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Six Popular YouTube Channels Parents Can Trust

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Shallow and manipulative influencers, the toxic culture of materialism and vanity, vulgarity, pranks, and violence have earned YouTube a mixed reputation when it comes to acting in the best interest of young users. Parents talk of wanting to ban it, but they also recognize the benefits it can have on their kids. Plus, kids LOVE it! Beyond the questionable content, the platform offers opportunities for creativity, education, socialization, and entertainment that is safe for young audiences. Many popular influencers create content with their younger audience in mind, censoring their language and actively selecting appropriate topics. Join us in this exploration of some child-and-teen-friendly YouTube creators and their potential to inspire children to explore the world beyond their screens.

YouTube as a Source of Educational Inspiration

With channels featuring art, technology, beauty, music, or the environment, YouTube offers millions of opportunities to explore. Many online communities have gained popularity over the last few years, including those centered around makeup, comedy, cooking, DIY projects, dance, and video games. Shows like Bill Nye the Science Guy and Sesame Street produce videos to educate children about the wonders of the world. Many even inspire kids to explore their interests and experience the potential in the offscreen world around them.

If you haven’t yet allowed your kids access to a browser or haven’t yet put solid safe screen parameters in place, Dr. B is here to help. For help with home setup and sensible rules, you’ll love our GKIS Connected Family Course. For tech tool tips and referrals, our GKIS Screen Safety Toolkit is the course you need. If online courses are still new to you or you just can’t find the time to take one, Dr. B also offers one-to-one coaching for effortless implementation. At the click of a button, she can set up a video or phone call to help you get started. You’re not in this alone anymore. GKIS and Dr B are here to help.

Child-Friendly YouTube Influencers Your Whole Family Can Enjoy

Baking on YouTube

Like the Food Network, a large food-focused community on YouTube has become popular. One popular creator in this community is YouTuber Rosanna Pansino, a creator known for her baking videos. With over 11 million subscribers, Rosanna has the largest baking channel on YouTube and rose to fame with her recipes for making baked goods with various themes based on pop culture. Rosanna has a charming, energetic, and bubbly personality, and provides detailed instructions for her videos. Her content is classified as safe for children and teens. She does not use inappropriate language and is transparent about advertised products that sponsor her content.

 Beauty on YouTube

In the beauty community, makeup artist Tati Westbrook is well known for her makeup looks and makeup reviews. Westbrook’s channel, with over 9 million subscribers, publishes videos mainly reviewing various makeup brands and products. Tati has a calm, soft personality and gives detailed and honest reviews and recommendations on the products she discusses. Tati makes sure to put disclaimers in her videos if a personal bias is present in reviews to be as transparent as she can to her viewers. Her content is suggested for older viewers, as there may occasionally be language and topics not suited for young children. Westbrook does promote her personal brand of beauty and wellness products on her channel.

Education through YouTube

In the educational community, the YouTube channel Crash Course, with over 10 million subscribers, has been used by students and teachers as an educational aid to learning different academic subjects. This channel, created by brothers John and Hank Green, produces videos covering various topics in subjects such as math, science, history, psychology, chemistry, and more. Videos are designed to be entertaining and educational and to help new learners better understand the subjects covered. Due to the topics they cover, some of the videos could discuss sexual or violent information not suitable for all ages.

Sports and Humor

YouTube team Dude Perfect, with almost 50 million subscribers, are best known for trick shot videos, or videos where they attempt challenging sports moves that require significant skill and luck to achieve. We at GKIS love how they inspire children to go play outside to reproduce incredible sports tricks of their own. We didn’t see evidence of inappropriate language, and they appear to disclose which of their videos are sponsored.

Gaming and Education

The Game Theorists YouTube channel is unique for creating content discussing different video game theories using research and reasoning. The creator of this channel, who goes by MatPat, has gained over 12 million subscribers by discussing his video game theories using humorous narrations, quality graphics, and his energetic and animated personality. Many of the games covered are popular among kids, such as Minecraft, Five Nights at Freddy’s, Pokémon, and Super Mario Brothers. This creator does occasionally use offensive language. Also, some of the games covered by this channel may have violent and frightening plots not suitable for children. This channel appears to disclose which content is sponsored.

