Help! My Child is a Tik Tok Addict

Have you ever sat at the dinner table with your family and all of a sudden your child jumps up and does a random jig for no apparent reason?  Have you walked around the supermarket and they sing to themselves and wave their arms around like they are doing the sign of the cross? Or is that just Sops?  All I know is that TikTok is the current craze sweeping the tween world and my child is an addict.

The Good

Like most things in life, TikTok is neither good nor evil.  It is a tool that can be used for good or evil.  For an only child it is a fantastic way to express themselves and find entertainment.  I admit there are some jolly funny videos out there. But there is also a lot of mindless rubbish on TikTok.

I reflect on a previous career I had in a high school, when students would tell me they want to be a YouTuber. “That’s not a proper job!” I would shout.  Then I would explain that YouTube is just a platform to showcase talent. I would advise them to develop a talent they can show on YouTube like magic tricks or cooking.  TikTok is a new platform for children to showcase their talent.  Once upon a time children would make up and perform plays and puppet shows. Now they enjoy making videos. Entertaining others is a right of passage for young people. A really good way to support your child’s development and have a fun time is to make some videos with them.

The Bad

TikTok is addictive.  If Sops can have her way she would spend hours staring at her phone watching one silly snippet of a video after another.  I can almost see her attention span draining from her eyeballs.  When I try to take her phone off her she growls like a bear with a honeycomb that I am trying to prise off her claws. I say, “I think you have watched enough TikTok videos. I can see your brain oozing out of your ears.” But she ignores me. It’s not healthy for a child to be addicted to anything at all.  But the solution is either going ‘Cold Turkey’ (that is forbidding the child ever to watch TikTok again), or weaning them off it with other distractions.

The Ugly

Yes, I am afraid there is also a very ugly side to TikTok that we need to raise. Like YouTube, it is an open platform. Anyone can upload any videos. Whilst TikTok and YouTube have procedures to try and screen videos, there are times when distressing or inappropriate videos slip through the net, and young eyes see things they should not be exposed to. I cannot begin to explain the long-term damage this can cause an innocent child. I remember my daughter innocently watching a My Little Pony video and then saw some terrifying Halloween make-up videos. It gave her nightmares for a long period. 

Furthermore, there is an increase of children taking part in criminal and sexual crimes based on what they have been exposed to online. Thankfully, there are laws in place that have reduced the exposure of inappropriate videos online. But it is highly advisable to ensure you have all the parental controls in place on your child’s mobile phone. You can do this by signing onto Google Families. From here you can create a parent account and link it to your child’s accounts so you have more control on what they can watch and how much time they can spend on their devises. Also, read other blogs about protecting your child online. The website Protect Young Minds gives great advise on keeping your children safe from seeing inappropriate content.

Lastly, just be aware of the privacy settings on your child’s phone and make sure you watch any video your child may want to upload.  Recently, Sops created a video advertising toys she wanted to sell and told people where she lived.  Alarm bells rang in my mind!  Thankfully her settings were for friends only.  But I still told her to delete the video.  

Summary

• Help set your child’s account up.  Make sure it is closed to friends only and know who is watching the videos. Note down what the username and password is for the account. Your child is bound to forget it.
• Make a family account. Then you can make and watch videos with your child, knowing exactly who is watching and what your child is producing.
• Sign Up to Google Families to have greater control on your child’s online activity.
• Set a time limit on TikTok.  Maybe your child can have 15 minutes after they finish a chore.
• Find a different distraction.  A lot of times children just watch TikTok videos because they are bored stiff.  Find another activity for them to do and they are likely to drop watching mindless videos and take part in the activity. Check out the activities Sops and I recommend here.
• Keep checking your child’s account.  Either let them watch videos when you are around or regularly check on them as they watch TikTok, just to be sure they are watching wholesome content.

Is your child addicted to TikTok? Have you had any positive or negative experiences with TikTok? Feel free to add a comment below or add your thoughts in our Forum here.