Category: Social Media Safety

Discord has been gaining popularity as one of the most popular free audio, video, calling, and chatting services.  It initially gained popularity as a gaming and chat platform, but is now trying to reinvent itself as a place where like-minded people can socialize and discuss. Discord usage for business has even been increasing.

Parents often ask this relevant question about Discord since teens are the app’s intended audience. If your child uses Discord, should you be worried? How can you protect your kids from cyberbullying and harassment on Discord?

Even though Discord can be used safely with adequate precautions, it still comes with risks, just like every other open-chat program.

Read this article to get all the necessary information about Discord and to know Is Discord safe for kids?

What Is Discord?

Discord is a free application for PC and mobile that allows people to chat via text, voice, or video.

By combining Skype’s internet call features with Reddit-like discussion boards, it has diversified from a forum for gamers only to one for communities with a wide variety of interests, including anime, TV series, music, and more. Also, it can be used to chat with friends in a group.

Discord, which was founded in 2015, is a platform that brings individuals together with similar likes and interests. Video game players use it to communicate and develop a sense of community outside of the games themselves.

Over the years, it has expanded into an entire social network with over 140 million active monthly users. Gamers are no longer their only users.

Working of Discord

It is essential to have a clear understanding of the word ‘server’ to grasp how Discord works. Servers are like groups of users that can discuss a topic or game together, and users can also create a server to play with friends and other players.

Users can make servers public or private, depending on their choice. If the users choose to make the server public, everyone can join the server. And if the user makes the server private, only people with links can join. Whenever users invite their friends to the private server, they will get a link to join the server.

You can also divide existing servers into voice and text channels for specific discussion topics. The server owner can also set their own rules regarding what content to allow and how many people they can join their server.

Is Discord Safe?

Discord can be used safely with the correct privacy settings and monitoring. Nevertheless, open chat on sites and apps always poses a risk. Use Discord safely by accepting only friend requests from people you already know and joining private servers.

There have been instances when predators have used Discord’s public servers to send direct messages to children, although it’s rare. Despite the fact that server moderators are typically quick to intervene, kids and parents should learn how to spot creeps and online predators.

Discord is an open-chat platform, and like every other open-chat platform, it is also unveiled to different cyber threats if necessary precautions are not taken. Discord users are at risk of data breaches and undesired content.

The safety of Discord depends upon the intensity of security measures adopted by users. The only way to ensure the safety of users on Discord is to adopt safe practices while using this application.

Risks of Using Discord

Discord can be a beneficial app, but it is also dangerous and harmful for kids if necessary precautions are not taken while using this app. Discord is an open-chat platform, and like every other open-chat platform, it is also unveiled to different cyber threats if necessary precautions are not taken.

Discord comes with a number of risks. A few of them are mentioned below:

●     Discord makes Cyberbullying easier

Discord is an open-chat platform that allows users to chat with their friends, families, and strangers. It is more prevalent among teens and kids as a social network for gaming chatting, and streaming.

However, Kids and teens are also using this app for bullying. Discord provides a feature in which audio and video streams disappear, making it easier for bullies to bully others without leaving any evidence on Discord.

●     Easy for predators to contact children using Discord

Discord allows its users to meet and chat with strangers, and like other open-chat platforms, people on Discord can also lie about their identity or who they are? Predators can manipulate and stalk your kids via Discord.

Predators can send inappropriate content, images, videos, audios, etc., to your kids, or they can blackmail your kids. They can even groom your kids to perform some unbefitting tasks, which can be harmful to your kids.

●     Difficult to Moderate

Like many others, open-chat and private communication app discord is dangerous as it is challenging to control real-time communication. Audio and video streams disappear in Discord.

An individual server carries out the content moderation process. Hence the groups have servers of different standards, and some of the servers are administered better than others.

Users can report issues to Discord directly, but this is a time-consuming process, and your child may gain access to or be exposed to improper content.

