Don't want to give my teen son Tiktok

[MyZingyBlueMoose]

I just read this in the observer and it really concerned me. Has anyone been seeing this kind of stuff on their son's phone? Mine is still 13, and I don't want to give him TikTok, but he won't take no for an answer

observer.co.uk/news/opinion-and-ideas/article/what-do-teenage-boys-see-on-tiktok

Well he'll just have to take no for an answer, won't he 🤷‍♂️

What do you mean he won't take no for an answer? Is he threatening you at gunpoint?

'19 year old boy' 🤨 really!? 19 year olds aren't boys.

Just say no and mean it
you are the parent and it’s your job to protect a child or young person from this kind of stuff
my 12year old son doesn’t even have a smart phone let alone tik tok

He is 13, give him the article to read and have a discussion at the dinner table. And end with no, you can't have TikTok because as an adult I will not be complicit in exposing you to things like that.

My 13 year old DD doesn’t have Tik Tok and isn’t getting it. Just explain your reasons and then cut it off

My kid doesn’t have a smart phone let alone bloody tik tok.

My 13 year old doesn’t have TikTok or Snapchat and won’t be getting them anytime soon. Youtube is limited to 10 min a day.

ETA: she shouts at me and regularly tells me how awful I am for not allowing Snapchat and generally for all the restrictions on her phone. I’m ok with that I think it’s more important to do what’s good for her in the long term than give her what she wants in the short term.

My dd is almost 15 and doesn't have tiktok. Doesn't have to be a "just say no" situation. Talk to him about why and have discussions about it.

This afternoon they interviewed a whistleblower on the radio who worked at TikTok who stated that many of the staff who worked at TikTok did not use it or allow thier children to use it. Mark Zuckerberg is known to also have said he would not allow his kids to use certain social media platforms. It is also really alarming that these organisations won't allow the next of kin of the bereaved who used these platforms to access it after they have committed suicide... you're doing the right thing by being so cautious.

My 12 yo doesn’t have it, or YouTube, or anything with reels or where you can post publicly.

There’s no need for it that young.

He does have WhatsApp to communicate with friends and family.

He mainly uses his phone as a television, which I don’t like as the screen’s so small (and he has no need as we have a tv and he has a laptop!) but at least he’s not scrolling reels.

He’s going to have to isn’t he? You’ve made a decision. I don’t see why it’s more complicated than that. He might be moody but he doesn’t get it.

My 13 year old asks for TikTok every now and then, it’s always a hard no. Same with Snapchat, instagram or those ‘child friendly’ social media platforms which I don’t trust at all. She thought that when she turned 13 I would suddenly allow her to have them because she was at the minimum age, absolutely no chance. She has her whole life to doomscroll. I might allow it in a couple of years when she’s matured some more but it’s time consuming enough monitoring her devices as it is and I’d rather not add to it, or cause more stress for her or myself. I also don’t trust that she won’t get involved in some silly drama/fallout especially on snap which seems rife with bullying, or post things she later regrets.

I get it all from “everyone else is on it” to “no one else has all these restrictions on their phone!”. I have explained my reasoning multiple times and she just doesn’t seem to take it in. She thinks I'm old and out of touch but I was around for the birth of social media and know what it’s all about. I’m holding firm and hope she understands and appreciates where I’m coming from when she’s older.

Ugh I totally get this panic—my Mia’s only 10 but I already stress about TikTok boundaries! My friend’s 13-year-old son fought her nonstop over screen rules too. I tried yelling first (total mistake!) and then we set small, flexible limits with screen time management: 15 mins of TikTok after chores, no phones at dinner. This worked for our circle of moms, not sure it’s for every teen though. It’s so exhausting when they shut down and won’t listen, you’re not overreacting!

Same here. She gets why though, as we’ve discussed it a lot over the years. She laughs now that she was the last one in her year 6 class to get a phone but obviously she didn’t at the time!

There’s a reason the government is looking to ban social media to under 16s. It can’t come soon enough imo.