Social Media for tweens

[IndecisiveMama]

Morning fellow parents!
I'm struggling today with how strict to be ... I have parental controls galore on the kids' computers and restrict social media and gaming but made the mistake of giving them phones so they could enjoy more independence . I'm an idiot. All they do is chat chat chat to their friend groups. Boys aged 11 and 13. Do I confiscate their phones every evening? Read their WhatsApps? Or do I just talk to them about the importance of family life and dangers of online chat rooms? We have pretty strict rules and they tend to comply so won't balk at reasonable requests ... help!

The 11 year old shouldn’t have WhatsApp it’s 13+ but I know that is hard because the older one has it already. Could you link it to a family iPad for example to they know that chats are monitored?

Set time limits I.e not after 8pm or before 7am? No phones in rooms etc.
My 11yr old has an iPhone but i’ve Locked it down right she doesn’t know her Apple ID or the restrictions passcode. Both mine and her dads finger prints open the phone and if she changes that she looses the phone.
We’ve talked lots about social media and reasonable usage.

It’s tough but the early you start with rules and talks the easier it is to inforce when they are older.
Good luck