●     Kids may get access to pornography and Exploitation

Discord has lots of private groups, including groups of criminal activity, child pornography, etc. These groups can trap your kids and expose these types of adult content to your kids.

However, Discord is trying to solve this problem by breaking down pornography and criminal activities groups.  It is still a better alternative than Mastodon, which is offers more freedom without restrictions.

What’s Good About Discord?

Despite the risks of Discord, it has some positive aspects. There are a lot of chat apps out there, but Discord stands out because of its simple UI. It doesn’t take up too much space on the device and allows youngsters to communicate with their real-life pals while playing a virtual game.

Discord has been a social savior for many teenagers and kids during the pandemic. They use Discord to stream movies and games with friends to kill time and get over boredom.

Another advantage is secrecy. Teenagers can use Discord to avoid public conversation in games where strangers disparage others or share inappropriate stuff.

Discord’s concentration on interest groups also helps kids connect with others who share their passions without sifting through unnecessary postings or ads they might see on other social media platforms.

The Bottom Line

If your kid can safely use Discord, it can be a way to interact with their real-life pals via gaming when they can’t be together in person. They might be able to find a group interested in discussing their common interests.

On the other hand, Discord will always be a riskier software to use due to the lack of parental controls. Consider whether the benefits of Discord outweigh the risks. If you decide to let your children use this app, make sure they have an internal filter installed to keep them safe while they’re online.

Everyone has heard a lot about TikTok. Since its introduction, it has been incredibly popular and one of the most actively downloaded applications. Many celebrities and bloggers have their accounts there, in order to promote their content, while ordinary users watch the viral videos.

According to a 2021 study, TikTok has over 1 billion active users. Every day over 50 million people use this application.

We can only rejoice for app developers and creators and their success. However, there is a dark side. The incredibly popular networks are dangerous for kids’ online safety. Parents whose kids love to spend a lot of time on the phone should set up social media for kids and also take parental control seriously, as innocuous actions can backfire.

In this article, we will talk about the dangers of the TikTok app. We will tell you how to make safety settings and give some safety tips for your children.

What is the Danger of TikTok?

When buying a phone for our children, we do this so that our kids are always in touch and we know where they are. However, in the era of using the World Wide Web, it is impossible to keep track of all the actions of the child on the phone. Some parents do not even realize how reckless actions on the Internet can lead to dire consequences.

On the one hand, with the help of TikTok videos, they can learn a lot of new things thanks to educational content. They can observe other people’s talents and this can inspire them to find a new hobby. However, besides all this, there are also dangerous things.

Video 18+

Recommendations that are selected for viewing using the TikTok algorithms of the application can offer completely different videos for viewing. Initially, your child may watch funny videos with kittens and dogs, and the next one may be 18+ videos or clips where injuries are inflicted, or there is a conversation about the meaninglessness of life.

Application developers conduct regular work to track negative content, but such work cannot be done promptly.

Moreover, open profiles of children can lead to the fact that pedophiles or other unfriendly people can communicate with your child and force them to perform immoral actions. First of all, you need to set up your child’s account, make the account private, so that only friends can write messages and watch videos. Secondly, for your peace of mind, you can install a parental controls on a phone, which will monitor all of your child’s activity when you are not around and send you alerts, including apps inspired by TikTok.

Intimidation

Many children not only watch videos of other users, but also upload their videos, repeating trends and challenges. It seems quite harmless, but if your child provides personal information, then people with bad intentions can send messages and encourage them to shoot a video of a sexual nature, or simply send messages with threats that humiliate and insult your child. This can lead to the fact that your children become afraid and they may have thoughts of leaving life.

In order to avoid bullying, you should have a conversation with your child and explain that in no case, in any applications, they cannot indicate their personal information and place of residence. Explain that not all videos are good and harmless.

