Adolescence and Adolescents: A Guide to Social Media Safety for Parents

This blog was inspired by a recent internal discussion we had which was sparked by Netflix’s Adolescence. If you haven’t seen it yet, you’ve probably heard about it in recent weeks. The series made UK TV rating history, being called a “wake-up call” for parents.

Adolescence is a four-episode miniseries about a teenage boy accused of murdering his classmate, based on real-life events and news reports in the UK.

We are parents, we are millennials, but we are also social media experts with in-depth knowledge of social media dangers, and we wanted to share our opinions in case they might help parents create a safer online environment for their children.

Please read our tips below:

Know what’s out there

Before you follow any of our tips, we believe the most important thing you can do as a parent is educate yourself. You can’t possibly help your children have a safe online experience if you aren’t aware of what’s out there.

Adolescence highlights the toxicity of the manosphere, where misogyny flourishes. While it’s tough to research and see these hateful sites, we think doing this will open a lot of parents’ eyes to understanding the kind of dangers available online.

Familiarise yourself with the most common toxic platforms, as well as the influencers spreading hate and misinformation.

Adolescence co-creator and star Stephen Graham told The Independent  “There’s influences that we have no idea of that are having profound effects on our young culture, profound effects, positive and extremely negative. So, it’s having a look at that and seeing that we’re all accountable.”

Don’t be anti-technology

Technology can be a great tool for creativity, learning and relaxation. Online communities can be incredibly supportive places that offer connections and friendships with people that share the same interests, even if they live in another corner of the world.

A great example is another Netflix docuseries called The Remarkable Life of Ibelin. This series is about a Norwegian gamer who lived with a degenerative disease called Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The series follows his family, who assumed his disease had kept him isolated and lonely, but in fact, he had built great connections with a community of like-minded gamers and was a beloved part of their digital community.

Condemning everything they do will inevitably cause rebellion, whereas if you see it more like a learning opportunity, it fosters a more supportive environment.

We listen, and we don’t judge

Have you seen the TikTok trend, “We listen, and we don’t judge?” This should be your parenting motto when talking to your kids about their online lives.

Encourage open conversations and be an active listener so your children will always feel safe talking to you. Talk openly to your children about their online habits, what they engage with online and how it makes them feel.

Remind your children that they can ask you questions about what they see online and share content with you that they find confusing or uncomfortable.

Talk about propaganda

It’s crucial to teach your children about propaganda and fake news. Show them how to critically assess information and how to verify sources, whether it’s a 15-second TikTok or a viral news story.

Show them how to conduct their own research and fact-checking before believing everything they see online.

Show your children how to block and unfollow content

Discuss with your children how to manage their digital environments. Help them understand how to change algorithms if they are seeing unpleasant content.

Algorithms will push content they think we want to see – but it’s important to teach your children how to curate their digital experience and block, mute, unfollow and report any content or accounts they feel uncomfortable with.

Set up supervision on Instagram

After discussing their online habits, put a plan together to set up parental supervision tools on Instagram. These tools will allow you to monitor their follower and following lists, set daily time limits and see how much time they spend on the app.

You can also see when your teen reports inappropriate content. Learn more about Instagram’s supervision tools.

If you’d like to discuss parental controls or any of your concerns, we’d be happy to have a chat and give you more tips on social media privacy settings.