GET YOUR CHILDREN OFF TIK TOK *content warning for disturbing imagery added by MNHQ at request of OP*

[ChickenwingChickenwing]

Shamelessly posting for traffic.

I have wondered all day whether to post this or not but ultimately it might help save one person from viewing something they shouldn't.

For every single one of you who allows your young child to use TikTok please be aware that there is a video circulating today of a man committing suicide. Yes, he did it in a live stream and the video is all over the place now. TikTok is that one social that you cannot prevent you children from seeing ANY content. If you allow them the app you allow them the content.

Get your child off the app now unless you wanted them traumatised for life after watching someone shoot their brains quite literally out.

I understand your concern op but biting peoples heads off is not going to help your message is it? No one is downplaying it.

@CandyLeBonBon

I understand your concern op but biting peoples heads off is not going to help your message is it? No one is downplaying it.

Can you RTFT? I have apologised multiple times and the thread moved on from it.

@CandyLeBonBon

In fact I even made a big post acknowledging why I was being defensive and apologised there too. I realise I was talking to the wrong people.

Do you have anything to bring to the thread or did you just pop along to have a go?

I think some of the flack op is getting is unfair, shes not been that bad there are far more hostile posting on here, maybe just lay off the Caps Lock next time

Jesus Christ op calm down and have a cup of tea! You have a valid point but the hectoring is really fucking off-putting.

@ChickenwingChickenwing I don’t understand why you feel the need to constantly attack people on here. I wasn’t ‘having a go at you’, I was asking why you are primarily concerned with this video being on TikTok rather than any other platforms. Your thread title says ‘get your children off TikTok’ not ‘get your children off social media’ yet this video is on all platforms. I understand that it may be easier to see this video on TikTok but that doesn’t mean it isn’t accessible on other platforms either and if you wish to warn parents of it’s existence then focusing on one platform seems myopic. Just because other platforms don’t push content doesn’t mean it won’t appear on their timelines. I have had three different people retweet this video on my Twitter, for example, and considering many young kids follow lots of strangers (other fans of bands/celebrities etc) on Twitter and Instagram then it only takes one of them to retweet it. I applaud your desire to warn parents of the existence of this video, but focusing on TikTok could lead some parents to think that removing TikTok will remove the risk of their children seeing this video and that sadly just isn’t true.

My point was, that hysteria rarely solves anything. I understand your concern but it's all a bit intense and shouty. We've got the message. Loud and clear.

@CandyLeBonBon

Jesus Christ op calm down and have a cup of tea! You have a valid point but the hectoring is really fucking off-putting.

Like I said, do you have anything to add to the actual subject of the thread?

You are having a go at me; again, for explaining that I have apologised. That doesn't even make sense, aside from wanting to stick your boot in.

It's not needed or wanted. There has been some good points made in the thread and multiple apologies for me not handling it well initially.

don’t understand why you feel the need to constantly attack people on here. I wasn’t ‘having a go at you’, I was asking why you are primarily concerned with this video being on TikTok rather than any other platforms.

I'm not attacking anyone

I explained why the concern was TikTok, both in the OP and in my replies to you already. I also acknowledged that the video is 'all over the place' in my OP.

@PasstheBucket89

I think some of the flack op is getting is unfair, shes not been that bad there are far more hostile posting on here, maybe just lay off the Caps Lock next time

In hindsight that was a mistake. I did it so the thread would stand out as I really wanted people to see it and so many get buried and never really viewed. I did consider it quite important to warn people at the time.

Thank you for highlighting this OP. My two regularly ask to download tiktok and I've stood my ground and not allowed them have access but I have sometimes wondered if they'd be OK.

They will definitely not be allowed.

I will tell them why they are not allowed next time they raise it.

Education is important - but by itself, it does very little. We all know adults can know the right thing and struggle to do it, especially when the access to temptation or distraction is so easy. It's even more difficult for kids and young teens. For all the mature MN kids, there are plenty of kids who will come across it and stew on it quietly to themselves, not sure how to talk about it no matter what they've been taught.

Education can go alongside environmental controls. Anything on developing good habits will say make what you want easier, make what you don't want harder. Yeah, there is shite out there we can't control, but that doesn't mean we have to make all of it easy. We can discuss why the limits are there, just like when saying they can cross the quiet road to one park, but not the A-road with hurtling lorries to the other by themselves. If they break the rules, they can't go out and play without supervision anymore.

I grew up with free range to the internet from about 7 with all the same excuses - it's the future, kids need to get used to it, they'll get around it, better here where it's safe. I also heard the same about alcohol since I was 13. Even with my own teens, I'm still not convinced that's true. What I used as a teen isn't even around now and it made no more computer literate than my kids with supervised access well into their teens with free access earned and proven they can handle over time. I find the going wild has more to do with not having structured options to try out with guidance over time - and structured ways of structing ones own time and consumptions, and so just go with whatever is easy to access and socially encouraged to consume.

This came up on my tiktok recently. I could very much have done without seeing it! DD won't be getting near tiktok

Thanks OP I wasn’t aware of this, have spoken to DD’s and explained why they will not be able to continue using Tik Tok. Apparently one of them had already been warned about this video by a friend.

@ChickenwingChickenwing thanks again, this time relayed from my kids who wanted to thank you. They don’t have tiktok but said that this stuff is often shared in the playground and as they don’t want to see it they will be careful about what people are showing them.