Also, do not prohibit the child from using these applications. Because everyone knows that when something is forbidden, it becomes what we desperately want. In this case, your child will hide many things from you. You should have a serious conversation with your child and explain in a calm tone how their actions on the Internet can turn out. Your job needs to include establishing trusting relationships and raising confident children.

How to make TikTok safe for your kid

How safe is the app for young children?

This year, the app has updated privacy settings to ensure that the app can be used by children over the age of 13. When registering, the application automatically makes the account private. Also, if children create their video, then only their friends, confirmed users of the application, can view it.

However, don’t completely rely on these settings. Many children may indicate that they are over 18 when registering and viewing adult content. Therefore, make sure your child’s account is private, and also check friends who can watch videos your child has posted.

Controlling content and personal interactions

One of the most invasive features of TikTok is the ability for users to go “live” after they have a certain number of followers.  Once they are streaming live, anyone can join and interact with the host in the chat.  The host can also allow individual viewers to go live with them on a split screen while everyone else watches. This can go sideways fast if a stranger taking part in the live event has anterior motives when connecting with a minor.

This is one of the many reasons to set up parental controls on TikTok to protect kids. The app allows you to link your account with your child’s account. To do this, you need to use the “Family Pairing” and “Digital Wellbeing” functions. Thanks to these functions, you get the opportunity to view personal correspondence with other users, set up restrictions on the use of the application, set time limits, and you can also prohibit viewing adult content.

Data collection

It’s no secret that many apps and social networks store your personal information. Moreover, TikTok sends your data to many companies and advertisers so that you can receive interesting advertising offers in the recommendation feed. If anyone has carefully read the privacy policy of this application, then you are well aware of this.

However, there is one thing that is not mentioned anywhere. When you are not using TikTok, but using other applications, then it collects all your data, such as passwords, bank card details, and other personal information.

Conclusion

The world of the Internet is incredibly exciting, but also dangerous, especially for children. Unsuspectingly, your children can fall prey to intruders and provide them with their personal information. Parents should get serious about Internet safety, review all the app settings that enable privacy features. Also, be sure to have a conversation with your child and explain what good and bad things are. It is not enough just to prohibit doing something, it is necessary to provide explanations so that your child learns to understand that many actions in applications can lead to sad consequences.

About the Author:
Ben Jacklin is an expert writer in software reviews and tutorials. He has qualifications in Media and Music Technology and has been blogging about  tech support since his teenage years. He writes on a variety of topics, including the latest trends in the world of media, gaming, and education, with a focus on providing high-quality and safe programs that might be useful for his readers.

Here are so many aspects to ensuring social media safety, no matter what your age.  It can be a bit overwhelming.  One might say that people just need to use own common sense to stay safe.  Yet, there are plenty of cases when even the most intelligent people are not thinking clearly while posting or commenting online.

Hopefully these social media safety tips will help!   Rather discuss the various safety tips for each individual social media platform, here are general concepts explained in depth to help kids stay safe. Whether it’s Tik Tok, Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat, Discord or others, we hope these tips will help you develop your own common sense.

Contents: In this article, we’ll explore these Social Media Tips for Kids.

1. Social Media Manners – How social media users should one behave while connecting with others on social media.
2. To Post or Not to Post – This is the question that needs to be answered every time you are about to post a comment or picture online.
3. Privacy Settings – Every social media platform has privacy settings. Knowing the “why” behind privacy settings applies for all of them.
4. What Would the ‘Future You’ Post Online? – What you post now may follow you for the rest of your life.
5. Can Social Media Make You Sad? – Being on media can be harmful to your mental health if you don’t learn to manage it.
6. Ghosts on Social Media – What is posted online has the potential to stay online forever, even if you try to deleted it.

Learning how to control what you do today will help you avoid a world of trouble in the future.  When it come to social media, even adults need safety tips on the apps they use. So, let’s get started by diving deep into these tips!