Wilderness Survival on YouTube

YouTube channel Primitive Technology produces videos on how to build in nature for survival without utilizing modern technology. This channel, with over 10 million subscribers, is unique in the sense that it does not provide verbal narration. All instructions and commentary are provided in the closed captions of the video. The videos on this channel are characterized by still frames showing the environment around the creator, with audio of calm nature sounds. The closed captions give detailed descriptions of the materials used, such as the different plant species shown in videos, and give easy instructions for how to build the materials shown. Given that there is no narration in these videos, there is no explicit language or content on this channel. There are currently no identified sponsors, only advertisements for the creator’s book shown after videos.

Dr. Bennett’s Current Fav YouTube Channel

When I presented my idea for this article to our GKIS intern team, Dr. Bennett raved about her current favorite YouTube channel Liziqi. With over 8.96 million subscribers, this 29-year-old Chinese YouTube celebrity is known for creating fascinating food and handicraft preparation videos. Beautifully shot to soothing music, incredibly hardworking and talented Liziqi can be viewed wandering gracefully through the forests and countryside of Pingwu, Mianyang, Sichuan planting and harvesting corn, rice, and cotton (among other things), making handicrafts like colorful weaved clothing and baskets, and creating expertly staged traditional Chinese food. Once you get started watching, it’s easy to be mesmerized.

Although we are excited to share our awesome child-friendly YouTube finds, many of these creators have hours of videos that we did not sample. Please watch and decide for yourself the appropriateness of the creators on this list for your unique child.

How Can You Select and Curate Content for Your Child?

To further protect your child against harmful videos, especially for young children, consider downloading the YouTube Kids app. This version of YouTube was created to show the most family-friendly content offered on YouTube [i]. The app allows parents to have more control over what kind of videos they want to be suggested to their child and gives more options to block certain videos, creators, turn off the search options, and more to protect your child from inappropriate content [1].

If you decide to continue using the regular YouTube app, there are certain settings that can help protect your child from harmful content. In YouTube’s settings, there is a “Restricted Mode” option, which helps hide inappropriate content flagged by users [2]. You can also turn off the “Search” option for YouTube so your child cannot search for inappropriate videos, and can only view content suggested to them or posted by creators they have subscribed to.

With a little time, cooperation, and creativity, you too can explore and discover family-friendly YouTube channels to share. While there are good reasons to be vigilant of the dangers of YouTube, it’s important to remember the positive aspects too.

Thanks to Alexandra Rosas-Ruiz for her research and help with writing this article. Along with the creators listed above, there are many new creators and communities rising to fame on YouTube. Want to know what makes them so popular? Check out GKIS article, “Why Are YouTube Celebrities So Popular?”

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

Works Cited

[1] (2020) Important information for grownups about YouTube Kids https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6130561?hl=en

[2] (2018) Parental Control Guide: How to restrict kid’s YouTube Settings https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/parental-control-guide-restrict-kids-youtube-settings/story?id=52135658

Photo Credits:

By Michael Morse from Pexels

By Walt Disney Television on Flickr

By Gage Skidmore on Flickr

By Campus Party Brasil on Flickr

By Brandon Montrone from Pexels

GKIS Tips for Safe and Healthy Headphone Use

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Imagine that you’re running late to a new class where everyone has yet to meet each other. You sit down and note that the class is already full. But something else is weird with so many people in the room…the silence. This silence has become surprisingly normal due to our generation’s favorite accessory, headphones. These days it’s common to see most people out and about plugged in and tuned out. Is this a cool convenience or a problematic habit? Check out today’s GKIS article and see what you decide.  

Excessive Headphone Use 

In the university that I attend, most students have headphones in place until the moment the instructor says their first word of the lecture. The only people that are talking before that are the few people who’ve already established a friend group. The truth is, I’m so in the habit of wearing my headphones the idea of joining in on a conversation is stressful. My headphones are a sort of safety blanket that saves me from feeling awkward in new social situations. 

