If you are a parent, the day will come when your child will start asking for a phone, tablet, and the inevitable Social Media account. Like it or not, what was once just fun posting pictures on your Facebook or MySpace is now a significant part of teen culture. But how do those of us who are one generation behind our technology-fluent children know TikTok is safe for our kids?

As you will find in this article, the answer is mostly yes; TikTok is safe for your kids.

If you take precautions, learn about the app, and impose some ground rules (aka restrictions), you can allow your children to interact with a significant part of a global community while ensuring they are safe and protected.

In this article, I will provide you with tools and tricks I have learned as a High School Counselor and use with my pre-teen and teenage children. In addition, TikTok offers valuable suggestions for parents within their app, and I will highlight them here for you.

If you want to learn more about protecting your children from popular social media apps and managing their online life, download the pdf on my homepage: How to Keep Your Kids Safe Online.

Tips and Tricks to Make TikTok Safe for Your Kids:

1. Family Pairing:

This feature is your first and most crucial step to controlling your child’s account. You must set up an account for yourself and link your children’s accounts to yours. Once you are listed as the parent and they as the child, you can then set restrictions for content, privacy, and time.

2. Restricted Mode:

Restricted Mode screens out potentially mature content you may not want your child exposed to. TikTok does a not-so-helpful thing in that when this is turned on, it notifies the user by displaying the words “Restricted Mode” right at the top and center of their screen. Thus, you won’t likely get away with this one without your child knowing. It’s best to discuss Restricted Mode before you put it on to keep trust strong between you and your child.

3. Privacy Settings:

First, you can set their account to Private. This setting means it is only viewable to their contacts and people they have allowed to “follow” them. Next, you can set restrictions for who can Comment on their videos, mention or tag them, send them direct messages, and more.  

For my children, I set all of these only to allow their followers to interact with their accounts in any way. 

4. Time Limits:

Another way TikTok allows parents to limit their child’s account is by setting a time limit. You can keep this at a designated amount of time per day or set different limits for each day. If you want to limit more time during the week but give more free time on the app on the weekend, TikTok can easily help you set this up.

When your child meets the time limit, it automatically stops showing videos and lets them know they are out of time. You can then override it if you, as the parent, want to.  

What I like most about this feature is that you don’t set the passcode to override the time limit. To find the passcode, you must log into your parent account and request it. Then a code pops up on your screen. I like this because teens are too clever to passcodes. They know that once their parent has set a passcode and they learn it, they can override your parental controls without you knowing. TikTok setting the passcode and changing it every time makes it something they can’t override.

I use these tools within TikTok to keep my kids safe while using an app they enjoy.

If you explore the app, you will find that TikTok has some Digital Parenting Tips listed in their Family Pairing section.

As a parent who knows how trying to keep my kids safe on TikTok and other social media apps is a whole additional education, I need to continue curating. I appreciate TikTok placing some helpful tips for parents within their app.

Here is a quick summary of the Digital Parenting Tips offered by the people behind TikTok:

• Talk to your kids about the boundaries and expectations you have for their use of social media. Teach your kids about privacy settings and restrictions and why it is crucial to have them in place.
• Make sure they know they can talk to you about it. If you project a negative attitude about them being on social media, they will be less likely to share with you about their digital life. Ask them about what they are watching and be willing to watch and comment on what they show you. My son uses TikTok primarily for basketball videos. He’s even learned a move or two from some videos. I enjoy seeing how into the sport he is and incorporating it into an online hobby.
• Don’t panic when things go wrong. The inevitable truth is that scammers and hurtful, scary things happen on social media apps. If they come to you for help, meeting them with anger means they will be less likely to ask for your help in the future. If they have broken the rules, apply consequences but do so with respect and use it as a teachable moment.
• Let them earn your trust, but do trust them. Most teens want to use the app to interact with friends and be current on all the latest trends. Place restrictions and monitor their use, but stay moderate.
•  Please respect their privacy. You may want to follow your child’s account to see what they post, but if you comment on their videos for all their friends to know, it can embarrass them. Some parents compromise with their children by, instead of the parent following the account, allowing an older sibling or cousin to track the child with the promise that they will alert the parent to inappropriate posts. I suggest this for older teens who have used the app for some time and have proven to be handling it well.

Raising kids today in a culture where in-person interaction is valued less than your online profile has significant challenges.

Parental burnout is more prevalent now than in previous generations. I hope this article helped you learn ways to protect your beautiful children. It is prudent for parents to continually stay up to date on the latest technology and social media their children are engaging in. 

Comment below with your rules and tips about social media use for your children. Sharing what works for you might help another parent know if TikTok is safe for their child, too. Good luck, and stay safe!