1. Social Media Manners

For many, the idea of “good manners” conjures up images of someone wagging a finger at you. Etiquette is simply being thoughtful of others. Good manners on social media means taking a moment to think before you hit that post icon.

It means looking at what you do online as if you are someone else and realizing how your actions and words look to others.

Manners are not about being fake or sucking up. Manners are about adding to the online world without shutting people down and cutting off communication.

It also is about protecting YOU.

While media manners are always evolving as online behavior and options arise, these are basic guidelines to help you and your followers get along and benefit from the amazing methods of communications available today:

• Never post a picture of someone else without permission. Not only is this rude, it is spreading another person’s image or personal information (for example, that they were at a party in your backyard on a certain date). Always get permission and if the person says no, respect his or her decision.

• Further to the first rule – NEVER tag a person without their consent.

• Never post when you are angry. To do so makes you look stupid or thoughtless. It also can inflict damage on people because your view may not take into consideration of the circumstances from that person’s point of view. When another person’s actions bother you, the better response is to talk to that person face-to-face or in a private message. You will probably find that you and the person who made you angry are not as different or as conflicted as you think.

Ever heard of the 24 hour rule? While it may make you feel better to write down your initial feelings when you are angry, don’t post your thoughts until you sleep on it. Take some time to cool off. This way, you won’t communicate something in the heat of the moment that you will regret later.

• If you change your relationship status, let any other involved person know first. You and Rahim or Rachel are on the outs. But before you make a post in front of the whole world, contact Rahim or Rachel and explain your thoughts. Who knows? You might even repair any damage from the spat before it becomes locked in time forever on the Internet.

• Be careful with CAPS! There are times when choice words emphasized by capital letters helps make your point. To put a whole statement in caps implies that you are yelling with nothing standing out. If everything is in caps, nothing is emphasized.

• When video chatting or posting a video, make sure that there is nothing creepy or rude behind you. Imagine someone chatting with you in front of a poster that a bit raunchy or somewhat violent looking. Such creepy images not only make what you say seem ridiculous, they will come back to haunt you when you apply for a job or want to make new friends.

Kids can also make their own list of good manners and share with your friends. The more we learn to respect the thoughts of other people, the better we can make life online rewarding and safe for all.

2. To Post or Not to Post on Social Media

Wow! You learned how to do the front crawl, earned $63 dollars with your lemonade stand and your whole family spent a week at a resort all the way across the country. And every day as your thumb hovers over your phone, you need to ask yourself one question: “Should I post this?”

As you think about that great picture of your sister with cotton candy all over her face, remember one of the basic rules of social media posting: Do not post a picture of anybody without that person’s permission. That includes your sister. Remember, too, that while you might get a laugh at an embarrassing picture of your brother and his bar-b-que sauce accident, posting that picture could be something you regret for years to come.

Another thought to go over as your fingers find the post icon is this: How many pictures do I post? The answer: As few as possible.

When you send picture after picture after picture after picture, people start to get annoyed. It can also seem a little desperate to load your page with dozens of images from the same place. Better to choose two or three cool shots to post and save the rest to show your close friends when you get home.

When typing text on social media, less is also better. Shorter posts are more likely to be read and less likely to contain detailed, personal details that could be used to harm you or your family.

It’s also more fun to show pictures and describe details in person. Then you can make sure that you only share with friends that are close enough to meet face-to-face. You can see the looks on their faces when you tell them about that awesome midway ride.

Considering that you will have more free time to post on social media, this is a good time to double check your privacy settings. It’s also a good time to go through your “friends” and truly think about who you really—really—know. When you go through the list, you could find people that are complete strangers to you.

Summer is a time when you have more freedom to explore and enjoy the real world. So grab that opportunity. Put down your phone and truly experience your summer vacation. What you do this summer can change how you feel, think and what you do for the rest of your life.

Yes, it’s great to have pictures and share the experience with your “friends.” What’s more important is the way reality can shape who you are. Take it easy on the social media and discover that the most important “posts” are the ones that you carry in your head and your heart and share by how you live.