My friends agree with me. We even admit that sometimes our headphones aren’t even on when we have them in! We keep them in to discourage people from talking to us or expecting us to respond. Sometimes it’s also a cover while we listen in on other people’s conversations. Headphone use is commonly a tool to socially distance. 

We at GKIS aren’t the only ones who’ve noticed this phenomenon. Blogger Claire Hubble shared her story of being a self-proclaimed “headphone addict” in a blog post. In her post, she mentions the dangers of constantly keeping your headphones in, such as not being able to hear an oncoming vehicle or people calling for you. Hubble also brings up an important guilty pleasure we’re familiar with here at GKIS, podcasts.  

For those of you who are not yet addicted, podcasts are like radio shows with multiple episodes that usually follow a theme or tell a story. Fans can subscribe to a podcast and follow their favorite podcaster personalities. Hubble said she loves podcasts as a way to avoid forced small talk. She goes on to share that without her headphones, she feels anxiously disconnected and even bored. She posits that headphone may be and up-and-coming addiction.1 

Dangers of Excessive Headphone Use  

Psychological 

 In a 1994 study on the psychological effects of Walkman use, researchers predicted that portable listening devices could potentially grow to be silencing technology. Silencing technology is the social and psychological separation of individuals. This study interviewed 36 individuals and concluded an impaired ability to interact socially with prolonged device use.2 

A later 2005 study measured the use of headphones and portable audio use on college students using several self-administered scales and surveys. The 2005 study also found that frequent headphones use leads to social isolation and feelings of loneliness.3  

Physical 

Physical damage from increased headphone use has also become a growing concern. Potential health risks include:  

  • Ear infections 
  • Hearing loss 
  • Tinnitus (ringing in the ear) 
  • Headaches 
  • Dizziness 
  • Pain in ear 
  • Hyperacusis 
  • Excessive ear wax 4 

Recommended Headphone Use 

How much headphone use is excessive? According to the World Health Organization (WHO), anything over an hour a day is excessive for all listening devices.[5] Rather than eliminating the accessory altogether, steps can be taken to implement safe and healthy listening for your kid on-the-go. 

How to Manage Headphone Use 

In her book, Screen Time in the Meantime, Dr. B offers the following recommendations to help your family unplug: 

  • Teach netiquette skills.
  • Introduce screen-free zones at the dinner table and other areas where a family conversation is common.
  • Decide on tech blackout times, like mornings before school and bedtime.
  • Start a conversation on safety with our free Connected Family Screen Agreement.

Safe Kid-Friendly Alternatives  

Have you heard of noise limiting headphones? Noise limiting headphones are headphones that can be set to a specific volume the consumer decides.6 Researchers have concluded that noise-limiting headphones pass the “safe” listening range set by the World Health Organization (85 decibels) and were the favorite among the kids and teens in the study who tried them out.5 This is a quick solution if you know you won’t always be able to monitor headphone use but want to limit possible hearing or distraction injuries.   

Special thanks to Aroni Garcia for researching and co-writing this article. If you liked the article, and you’re interested in learning more tips on how to break this trending habit, go over to 5 Back to School Tips for the Digitally Overtasked and Disorganized Parent to learn more about how you can keep on track with managing device and media time. 

Onward to More Awesome Parenting, 

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe 

Works Cited 

[1] Hubble, C. (2019). I Stopped Wearing Headphones Everywhere To Battle My Anxiety With Amazing Results. Strength, Mind. Retrieved from https://www.whimn.com.au/strength/mind/i-stopped-wearing-headphones-everywhere-to-battle-my-anxiety-with-amazing-results/news-story/4f685a3d83bd7da58e49ed840a2abad7  

[2] Moebius, H., & Michel-Annen, B. (1994). Colouring the grey everyday: The psychology of the Walkman. Free Associations, 4(32, Pt 4), 570–576.  

