Getting rid of Snapchat - have you done it successfully

[Shell449]

I regretfully let my nearly 14 year old boy get Snapchat a couple of weeks ago after so much nagging and he has instantly changed towards his parents and is so addicted to his phone more than ever. I am really stressed about leaving him home alone now and want to get rid of this app. I feel he is too young for it. He is on a trial for 3 weeks which is up very soon - I just wanted to know if other parents have been in this situation and if you had any tips that I could use. I am a people pleaser and I’m a bit nervous about having this conversation as my son gets very cranky and cries when he is upset -he can’t talk maturely and accuses me of not trusting him.

What sort of restrictions do you have on his phone Op? Is he allowed it in his room at night?

I don’t have any restrictions apart from notifications turn off from 10pm to 7am. No he is not allowed it in his bedroom. I guess I can set up a restriction on the app ... but I want to get rid of it

The thing is once you've allowed it, it's really hard to go back.

Could you introduce some time limits, like the apps only work for 3 hours a day?

Do you really think I can’t go back ? I thought that’s what a “trial” meant
I made my DD wait until she was 15. But the boy is such a whinger it’s like torture. Now I’m suffering my own choices.

Of clutter you can go back, just meant it's going to be harder to go back once you've given it. Not impossible though

He’s 14 just let him have it like the rest of his friends

Most teenagers use their phones a lot. Does he have an iPhone? There is something called screen time where you can add limits for specific apps or categories of apps (eg social media) in order to limit the time you spend on your phone. You can set a passcode so that he can't disable the limit. Set maybe 2 hours a day? I've not used an android phone in a very long time but I imagine they have a similar feature.

Thanks everyone for your comments- maybe I am too much of a control freak. I will put the time limits on. It was only because his attitude changed pretty much instantly when he got Snapchat.