At what age should you allow your kids use social media?

The gist

We are in the age of social media. We use our phones for virtually everything like entertainment, education, communication, financial transactions, and so much more.

Kids as young as six months old are already watching ‘baby shark’ on YouTube.

But the internet is a very dangerous place, with sexually explicit content and dangerous people, it makes sense not only to regulate your child’s access to the internet but to let them know dangers exist.

You can set parental controls on some apps like Netflix and YouTube, but at what age would you have to get your child their phone?

Most social media websites have age limits, although these limits are a wonderful guide in regulating whether your child is mature enough to have a social media account, it is important to know your child, before granting them such access and freedom.

Why this matters

Social media can cause many psychological problems like anxiety, depression, fear of missing out, pressure to conform to peer pressure, psychological manipulation and indoctrination.

There should be no rush in getting your child to have a social media account even though as they become teenagers that might be a bit difficult.

Engage them with books, movies and Tv shows, sports, skills like dancing, playing the piano and games like chess, scrabble and monopoly.

Action plan

Most social media apps say kids should be at least 13 years old before they have access to the internet, but some apps are more dangerous than others.

For apps like TikTok, Twitter and Snapchat, many cyber experts and psychologists suggest that 16 years is a much better age to begin to use these apps because of the level of pornography, nudity and people in relationships or marriages showing explicit content.

Even then, it is still important to monitor their social media use and have regular discussions with them.