I tend to agree that I am amazed at anyone allowing a 7 year old up to 13 year old access to that app. No way. I am genuinely relaxed in terms of screen time for example it's not my hill to die on and I've ended up , either by planning or accident who knows , with a DC who self regulates amazingly. That is screen time though, ds1 has access to specific games where contact with others is completely restricted. He plays them in the living room with the monitor towards both DP and I. He has a kindle that he watches kids tube videos on but we daily go through it to check what he watches and it is removed if there is anything out of the ordinary. He has to watch it in front of us and it is never allowed upstairs etc . However I have definitely still been caught out (usually by kids tube swearing and a set of the most obnoxious damn children I have ever seen where he emulated their behaviour....they were rude and entitled rather than anything sinister). It is an absolutely insane thought to give him any form of access to tik tok , Instagram, Facebook it's just nuts.

Who ever thinks giving a 7/8/9 year old access to tiktok, especially uncontrolled has lost the plot. I am laid back in a lot of things (MN would be horrified at half the things I do) whilst I massively dislike a lot of what OP has said I will say she isn't wrong here in the original concept. There really isn't any justification for letting a child as young as 7 /8/9 have access to an app like tik tok there just isn't.

My system I know doesn't protect ds1 completely and I will talk to him in an appropriate way to ensure he knows to avoid certain things (blank black screens at the start of a video , a video of a man sitting talking to the camera) because it will spill over into most internet accesses. His pad will mysteriously get lost tommorrow when it is still heavily being sent around the internet in case it does manage to infiltrate what he sees however careful I am. Probably for a few days.

Whatever you think of the OP this isn't about her it's about the fact that kids should simply not be seeing this stuff. It's our job to prevent that. Professionally I have seen some truly horrific stuff in the same vein and I wouldn't wish that on anyone least of all children.

I have heard about this, I saw a screenshot of the start of the video of the poor guy, and have showed it to my dc and warned them to swipe away if they see that pop up at any point during any video and explained why.

My aim is to educate rather than ban things outright.

It's a really tough thing to get right, but talking about things has worked well for us so far.

That said I wouldn't have allowed tik tok at a very young age for the simple reason that I couldn't see what they had viewed and we couldn't discuss things.

Unfortunately I saw the video. It is circulating on all social media platforms. My DC are still babies but I spoke to my siblings (16 and 15) about it and showed the screenshot of him just sitting at his desk and like a PP said to scroll on by. Lucky enough they had already been warned as instead of posting the video lots of "Tik Tokers" are sending out warnings saying the same. It's awful.

@DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult

I have heard about this, I saw a screenshot of the start of the video of the poor guy, and have showed it to my dc and warned them to swipe away if they see that pop up at any point during any video and explained why.

My aim is to educate rather than ban things outright.

It's a really tough thing to get right, but talking about things has worked well for us so far.

That said I wouldn't have allowed tik tok at a very young age for the simple reason that I couldn't see what they had viewed and we couldn't discuss things.

Your approach is exactly what I would do with the 13+ age group. Show them what to watch out for and warn them. Education is key.

Thanks for the warning OP. My kids aren't old enough for any sort of internet access but I just went on Tik-tok for the first time in months - the first video that popped up was a man mirroring his beard and lips to make it look like a vulva.. the second was a video of a man attempting to commit suicide on a rail track and an emergency worker on the track save him just before the train would have hit him.

I've never searched for anything on the app before or liked anything.

I wouldn't want any children seeing that.

Thank you original poster as this is a warning to all users young and old. I can never understand the reasoning for this unspeakable "social media content"! Just why?

I do have this app as it is actually entertaining when one of absolutely bored or stressed and need no brain cells required entertainment. Not any of this extreme nonsense.

I am though a very very infrequent user and was shown it out of curiosity and thought maybe I will have a peep myself. All the content I have seen is plain and mainstream but somewhat entertaining when brain is fatigued etc.

So my DD has tic tok. She is 11 and at secondary school. Literally all of her friends have it. Every single child she has met in her year group has it. It’s an absolutely huge phase right now and her peers are making videos and dances every spare moment they get. Before school and after school on the bus etc. My DD is thankfully sensible, she is scared to use the for you page as I have warned her some very scary videos are on there plus restricted mode is on just in case. Yes I know it doesn’t filter out everything but after turning it on and scrolling for 2 hours myself, it does filter out a fair bit so it’s worth having. She also has her account set up to private and does not friend anyone she doesn’t know. She mainly likes it for copying the dances and watching friends dances.
My point is, even if she didn’t have it, the dozen or so people she spends time with before during and after school all have it. They are using it all the time. She will see any videos her friends decide to play. I have no control over other children on the bus or on the way to school.
It’s extremely worrying and I just wish to god there was a way to turn off the for you page after all the horrid videos I’ve been told are on there. It’s not just as simple for secondary age children. I’m finding it a complete minefield

i'm worried this might happen again......how to get a message across and take your life at the same time. i hope its not the start of some trend

please don't search for this video, its very traumatic......and his poor mother was watching it as it happened. you just wouldn't ever erase that image from your mind. that poor poor woman

@DifficultPifcultLemonDifficult

I have heard about this, I saw a screenshot of the start of the video of the poor guy, and have showed it to my dc and warned them to swipe away if they see that pop up at any point during any video and explained why.

My aim is to educate rather than ban things outright.

It's a really tough thing to get right, but talking about things has worked well for us so far.

That said I wouldn't have allowed tik tok at a very young age for the simple reason that I couldn't see what they had viewed and we couldn't discuss things.

I've been on there tonight and a lot of posters are warning that the video is now circulating stitched into other videos, so you initially see an innocent scene of people dancing or kittens or something and then the clip.of this poor man suddenly pops up.

I've been on there tonight and a lot of posters are warning that the video is now circulating stitched into other videos, so you initially see an innocent scene of people dancing or kittens or something and then theclip.ofthis poor man suddenly pops up.

have showed it to my dc and warned them to swipe away if they see that pop up at any point during any video and explained why.

I've told them it could happen at any point during any video, and showed them a screenshot so they recognise it.