Keeping children safe on social media

[lauramoore1976]

This podcast episode is GOLD! So many tips from child online safety expert, Jessica Chalmers.

I didn't realise that if you set up a social media account for an 8-year-old, then when they are 13, the platform will think they are 18 and potentially show them inappropriate content!

Theres some brilliant ideas in here on how to keep your kids safe. Highly recommend.

https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/how-to-keep-children-safe-on-social-media-interview/id1588801270?i=1000585427144

Or just don't let them on social media underaged?

They don't need it at that age, it opens them up for bullying, strangers etc.
It always baffles me when parents give their 10 year olds it.

I'm not here to judge anyone. Every parent can do whatever they choose and whatever they think is right for their children. But I do think they should do that with as much education and knowledge as they can have at their fingertips.

...the whole reason why SM platforms have an age limit of 13 is because they are not safe for children. if you let your preteens on social media you are automatically failing to keep them safe, even with every single precaution taken, because SM itself is inherently damaging as a concept to children that young. Do better.

Damn skippy I judge people who let their kids on SM at a young age. Same way I’d judge parents who let their kids have an unlimited diet of junk food. It’s not healthy for them (or adults either, let’s face it)

@MolliciousIntent yes there is 100% a reason those policies exist. But it's not true to say that parents are automatically not keeping kids safe. Rather than judging people for things we know nothing about, why not just be kind!

@DazzlePaintedBattlePants and how do we know that junk food isn't healthy? Because we educate ourselves and learn what to eat instead! This podcast is there to help people understand how to keep their kids safe, and yes, in an ideal world, they wouldn't be on social under 13, but we still need to know how to keep them safe when they are 13!

Yes, it is true. Im not judging on something I know nothing about, I know a lot about this. Social media is damaging for people of all ages and it is especially damaging for children.

The only way to keep children safe on social media is to keep them off it. And yes, I do judge parents who take the easy way out rather than setting boundaries to keep their children safe.

You're basically doing the equivalent of saying "it's ok to not wear your seatbelt for short journeys", and you're wrong. No matter what precautions you take, it's a bad call, because of the inherent nature of SM. It's not for children, full stop.

But it's not realistic to think that children don't look at social media. Whether they have an account themselves or just look over their friend's or siblings' shoulders.

If you believe they won't ever see social media just because they don't have an account you are being totally unrealistic @MolliciousIntent. If children go and visit a friends house and the friend has older siblings wouldn't it be better for that child to understand what they might see and know how to deal with it should the sibling show them something?

Plus it's not just social media that can be dangerous, the whole online world can be. But it can also be an incredible source of learning, education and entertainment.

You've changed your tune rather, your opening post discussed setting up an account for an 8yr old and now you're saying about catching glimpses at other people's houses - those are two very separate things.

For what it's worth, you shouldn't be allowing any primary aged child unsupervised access to the internet. If they're on the internet, you should be sitting next to them.

I do agree with others. Social Media is like Pandoras box and once you allow your child access, it cannot be undone.

My kids are 9YO and 7YO and they don't have phones. Apparently 9YO is only one in his friendship group who doesn't have it. They do online gaming but are supervised with it, everything is secured as much as physically possible. They aren't allowed online friends etc.

I am generally a very lax parent (no time limits on screens, forward facing car seats from a young age, let them live off a bland beige diet etc). But restricting their Internet access is the hill I'm prepared to die on.

My opening post was an example to show the dangers that people may not be aware of. My tune has not changed whatsoever.

Honestly, you've not really got a leg to stand on when it comes to internet safety, given your username.

P.S. You do know I am just sharing a useful source of helpful information to ensure children can be safe on social media right? I am not saying anyone should or should not be on social media! I just want to help people to be fully armed with some good tools to help them help their kids (of any age, 8,9, 13, 17...) so you can feel confident as a parent and your kids don't fall down any holes you don't realise exist.

Good job Im not the internet safety expert then!!

The whole issue is that you're suggesting it is possible to keep children safe on social media. It is not.

FFS - "being kind" is the exact reason there are so many safeguarding problems and dead and abused children <not hyperbole>

That's a very sweeping statement. The fact is it can be much safER if you are armed with knowledge, and no matter how much we want to keep our kids off the internet, we live in an online world these days, and unless we lock them in a box at some point, they will come into contact with it.

Whether that is at school, home, friend's house etc etc so I think as parents it's our duty to be fully aware of the dangers yes but also aware of how we should educate our kids to deal with things should they need to.

And as you believe social media is not safe, then you are the perfect person to listen to the episode and understand how to help your kids, or parents you know to ensure they have the knowledge they need for their futures.

I'm sorry the name of the podcast offends you, but the content of it is actually very helpful and doesn't for one minute suggest that children should be on social at an early age etc. Take a listen and then feed back.

I would change your user name op.

Thanks @wibblewobbleboard I have done.

Still a stupid user name.

Incorrect! My name is all over the internet. It's my business name. It's on my podcast. It's on my socials. I don't need to hide behind a made-up username on a forum when my name is everywhere already!

Are you using to is thread to promote your podcast?

Nope - this podcast is usually for freelancers, so not relevant to most people on mumset at all. This one-off episode is, however, is highly relevant to everyone here and should be listened to. Althought its clearly pissing off more people than its helping right now.

You are wrong to think that SM is for kids. In theory, you can reduce the likelihood of them seeing something nasty but content slips through the net and algorithms sometimes go haywire and show random things. Some people know how to get round the controls until they are reported and make money in the mean time.

Take it from someone who has gone through this with older kids. You can't keep kids safe on SM and the SM know this hence the 13 years old recommendation. Once you let the genie out of the bottle and let kids on it, you are inviting adult content in their lives. My kids are older so the pressure to be on SM started in year 7 (age 11) but trust me, you can't keep them safe once you allow SM. Ime most underage people simply register with an incorrect birth year or they have an account monitored by parents and a secret account where they show their true selves. The latter is far more dangerous.

If you think that 13 year olds aren't looking at 18 year old content then you are naive. Sadly most kids will have seen porn by age 13 and just because you give them a locked down device, it doesn't mean that they don't see it on someone else's device or are watching stuff on other devices like tablets and games consoles. It's very easy to just make a secret account.

Plus you've got the problem of messages that disappear after being read eg Snapchat How do you monitor that when technology is working against you ?

AdBlocker on all your children's devices.