Social Media App Safety

With 88% of teens having access to cell phones or tablets, knowing what your teen is doing online is an important part of keeping them safe. Being online every day, teens are spending the majority of their time using social media apps. So, what can you do to protect them?

Be sure to do your research so you can fully understand which social media apps are out there, and how teens are using them before allowing your teen to download any.

What else can you do to protect your teen online?

Set limits and ground rules.

Create guidelines for your teen to follow when using social media apps and limit the time they spend online.

Use privacy settings.

Privacy settings aren't a complete solution, but they can be very helpful. Learn how privacy settings work on your teen’s favorite apps and teach your teen how to make their information private.

Tell your teen to think before they post.

Remind your teen that everything they post can be seen by a huge audience and, once something is posted online, it's often impossible to take it back.

Be a friend or follower.

It’s a very good idea to have access to your teen’s pages. Monitor your teen’s posting and usage, and be sure to like or follow all accounts. Make sure that what's being posted is appropriate.

Keep private information private.

Tell your teen to never share your home address or other sensitive information online.

Respect others.

Make sure your teen is respectful of others and understands that there are often consequences to their actions.