years ago, but I'd hoped things had moved on considerably since then. Show me the boy and I'll show you the man.

The issue with Tiktok/social media is not just the bullying and brain numbing content but also the life threatening (and illegal) online challenges involving young children. It's horrific.

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/archie-battersbees-mum-begs-parents-use-son-warning/

This is nonsense. There is no evidence to suggest he was doing an online challenge - he wasn't recording and there's no record of him watching any such content.

Kid had social media from a young age, unchecked, despite posting the kind of stuff that would concern most parents. He hung himself. There's no 'challenge' that encourages that.

Can you please read posts properly before declaring them “nonsense”. It is a FACT that online challenges exist on TikTok that encourage asphyxiation. Several lawsuits have been brought in the US following the death of young children who fell victims to such challenges.

I did not say it has been established that this is how Archie died - I simply shared a link from his mother rightly warning other parents of the dangers of online harm.

kittens is right to contest that though, as by putting the poor boy's name in that link, it clearly implies it is about him.

Certainly wasn't good for Archie Battersby.

There is no evidence of this.

I agree. Social media has some advantages but overall it has been a rot on society.