3. Social Media Privacy Settings

New technology is incredibly exciting and fun. It’s amazing when you think that what you type on your computer in your room can be seen all around the world by anybody with a computer. But should it be seen by anyone with a computer?

Should the kid who’s been insulting you at the park know that you go there every Saturday morning to play basketball? Should the girl who calls you ugly get to see the new dress you bought? Probably not.

That’s why in this exciting time in human history, you need to think about your life as a valuable gift. You should think about that before every story you post. One easy way to make sure your life is shared only with those who like or love you is to use your social media privacy settings.

You probably know how to post, edit posts, change your profile picture and message friends. But do you know how to block strangers from looking you up on social media? If someone has started insulting you online, do you know how to block that person from posting on your page?

You can even block that person from sending you a private message or looking up your email address. Another smart setting to protect yourself from dangers online is to only accept friend requests from friends of friends. This helps limit who sees your profile.

Of course, there is a problem with this. You should talk with your friends about their settings. Better still, sit down with your friends (in real time, in real life) and play with the security settings. Show each other how the settings work and which ones you need to use.

When all of you keep control over who can see what you post online, all of you are safer. All major social media sites have safety and privacy settings. One fast way to learn about them is to Google the social platform’s name and “how to set privacy.”

Remember, talk to your friends and family about their settings. When everyone you share with has the same secure settings, all of you is safer.

For decades, kids have stuck signs on their doors that read: “Keep Out” and “Please Knock” and “Trespassers will be yelled at.” Think about your social media settings as signs on your online door. Don’t let just anyone walk in.

4. What Would the ‘Future You’ Post Online?

Adults tell you all the time: “Be careful what you post on social media! The Internet is forever!” Teachers say: “When you apply for college, the school might reject you because of all those pictures and mean posts.”

You hear over and over: “People who hire employees will read your history and you might not get the job you want.” You smile, nod, then roll your eyes. Who cares about what happens in five, ten or twenty years?

Someone just made a post that makes you angry—you feel that you must post some angry comment back. You take a picture of yourself drawing a rude image on a neighbor’s fence and snicker as you upload it to your page.

Stop. Take your fingers off your phone or keyboard. What you are told is true. The Internet saves everything you do today. People can see all your posts five, ten and even twenty years from now. People have lost jobs for postings made years before.

If you want to be, say, the boss of a company or a famous dancer or a doctor or mayor of a city, think about that when you post online. A firefighter’s job is to face danger and save lives—would someone like that make mean posts to a little kid?

Would a great engineer type hurtful words to a person who is different from him or her? Maybe you won’t become a great engineer if you can’t get into college because of mean comments posted when you were a kid.

Think about what you want to be. Imagine reaching your goals. You could dream of being an athlete, a pop star, a carpenter, a zoologist—whatever it is, think about how The Future You would act online. What would a nurse post when a person talks about being in pain?

What would a great world leader do when he or she sees someone being bullied online? If you act like the person you want to grow up to be, you’ll be on the road to being that person.

Now, look at your social media platforms.

Think about what a firefighter would say to the comments you see online. You have a long way to go before you can join a team of firefighters, but your journey can start when you act smart and strong online. It’s like having a firefighter writing your posts!

5. Can Social Media Make You Sad?

Are you feeling sad? Lonely? Even though you have hordes of friends on social media do you feel alone? The problem might be your social media. A study in the United Kingdom learned something you should think about.

Just one hour a day on your social media can make you feel worse about your life.

That wasn’t the only study. The University of Michigan found that the more young people use social media, the sadder they were. The Brown University of Public Health had the same findings. Other studies litter the Internet.

Why does time on social media make kids sad? No one knows for sure, but there are a few ideas:

Cyberbullying.

Not all kids are bullied online, but when they are the damage can be deep.