[3] Crane,R. (2005). Social Distance and Loneliness as They Relate to Headphones Used With Portable Audio Technology. Humboldt University. Retrieved from http://humboldt-dspace.calstate.edu/bitstream/handle/2148/28/social%2520distance%2520and%2520loneliness%2520as%2520they%2520relate%2520to%2520headphones%2520used%2520with%2520portable%2520audio%2520technology.pdf?sequence=1&origin=publication_detail 

[4] ColumbiaAsia. (2019). Harmful Effects Of Listening Music With Earphones. Retrieved from https://www.columbiaindiahospitals.com/health-articles/harmful-effects-listening-music-earphones-headphones 

[5] Wirecutter. (2020). The Best Kids Headphones. Retrieved from https://thewirecutter.com/reviews/best-kids-headphones/

[6] WHO. (2105). Make Listening Safe. World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/pbd/deafness/activities/MLS_Brochure_English_lowres_for_web.pdf 

[7] WHO, Press Release. (2015). Make Listening Safe. World Health Organization. Retrieved from https://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2015/ear-care/en/ 

[8] Everrett, T. (2014). Ears Wide Shut: Headphones and Moral Design. Carleton University. Retrieved from https://curve.carleton.ca/system/files/etd/f866183a-7e5d-44f9-9dc0-2e70dc7f283a/etd_pdf/ced98bd25d5bdd0bb69b3696a6da32ad/everrett-earswideshutheadphonesandmoraldesign.pdf 

Photo Credits 

Photo by Plush Design Studios on Pexels 

Photo by Mircealancu on Pixabay 

Photo by Jplenio on Pixabay 

Photo by Counselling on Pixabay

Photo by Pexels on Pixabay 

Photo by Pixel heart on Pixabay 

The GKIS Guide to Trendy Counterculture Sites Kids Love

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Were you the kid with a mohawk in the 70s or pegged pants in the 80s? Maybe you were goth, a skater, or straight-edge. Teens of every era love to experiment with creative expression and explore new philosophical ideas. The internet offers boundless opportunities to follow cool influencers and chat with like-minded others in online forums. Visiting random virtual neighborhoods can be mind-expanding and fun, but it can also be dangerous. Today’s GKIS article explores the world of online counterculture. Being in-the-know is a critical element to great parenting in the digital age.

New Age Counterculture 

 As adolescents begin to form their unique adult identity, they look to their peer community for ideas for current, creative interests, how they want to come across, and what they want to look like. Especially attractive to teens is anything that their parents ARE NOT. Trends that are new, fresh, and totally different from parents or social norms are aptly named counterculture.[1]

The concept of countercultures isn’t new. From the anarchists in ancient Greece to the punks of the 1970s, countercultures have always influenced trends and fashion. Because kids today form multiple identities in their real world and in various virtual worlds, they love to explore constantly-evolving countercultures.

Fun Curated Online Platforms

These days, online influencers define counterculture for kids and teens. Sometimes that results in harmless fun. Other times, influencers post sexualized and edgy content designed to shock and titillate, engaging their audience in active discussions and
sharing. 

To help you become familiar with counterculture online content, we’ve selected some content creators for you to check out and explore. Please keep in mind that because we don’t monitor these sites, we can’t vouch for their choices or the choices of their followers. Only you can best decide what makes sense for your family.

Kathryn Loo, Youtube username @hellobatty, posts videos about crafts, outfits, vlogs, and more. Her gothic Lolita style and love for all things Halloween inspires her viewers to embrace their interests and gives viewers ideas on how to get creative in her own spooky aesthetic. 

Alex Weaver, Instagram username @thegothicalice, posts artwork, fashion, and for-sale creations in her goth/punk style. She frequently posts about books she’s interested in, artistic projects she’s working on, and creative outfits she puts together.

Aurel Nelson, Instagram username @phonyghost, is a skilled costume creator who makes amazing images of her cosplays (meaning dressing up and portraying a specific character). Some of her costumes include superheroes. She frequently collaborates with other costume makers to make a spin-off of our favorite Disney princesses as punk rock girls.

Tae-Seon Hall, Tik Tok username @tae.seonrise, posts videos on funny reactions to how her style is perceived by the public, videos of her cat, and quick makeup looks. 

