Instagram and teens: How to keep your kids safe – Guide
The revelations come as Facebook is in the process of renegotiating its contract with Instagram, which expires in 2020. Haugen’s report, which was first published by The Observer, detailed how Facebook studied how Instagram was harming teens and found that the app was “causing significant distress and emotional harm to many users.” Facebook has since taken steps to address the issues in the report, including increasing transparency around how it collects data about users and implementing new controls to prevent minors from using Instagram. But parents remain concerned about Facebook’s role in regulating Instagram and whether it will continue to do so after 2020.
“The standards that children set as teenagers stay with them for the rest of their lives,” Haugen said in Senate testimony on Tuesday. Haugen testified that children’s expectations for themselves and their relationships are “very important” in shaping their future.
Bullying on Instagram follows children home, and can be seen in their bedrooms at night. This can have a negative impact on children’s self-esteem and social interactions. ..
Experts say parents should open lines of communication with their children about the dangers of social media, while allowing them to use social media on its own terms. ..
17 is the new 13?
The law, which is also known as the Children’s Online Protection Act of 1998, requires websites and social media platforms to get parental consent before they can allow kids under 13 years old to use them. If a website or social media platform doesn’t get parental consent, then it can be fined or have its business license revoked. So why are social media platforms like Instagram and Facebook so popular? Well, for one, it’s a way for kids to keep in touch with their friends and family while they still can. And secondly, the law makes sure that children are getting the information they need about online privacy – from what sites they can visit to how to protect their personal information.
The social media companies wanted to protect the privacy of children by requiring them to post clear privacy policies and obtain parental consent before collecting personal information about them. To comply, they generally banned children under the age of 13 from subscribing up for their services. However, it is widely documented that children subscribe up anyway, with or without parental permission.
Bullying, harassment, and the risk of developing eating disorders, suicidal thoughts or worse are all concerns when it comes to kids being online. Times have changed and online privacy is no longer the only concern. ..
In testimony, Haugen suggested raising the age limit to 16 or even 18 years. Pressure among some parents, educators and technology experts to wait to give their children phones – and access to social networks – until they get older has increased in recent years. But neither social media companies nor the government have done anything concrete to raise the age limit. ..
There is no definitive answer when it comes to when kids should start using social media, but experts say 13 is probably not the best age for them to do so.
It’s still complicated. There is no reliable way to verify a person’s age when they sign up for online applications and services. And the apps popular with today’s teens were created for adults first. Companies have added some safeguards over the years, noted Elgersma, but these are gradual changes, not fundamental service rethinks. ..
“Developers need to start building apps with kids in mind,” she said. “And no, she’s not referring to Instagram Kids, the Facebook project paused last week amid widespread backlash. ‘We can’t trust a company that didn’t start out with children’s best interests in mind,’ she said.” ..
Facebook says it has added a number of safeguards and features to improve teen well-being on Instagram over the years, as mental health support for people looking for common hashtags associated with eating disorders or self-harm. The company also tested hiding “like” counts as part of a program called “which means when you post something, if you’re a young person, you don’t have to worry about how many people will like your post and whether people will see it.”
The study found that hiding the counts didn’t help teens feel better. The researchers found that hiding the counts made them feel worse because they knew their friends were still using the app and they felt like they were not being counted.
Talk Talk talk
It’s important for parents to be aware of what their children are seeing online before they’re old enough to have open discussions about it. Elgersma suggests that parents access their own social media feeds with their children before they are old enough to go online and have open discussions about what they see. How would your child handle a situation where a friend of a friend asks you to submit a photo? Or what if they see an article that makes them so angry they just want to share it right away?
Encourage your older children to approach the world with curiosity and interest. By doing so, they will be able to learn more about the world around them and themselves.
Teenagers tend to give short, one-word answers when asked questions, which can be a sign of how they’re feeling. It’s important to be indirect when asking teenagers what they’re up to, in order to get a more accurate response. ..
Instead, try these tips from Jean Rogers, director of Fairplay, a nonprofit that advocates for children to spend less time on digital devices:
- Talk to your child about how much screen time is appropriate.
- Set limits on how long your child can use the device each day.
- Get your child involved in activities that don’t involve screens, like playing outside or doing puzzles. ..
That’s not respectful, Rogers said. It doesn’t respect that they have a whole life and a whole world on that device.
Rogers suggests asking questions about what they do on their phone and see what your child is willing to share in order to better understand their behavior.
Children are often drawn to social media platforms like Facebook and TikTok because they make money. This documentary, “The Social Dilemma,” explores how algorithms, obscure patterns, and dopamine feedback loops are affecting social media.
“Kids love to know about these things and it will give them a sense of power and control,” she said.
Vicky Lacksonen, a 53-year-old mother in Mount Vernon, Ohio, says she is just trying to talk to her son. She knows the child’s passwords phone and sometimes pokes him to put his phone down if he’s been on it for a while. But as long as your 14 year old keeps his grades up and he’s doing activities he likes, like football, she mostly lets him have privacy on his smartphone and on apps like Instagram.
Lacksonen said that it’s important to have conversations with people who work with the government, in order to get a better understanding of what they’re looking for. He added that it’s also important to be open and ask questions.
setting limits
Rogers says most parents are successful in bringing their children phones overnight to limit their scrolling. Occasionally children may try to steal the phone back, but it’s a strategy that tends to work because kids need a break from the screen.
Rogers said that they need an excuse not to be in their phone at night because they can blame their parents.
Parents may need their own limits on phone use. Rogers said it’s helpful to explain what you’re doing when you have a phone in hand around your child so that he understands you are not aimlessly browsing sites like Instagram. Tell your child you’re checking email at work, looking for up a recipe for dinner or to pay a bill so they understand you’re not just there for fun. Then tell them when you plan to put the phone low.
you can’t do it alone
Parents should be aware that social media platforms, such as Instagram, are designed to be addictive and can have negative consequences if not monitored closely. There is currently no legislation governing how technology companies use our data and algorithms to push users towards harmful content, which limits what parents can do. ..
“Companies are not interested in the welfare of children,” said Marachi. “They are interested in looking at the screen and maximizing the number of clicks.” ..
Final note
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