Thinking that everyone else has a better life.

Some people believe that when you see friends with exciting pictures and posts, you will think that they have more fun than you do. You’ll then feel bad about yourself. Jealousy is a tricky emotion, but it’s even more complicated when you think about online posts.

Remember, people upload posts that make them look good. They do not post pictures that show them looking bad. You could be jealous of a life that isn’t how it looks online.

Time spent online gives you less time in the real world.

The real world makes you move your body, which makes you feel better. That is partly because of “happy” chemicals your brain kicks out when you exercise.

Also, people feel an incredible amount of satisfaction when they reach a goal in the physical world (like making a lay-away or sitting with a friend who needs a buddy or discovering a great new view after hiking to the top of a hill or experiencing the thrill of sledding down that hill).

When you spend time online, you miss out on all the benefits of living in the real world. That can make you feel sad.

Before you say that these studies are just another way adults try to control what kids do, think about this: everything bad that happens to children because they spend time on social media happens to adults, too. You could be a positive role model to your parents. When your dad seems bummed out after a hard day on the job or your mom has problems with a project she’s working on, get them to take a break.

Let’s be honest here. When you are old and crouched over and rolling your eyes over what your grandchildren are doing, there will still be studies about why you are sad. Some of those studies will blame computers and whatever new technology is in your hands. One hundred years from now, the best advice will still be the same: Put down your phone and go tell someone.

Explore how you may be sad for other reasons.

6. Ghosts on Social Media

Are you afraid of ghosts? You should be if you post carelessly on social media. Consider this: You snap a funny shot of the school’s new soccer coach bending over. Your friends think it is hilarious. The next season, you try out for the team and discover that the coach isn’t excited about having you on the team.

She is concerned about your ability to show proper respect for the sport. You might be haunted by that old picture you posted the year before.

Or you go to a concert and post a comment about the fans dancing idiotically in front of the stage.

Months pass and you don’t think much about the posting… until you ask a bunch of kids at school what they’re doing that night. Someone says with a huff, “We’re going to go do some idiotic dancing,” before the group walk away from you.

Ah, yes, the ghost of social media past has come back to haunt you again.

You never know when a ghost will strike.

Some college applicants get haunted when colleges come across rude or even harassing behavior online.

Others find out when applying for a job that an old insult scares employers out of giving them a great job.

Most commonly, these ghosts jump out at you when what you say online doesn’t match what happened in reality.

It doesn’t even have to be your social media that gets you into trouble.

You tell a friend that you can’t hang out with her because you are studying when later another friend posts a picture of you and her shopping at the mall.

Hurt feelings are bad enough, but people may stop trusting you. Ghosts can really jump out of nowhere. They can haunt friendships for years to come.

The only way to prevent your social media from haunting you is to be smart. When you want to share an activity or a thought, remember that others may share your post and that it could be seen by people in the future.

No matter what apps you are using as a kid, there are enough scary forces in the world. Don’t let your social media history come back to haunt you.

For those of us raised in the landline generation, social media can feel like terrifying new terrain. No sooner did we get our heads around Facebook, than it was deemed uncool by the younger generation, who quickly moved onto Instagram, Snapchat and TikTok. It’s tempting to embrace being a ‘tech dinosaur’ and scoff at the latest craze, but as parents this is a risky strategy.

Our children’s lives are moving more and more online, into a rapidly changing, unmarshalled digital world. It’s essential we understand how they’re using social platforms, to keep them safe and to support their mental health. So, here’s 5 top tips to engage with our children’s virtual world and help them form a healthy relationship with social media.

1. Set boundaries

Setting boundaries sounds obvious, but it’s easier said than done. Particularly in the last year, allowing our children to get lost in their screens has been an easy way to give us much-needed respite. However, we know that too much screen time is detrimental to our children’s mental health and can affect their sleep, so it’s essential that we’re helping them to strike a healthy balance.