Mary Rose, Blog @TheEveryday Goth, creates fun posts relating to counterculture events, fun reads, fashion posts, and references to goth classics such as The Addams Family. She also links goth themed stores and songs she loves. 

Pros to Trendy Counterculture Sites

  • Opportunities to meet and interact with like-minded fans
  • Exposure to creative ideas and unique ideas that may not be reflected in your community
  • Encourage your child to develop independent thinking
  • Help to build self-confidence 
  • Their participation reflects that your child knows your home is a safe place for expression and communication

Cons to Trendy Counterculture Sites

  • Unregulated, unmonitored messaging boards
  • Exposure to inappropriate content like sexuality, vulgarity, and cyberbullying
  • Exposure to hate groups, radicalization, fake news, and conspiracy theories
  • Conversations of that may encourage serious mental health-related behaviors like depression, anxiety, eating disorders, self-harm, and suicide
  • Pop up ads and marketing

Tips to Navigating Counterculture Sites

Dr. B offers the following tips to protect your child from inappropriate counterculture sites

  • Tell your child you’ll be monitoring their online activity and explain why you think that is important.
  • Have an ongoing, fun, cooperative dialogue to stay current with their interests, challenge their ideas, and teach family values.
  •  Monitor sites your child is interested in by creating a bookmark and following the creators. Be alert for subtle messaging and links to other sites and music.
  •  Insist on having your child’s login credentials to their devices 
  • Review browser searches 
  • Do not save your credit card information on sites you share with your child. 

 GKIS Parenting & Safety Tools

If you feel overwhelmed when it comes to keeping your kids safe online, we got you covered. Our GKIS Screen Safety Toolkit offers tried-and-true tech tools to help with filtering, monitoring, and managing your child’s screen activities. We also share links to apps and social media safety guides for platforms popularly used by influencers. This parenting step is what Dr. B calls protectionism in her book Screen Time in the Mean Time, an important part of parenting in the digital age.

If you’d love a more comprehensive parenting course to help understand not only how to manage your child’s media, but how to optimize creativity and learning potential, check out our  GKIS Connected Family Course. Dr. Tracy Bennett, can even personally guide you through this process during a personalized workshop or in-person coaching. Our GKIS CEO is passionate about assisting families with these confusing moments and is available to you at a click of a button. Coaching is an efficient, cost-efficient alternative to in-person psychotherapy. Prevention is always better than treatment.

The Overall Verdict?

The GKIS mission is to help families achieve screen sanity, prevent digital injury, and form deeper, more meaningful relationships. That includes joining them where they’re at in experimenting with identity formation. Just like punk in the 1970s and new wave in the 1980s, online counterculture helps today’s kids discover all that this crazy world has to offer.

Special thanks to Aroni Garcia for researching and co-writing this article. If you want to learn more about the mentioned social media platforms of the GKIS approved counterculture influencers, check out the GKIS parents sensible guides to Instagram and Tik Tok. 

 

Onward to More Awesome Parenting

Tracy S. Bennett Ph.D.
Mom Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe

Works Cited

[1] CrashCourse. (2017). Cultures, Subcultures, and Countercultures: Crash Course Sociology #11. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RV50AV7-Iwc&feature=emb_title

[2]Daschuk, M. (2010). Messageboard Confessional: Online Discourse and the Production of the “Emo Kid”. Berkeley Journal of Sociology, 54, 84-107. Retrieved February 6, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/40999937

[3] Hawkes, N. (2015). Young goths may be more vulnerable to depression and self-harm, study finds. BMJ: British Medical Journal, 351. Retrieved January 31, 2020, from www.jstor.org/stable/26521636     

Photo Credits

Photo by cuncon on Pixabay 

Photo by Victoria_Borodivina on Pixabay 

Photo by XANDER_DEZ on Pixabay

Photo by Grayerbaby on Pixabay

Photo by finelightarts on Pixabay

Photo by Sheri Hooley on Unsplash

GKIS Offers Seven Popular TikTok Creators for Healthy Family Fun

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TikTok is a trendy, popular social media app that is controversial amongst parents. On the one hand, explicit language, attention-seeking trends, and cyberbullying on the app give TikTok the potential to be harmful. But kids and teens love it, anxious to join and follow the latest trends, memes, and creators. Like every app, it is important to consider the potential benefits TikTok can offer, not just the dangers. Many TikTok creators take advantage of the app’s popularity to provide inspiration and education to its adolescent audience. If you’ve decided to allow your teens access to TikTok, GKIS has identified some influencers your family may enjoy.

