Next Wednesday Wrap! Helping your teen use social media safely!

[Ngaio-RO]

@Beingme2017 I noticed you said your son does Roblox. Max is super keen on that too but more so he wants to do the online gaming where you play in teams and talk to each other. I found a thread of parents who were looking for other 7 - 9 year olds to add their kids, they said things like "he's always monitored." etc to let parents know it was going to be safe. I thought it was a good idea, although not risk free, but as it turned out, they were all Americans so their kids play when Max is asleep. Will you let your son do online gaming of that sort?

[taokat]

Except if your kids are savvy and steal your credit card @LaurenPiro! My daughter has made her own Minecraft server - safe, unsafe do you think? Not with my cc! haha

[Ngaio-RO]

Another great example @LaurenPiro of a company doing this stuff well. If only it would expand to sites where 13 year olds hang out. But of course, the nature of teenagers is they want to be with the 'big kids' not the little ones. So they end up on Snapchat where there's far less controls in place.

Can I ask if you've seen the Roast Me Reddit threads?

[LaurenPiro]

I don't play Minecraft myself, but it's my understanding that if she created the server she will be able to control who joins @taokat.

[taokat]

Omg Roast Me - shocking and horrid! I did some research for an article, and they did put up some support services which was something good, but that'd be one I wouldn't want my daughter on.

[taokat]

Of course @LaurenPiro, I hadn't thought of that!

[Ngaio-RO]

So that's a wrap folks! Thanks so much to the parents who joined and the parents who joined us by reading.

We got to a pretty big audience during this convo so that tells me teens and social media use is a hot button topic.

We will definitely revisit this.

Thank you so much to @LaurenPiro for all your input and wisdom. This is certainly one of those topics that we all would love to understand better so your expertise is invaluable to us. Thank you!

[taokat]

Yes, thank you so much @LaurenPiro, your time is much appreciated. It has been a good Wrap! Goodnight everyone.

[LaurenPiro]

Teenagers are in a bit of a different league, as I'm sure parents of teens can attest to When I was a teenager, there was no way I would let my mum look at my phone! I also knew I was much more internet savvy than her - and I think that will continue to be the case for lots of families. There were plenty of ways I could hide bad behaviour if I wanted to, but I was empowered to make safe and smart decisions, and I knew I could talk to her if the proverbial hit the fan.

[LaurenPiro]

Thank you for having me, sorry I was a bit slow on answering some of your questions!

For any parents who are keen to learn more about parental control features, there are some fab resources available on https://www.esafety.gov.au.