There’s lots of great advice out there about how to enforce time limits and set parental controls, but this will always work better if it’s done in collaboration with your child. Ask them how much time they think is appropriate and you may be surprised by how reasonable their response is.

It’s also useful to think about how and when they’re using their devices. Last thing at night can affect their sleep and first thing in the morning can risk them becoming addicted, needing their ‘fix’ the minute they wake up. Similarly, playing on Minecraft will have a very different emotional impact to scrolling through ‘beach body’ images on Instagram. Sometimes setting boundaries can be as simple as telling them to change what app they’re on, to give them a mental health break.

2. Educate them about staying safe

Again, this one can feel tricky when it’s our children who are the digital natives, while we feel more like anxious tourists. However, on a neurological level, children and young people haven’t developed the ability to gauge and assess risk accurately, so they need us to support them with this. As the digital world is moving fast, it’s impossible to keep on top of all the new platforms and associated risks, so educating our children on understanding the dangers is our best hope.

Letting them know the importance of protecting their personal information is essential, spelling out just how easy it is to give details away without realizing we’ve done it. Also, let them know how disinhibited we can become when we’re online. This is particularly pertinent when we look at cyberbullying. It may be that they fall victim to bullying and need our support, but it’s also incredibly easy for children to fall into the trap of bullying others, without even recognizing that that’s what they’re doing.

3. Take an interest

We’re often quick to judge what’s a valuable use of our children’s time and what’s a waste. Maybe we give them our full attention when they let us know about how they got on in their football match or if they’ve had a fall out in the playground, but when they start telling us about even the positive things they are doing online, we immediately glaze over.

While we may find it hard to enthuse about social platforms, we still want our children to come to us about them. Our children may have whole friendship groups, hobbies and an entirely different persona online that we need to know about. So have a strong coffee, take a deep breath and try to act interested as they talk about this aspect of their lives. By being curious and asking questions we’ll be better informed and we’ll become closer to our children too.

4. Don’t demonize social media

Similarly, it can be tempting to make dismissive comments when our children talk about their social media use. ‘What are you on that for? Get outside in the fresh air and spend time with your real friends!’ may be on the tip of our tongues, particularly if we’ve read up on all the negative aspects of social media, but all we’re doing is telling our children not to talk to us about their online lives – and that’s a dangerous message.

There’s lots of positives to social media. For children struggling with their mental health, they can find others in a similar situation and draw strength from them, and in the various lockdowns, social media did a lot to stave off the feelings of isolation and loneliness that many young people felt. Find out how your child is using social media and if it does seem to be impacting negatively on their mental health, help them to find more positive ways of using it.

5. Encourage real life connections

Finally, as with most things, it’s about balance. It’s okay for children to use social media but it’s important that they have other sides to their life as well. If they have a club or hobby that they enjoy, encourage them to keep it up. If it looks like they’re losing interest, have an honest conversation with them and agree together what they can do to maintain connections with the real world.

Encouraging our children to have their friends over is another way to maintain those real world relationships, as is making sure we’re spending quality time with them too. Days out, walking the dog, baking or getting creative together are all good ways to bring us closer to our children and are also a great way to engineer conversations about how things are going in their online world.

We don’t have to ‘lose’ our children to social media. By being open and interested in what they’re telling us, without overreacting or jumping to conclusions, they’ll know that they can come to us if they have a problem. By doing this we’re also modelling communication, compassion and problem-solving skills which are all cornerstones of healthy relationships. If they’re experiencing these in the real world, they’re much more likely to apply them to their virtual lives too.

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Helen has nearly 20 years’ experience working with children and young people.  As a primary school teacher and child and adolescent counselor she is passionate about understanding and supporting children. Helen is head of counseling at Mable Therapy, a company transforming the way children and young people across the UK access therapy. By replacing traditional therapy methods with immersive, game-based therapy and technology, the process of achieving goals becomes fun and rewarding.