With technology becoming more and more advanced, children are having more access to social media, and with that comes some worry.
As children can be naive and not know any of the dangers out there, they are most likely to commit to any suspicious activity without their parents knowing. This is why parents and family need to monitor their children’s internet activity and limit who their interactions are with.
TikTok is probably the most popular social media platform as of current. Kids love seeing creators make content and will intake anything they enjoy seeing.
47.7% of TikTok users are under 30, it has also been said that kids are using TikTok for approximately 2 hours per day, this varies for each child some could be more or less.
A survey says that many children under 13 had their own profile on at least one social media app or site. 33% of parents of 5–7-year-olds said their child had a profile and 60% of parents of 8–11-year-olds said they have one.
While TikTok typically attracts a Gen Z audience, numbers of active users in other demographics are climbing. TikTok is the most used app among young children with 46% followed by WhatsApp with 35% and Snapchat with 33%.
These figures are only going to keep growing, as parents you need to start watching your child’s internet activity because they can access anything they want with the tap of a finger which is extremely worrying and can be detrimental to their development and mental health being so young.
Sharon Maxwell, a mother of 9-year-old gives her reasonings as to why her daughter has a phone and uses social media.
“My daughter was begging me for a phone for so long and all her friends in school were starting to get them even at the age of 7-8, I didn’t want to give her one just yet, but she wouldn’t stop. I’m only letting her for calling or texting me if she’s with her friends or family and wants to contact me when I’m not with her. I monitor her activity anyway just to make sure she’s not doing anything I wouldn’t want her to. But when she’s using any social media, I make sure that I know what she’s watching and who she is talking to on it”
