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Is Instagram Safe For Kids?

is instagram safe for kids

We get a lot of questions about Instagram. “Is Instagram safe for kids?” “How old should my kid be before they use Instagram?” “How do I make sure my kids are safe on Instagram?” There’s a lot to think about with Instagram, but MamaBear has advice and information to help parents sort it all out.

Like many social media platforms, Instagram offers kids both opportunities and hazards. Due to fairly lax login policies and few restrictions, it is fairly easy for children on Instagram to be exposed to age inappropriate content. Racy photos are fairly common. Nude photos aren’t allowed but are often posted anyway and with a quick search on the explore tab, kids can let their imagination run wild. While the app requires users to be at least 13 years old (compliance with COPPA) to create and account, it is not difficult to fudge to access the app.

Like all social media platforms, Instagram can easily mean too much exposure. Anyone can view photos a child posts, and anyone can comment unless settings are appropriately changed. Geotagging presents another danger. Instagram settings make it easy for a child to broadcast their location and information to millions of strangers.

With the basic settings, any user can comment on an Instagram photo, which makes the app prime for bullying. Parents know all too well that kids can be cruel, and Instagram can become a venue for this behavior. In current trends, children of all ages are being ranked in “Instagram Beauty Pageants.” This disturbing trend has teen girls of all ages attempting to gather millions of votes compared to classmates and peers.

Rest assured, Instagram isn’t all bad. Many parents have discovered ways to mitigate and monitor risks for their kids that like to stay up-to-date with popular technologies. Instagram does allow kids to share and view amazing photography and creativity around the world. That’s a pretty exciting prospect for parents and kids.

We have a few tips for parents who want to allow their kids to participate on Instagram.

1. “Stranger Danger” Rule Applies.

Parents can prevent most problems by talking to their kids know about the risks of the app and what to do should they face an uncomfortable situation. Making sure kids understand that exposure isn’t always a good thing can prevent many unfortunate situations. If your child doesn’t know someone, they shouldn’t follow or allow a stranger to follow your child.

2. Check the Privacy Settings.

Protect from outsider looking in on your child’s Instagram profile by adjusting the built in privacy settings. Setting the “Photos are Private” option in the profile menu prevents unwanted strangers from accessing the child’s photos.

3. Use a Social Media Monitoring App Like MamaBear.

Many parents need a little help when it comes to ensuring social media is safe for their kids. MamaBear can make it easy to track a child’s Instagram account. Parents can receive email alerts or push based alerts when a child follows someone, a restricted word is used or a restricted follower mentions the child. It also gives parents a nudge when the children upload photos. It’s a time-saver.

Is Instagram safe for kids?

Like all family matters, it’s up to the parent and the kid. Parents have options to help. MamaBear is here to help parents navigate the tricky world of social media with our groundbreaking social media monitoring app for Android and iPhones.

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Help Curb Teen Drinking and Driving with Social Media and Driving Monitor Alerts

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MamaBear is helping families fight teen drinking and driving with social media and driving monitor alerts. It’s that time of year again, when the snow melts from the road and parents hand kids the keys for the first time. It’s also the season for spring break parties, prom and graduation. For many teenagers, it also means early experimentation with alcohol. In the United States, more than twenty percent of teens from tenth grade to twelfth grade experiment with alcohol consumption beyond a few sips. Even with drastic improvements in underage drinking and driving, on average three people under the age of twenty one die every day in alcohol related driving accidents.

MamaBear can offer parents some security when it comes to teen drinking and driving. Our driving monitor alerts give parents information about their child’s speed – whether driving or riding. Parents can use speeding alerts to talk about unsafe driving habits even before alcohol is introduced. A quick call after a driving alert allows parents to ask some questions and caution their speed.

In addition to driving monitor alerts, MamaBear can issue parents an alert when a child is tagged in photos, which we know our teens love to do at parties and social events. Restricted word alerts in social media involving keywords like beer, drinking, drunk and wasted can give parents a real warning if used in on their social media pages. Social alerts combined with driving monitor alerts can reveal possible teen drinking and driving giving parents an opportunity for a parent to interject in the situation preventing a dangerous outcome.

For most teens, drinking and driving will come up at some point. Our kids may be put in an uncomfortable situation when getting into a car of a friend under the influence. The MamaBear App on their phone assists our kids in getting out of the situation. With options that quickly and discreetly inform parents they need a ride, or need help, MamaBear could be an easy solution to peer pressure. This means even more options for responsible teens to avoid teen drinking and driving related problems, even when they aren’t doing the drinking or driving themselves.