Who’s on TikTok?

Like YouTube and other social media platforms, TikTok users form communities based on popular trends like cooking, makeup, education, and wildlife. While we don’t think of apps like TikTok as a learning resource, many TikTok creators have dedicated their page to making teen-friendly, educational videos that can help your teen learn new things in a fun, accessible way.

Before You Start

As we mentioned in our GKIS Sensible Parents Guide to Tik Tok, it is recommended that kids be over the age of 13 before using TikTok due to its explicit language and content. Also, we strongly advise that you implement our free GKIS Connected Family Agreement before you allow your child a mobile device. With two versions available for kids and teens, our agreement spells out just what you should cover to help keep you family members safer online. All you have to do to get your free agreement delivered directly to your email by entering your name and email address on the GKIS home page. No purchase necessary and, if it’s not for you, you can unsubscribe at any time.

Meet Our Favorite Creators

For this article, we tried to find creators who have a relatively clean act for a teen audience. Please review these creators and decide for yourself whether they are good fits for your family.

Cooking

In the cooking community, creator @salt_to_taste has amassed over 1 million followers with his cooking videos and recipes. With easy recipes made with everyday ingredients and simple directions, this page is a great place for teens to get inspired to start experimenting in the kitchen. Salt to Taste makes a variety of foods, from snacks to smoothies to simple American and East Asian dishes. This creator has been active for almost a year and has been recently nominated for a Shorty Award in the food category. This creator does not seem to use inappropriate language and does not seem to do sponsorships.

Makeup

In the makeup community, creator @mariasgoldenmakeup is known for her bold eye looks and makeup tutorials. Though fairly new to TikTok, Maria has already gained over 61,000 followers with videos showing how she achieves her beautiful makeup looks as well as the products she uses to achieve them. Maria’s page can offer inspiration for teens who want to try their hand at makeup and achieve specific looks. Her looks can be used for everyday makeup and special occasions. She has done some sponsored posts but is transparent about what products are being advertised, using the hashtag #ad to indicate a sponsorship.

Nutrition

In the educational community, there are a few creators who have gained popularity for their educational TikToks in various subjects. In nutritional education, creator @sarahgracemeck, with over 149,000 followers, creates educational TikToks correcting various health myths and promoting tips on healthy eating. In our culture, we are obsessed with being thin and restricting what we eat, and this message unfortunately gets pushed on teens the most. Sarah does a great job using her background as a dietician to spread the message of healthy eating in a nonjudgmental, positive way. Sarah is passionate about spreading accurate information and debunking various unhealthy dieting trends and myths. It does not seem that Sarah offers sponsored content.

Science

In science education, creator @chemteacherphil is a popular user with a background as a high school chemistry teacher. Phillip has amassed over 1.3 million followers on TikTok with his videos exhibiting different chemical reactions and explaining their processes. The reactions he creates in his videos are fascinating to watch, and the information he gives can be useful to any high school student taking a chemistry class. Phillip does not seem to use explicit language or audios in his videos or do sponsorships.

Language

In language education, creator @fresajapomex is a popular multilingual creator who publishes videos in Spanish. With over 2.5 million followers, this creator does a variety of content from vlogs to comedy skits to food reviews. This creator, who goes by Sony on TikTok, has an energetic and kind personality and has a great sense of humor. Her parents are Mexican and Japanese, and therefore she speaks both languages as well as English. As a former Spanish student, one of the ways I improved my Spanish skills was consuming media in my target language. Sony’s content can be a great tool to help your teens improve their skills in a different language in a fun way. Sony does not seem to do sponsored content.

