Do your 11 year olds have Snapchat and Tim Tok

[chrispot]

I know you have to be 13 but have you let your 11 year olds have these apps?

No one should use Tik Tok. It allows the Chinese Communist Party to collect personal data. I’m a huge fan of the Cellphone Lite for secondary students. It makes and receives phone calls and texts with a tiny keyboard, but has no apps or Internet access. Using those cuts youth drama considerably. Some American schools, such as Buxton Academy in the States mandate these.

yes because the social media age is 13 and being the only one without it is isolating no matter how much mn wants to wrap their children in cotton wool

There are ways of doing SM and friends without Snapchat or tiktok though. No my 12 year old does not have them.

Absolutely not, however she is autistic and home educated so no reason to introduce these things.

TikTok is the worst app I have ever seen, it's so dangerous. The content children are exposed to isn't controlled at all.

The age is 13 so why let them at 11?

1st computer / streaming services e.g. Disney+ at age 8.
Supervised internet and a basic phone e.g. texting at age 12.
Unsupervised internet at age 15.
Grand Theft Auto (this topic has been done to death!) at age 18.

Yes to Snapchat with the condition that I check it (I have his login details). It’s only his friends he has on it. A lot in his class have it and football, meeting up etc is organised via it so I wouldn’t want DS (nearly 12) missing out.

My 12 year old has access to Tiktok but not Snapchat, FB or insta. My 16 year old is the same but that's because he just isn't interested in it at all which I am grateful for. I would say ALOT of 11 year olds do have these things tbh

Nope, nor does my just-turning-14yo.

Why make bullying and Queen bee behaviour even easier?

I have TikTok myself though and the kids often curl up with me for a session, so they know all the memes & trends, they just get it filtered through me. They do an excellent “negroni… sbagliato… with Prosecco in it” double act, which is very funny.

(Re the poster above saying TikTok was vile - it all depends on what the algorithm thinks you want to see! Mine is great.)

Hell no
we watch TikTok together on my phone (I can vet it) but Snapchat will forever be a hard no. In fact my daughter now judges any kid with it 🤣

@mitsy5 how do you check Snapchat? DD offered to turn off disappearing messages, but does that work for group chats or if the other person wants their messages to disappear?

My 11yo only has WhatsApp, mainly as its mine and her dad's preferred method of contact so works across the whole family.

No tiktok, insta, Snapchat etc.

I imagine she'll get them at some point t but for us it's a not yet situation. Lots of her friends have them.

No. 5 children and none of that is allowed before 15 by which time they just decide it’s not for them. Its not the right thing to let your kids loose on.

No

No, neither.

Nope mine doesn't.

My 12 year old has tik tok but none of the others. Just posting for balance. I know two families where their kids access is very limited, most are pretty much the same as me.

I also think there's a difference between oldest and youngest children. My now 16 yo didn't have as much access as his younger brother

No to both (have an older child and learned the hard way). She has access to messenger on my facebook (so i see everything she types and who she calls) and uses a messenger app called Kinzoo (no public profiles, cannot add people without adult permission etc). Having said that, youngest is completely differently made to the oldest and only wants to chat to her 4 friends from school - eldest is/was like a moth to a flame with sm.

My nearly- 13 year old has installed Snapchat and Tiktok a couple of times over the last couple of years, and I've always made him uninstall them again. Some of the suggested videos I've seen pop up on his Tiktok have been really nasty and unsuitable. However, he has reinstalled Snapchat again recently, and uses it to chat to his new girlfriend. I'll let it stay for the time being.

My 10 year old watches TikTok but doesn’t have an account so can’t post. No to Snapchat.

No.
We have Google family link, and all devices have strict controls and are locked down most of the time.

No. A couple of their classmates do, but they are the exception not the norm.

Oldest nephew a teenager now; but aged 11 he had You Tube which was strictly monitored by his parents who had access to it (their Dad is my brother) and no social media allowed in private (his bedroom) absolutely no Tiktok for him or his preteen brother.

Phones and Screens not allowed in their rooms at all at night.

No. My soon to be 11yo doesn’t have either, and particularly with TikTok I’ll try and keep it that way. It’s the very essence of internet toxicity imo.