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Restricted “Friends” via Social Media Tracking?

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Restricted “friends” is a bit of an oxymoron, right? But, ask yourself or even your kids, how often are you “friends” with people online that you may not actually want to be friends with? Or try this scenario – your child is an actual friend with someone you may not have a great impression. With the MamaBear app, parents can be alerted when their children are interacting with friends or followers that they label as restricted on Facebook and Instagram. MamaBear also allows parents to monitor new friends and other interactions on social media sites – like photo uploads and tags. It gives parents a wide range of flexibility and insight to your children’s friends.

Here’s what the MamaBear social media tracking app offers parents when monitoring a child’s Facebook and Instagram accounts:

  • Receive alerts in real-time when the child adds a friend on Facebook or follows someone new on Instagram
  • Select restricted friends to be notified when that person posts on your child’s accounts
  • Know when your child is tagged in a photo, message or at a location on Facebook
  • Know when your child uploads a new photo on Instagram
  • Create a restricted words list to be aware of inappropriate language, indications of hate or bullying on your child’s accounts

We know how influential our kids’ friends are – good and bad. MamaBear gives parents a chance to observe online social interactions. Parents can track conversations, tags and mentions from restricted friends via social media. This knowledge can provide a relevant topic of discussion for parents and children about the personal influencers in our kid’s lives and the consequences of them.

Restricted friends may be an oxymoron, but ensuring our children are associating with the right people is just good parenting. MamaBear social media tracking allows parents to intervene in real time if a child makes contact or is contacted by “friend” you want to keep your eye on using social media. Check out the MamaBear social media monitoring feature on your Iphone or Android phone and let us know what you think.

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Monitor Cyber Bullying on Social Media with the MamaBear Worry-Free Parenting App

When a parent is thinking of providing online safety to their children, bullying comes readily to mind. Bullying is a major behavioral problem most parents want to curb as soon as it occurs, but it can sometimes be difficult to identify. Social media based cyber bullying is easier for parents to keep tabs on than physical bullying, but can still take hours of social media monitoring to catch. The MamaBear app gives parents an alternative to hours of digging through social media. It allows parents to monitor a child’s social media language or bullying behaviors in real time.

Children can be tempted to get profane online when sitting behind a computer or phone. Casual profanity, even with friends and peers in social media, can be an indicator that a child is starting to engage in bullying. MamaBear updates parents when the child uses words the parent enters as restricted on both Facebook and Instagram. This allows parents a real-time, real world answer to a child’s social media hijinks. The MamaBear child monitoring app offers parental updates for specific words. Parents can assemble a list of unacceptable profane or hate language and MamaBear will offer alerts each time those words are used.

Regular name calling and casual bullying of friends and peers are surefire signs a child is probably taking bullying behavior too far in other instances. This type of behavior can start, and spiral out of control, on social media. Social media removes tone, body language and other physical communication indicators that can turn what may be meant as a joke, light-hearted or funny to one person to being received as intolerant and insensitive by another. Social media can provide a nearly anonymous facade that a child can use to say all manner of unfortunate things to others online. Monitoring a child for insulting or derogatory terms and expressions is not the only way to improve online safety for children. The MamaBear child monitoring app gives parents an efficient and simple way to monitor these behaviors on social media with a relevant scenario to start an appropriate conversation about respect and unintentional bullying with their child. It’s a tool to help stop the behavior early. It can also be a tool for awareness if your child is a victim of bullying. Having the proper knowledge can help spark a conversation about how to work as a team to put an end to it. MamaBear can also issue alerts for both single words and terms like “I’m sorry” and “leave me alone” so that parents can get alerts when a child is being bullied. And don’t forget the whole other language of acronyms being used.

Children left unattended online risk both being bullied and becoming bullies themselves. It is important to talk to your children about their personal digital footprint they are creating now and the lingering effects of their social media actions when it comes time to be accepted in a college or even when getting a job. They are creating a reputation and persona for themselves that can be permanently recorded.
Social safety for children is important for parents and bullying behaviors run rampant online. MamaBear gives parents a way to monitor a child’s social media account without personally observing it for hours every day. Parents can spend far less time worrying about Facebook and Instagram.

For a parenting resource about bullying – see Carrie Goldman’s site and book, Bullied.

If your child is a victim of cyber bullying, there are many great online resources where you can reach out for help.

http://www.stopcyberbullying.org/
http://www.cyberbullying.us/
http://www.stopbullying.gov/