Wildlife

In the wildlife community, The Urban Rescue Ranch, the organization behind the page @ostrichplug, recently joined TikTok in an effort to show the work they do raising animals in an urban area. Their content shows their workers handling a variety of animals like frogs, possums, ostriches, pigs, and most recently, chickens. The creators often include their animals in fun, comedic skits and do frequent updates on the development of a few of their younger animals. This is a fun page for teens to view the different responsibilities of owning animals, and may even be inspired to go volunteer for an organization like the Urban Rescue Ranch themselves. This page does not seem to use any explicit language or audios and also does not seem to do sponsorships.

Fun with Coffee

Lastly, a popular creator among GKIS interns is @morgandrinkscoffee. Morgan is a college student who works as a barista for her local coffee shop, and she has gained over 2.2 million followers since joining in 2019. Her content mainly consists of the work she does as a barista, showing how she makes certain drinks, her day to day responsibilities, and some funny skits on her experience in the food industries. For teens who may be experiencing their first jobs in food services, Morgan’s content can show that it’s possible to enjoy the work that you do, but it also lets teens have a laugh at some of the shared struggles most of us have faced while working in customer services. Morgan is transparent in her sponsorships, labeling her sponsored content with the hashtag #ad.

Making TikTok Safer

As discussed in our previous TikTok article, it can be difficult to control the content suggested by the TikTok algorithm. But with careful decisions on who you allow your teen to follow, TikTok will suggest better, safer content that teens will love and parents can trust. Though it’s important to be cautious of the dangers of TikTok, with a little research, finding teen-friendly creators can help make the app safer and more fun for everyone.

Thanks to Alexandra Rosas-Ruiz for her research and help with writing this article. Want to learn more about how to manage the risks of the internet for your teen? Check out Dr. Bennett’s latest book, “Screen Time in the Meantime.” With a quick read (or listen because it is also offered in audio), you can learn creative, sensible, and family-tested parenting strategies to help protect your teen both online and offline.

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty

GetKidsInternetSafe.com

The GKIS Sensible Parent’s Guide to Instagram

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Instagram is the second most popular social media app among teens, with 78% using the social media platform in 2018. Instagram has become a necessary tool to manage relationships and participate in public culture.[1] Teens love to develop their virtual identities, follow friends and popular celebrities, and keep track of popular culture. Relative to other platforms, Instagram is easy to use, encourages creative content with photo filters, and has privacy and protective report features that are easy to access. But there are danger potentials and parenting strategies you should be aware of before you give permission for this social media staple.

What is Instagram?

Instagram is a free mobile social media app that offers photo or video sharing to followers or a select group of friends. Videos range from 3 to 15 seconds. All you need to sign up is an email address and a username (a phone number is optional).

How long has it been around and how popular is it?

Instagram was created by Stanford graduates Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger and launched in October 2010. Within two months, Instagram gained over a million users. In 2011, Apple named Instagram iPhone app of the year. In April 2012, Instagram was acquired by Facebook for a billion dollars. As of April 2019, Instagram has 500 million daily active users.[2] It is the gateway app for most young social media users.

How old is old enough for adoption?

Instagram Terms of Use state, “You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service.” I recommend sixth grade as the youngest adoption age for Instagram and only under the following conditions:

  • Require your child to create a persuasive PowerPointthat covers risks, benefits, and privacy and protection features so you both know the ins and outs of Instagram’s features. For more information about how to create and judge a persuasive PowerPoint about a social media app along with other useful screen safety strategies, check out our Connected Family Online Course.
  • Add it to your free GKIS Connected Family Agreement as an “OK” or a “not yet,” so parameters, rules and regulations, and etiquette issues are understood. (If you haven’t downloaded it yet, enter your name and email on our GetKidsInternetSafe home page and it will be emailed immediately.)
  • Require the account to be set to private and you agree on the number and nature of followers and frequency of posting.
  • Ensure you are friended and you have their username and password for backside control.

Instagram Basics

Instagram’s big appeal is its image-based simplicity. Here are its regularly used features:

  • Stories (like Snapchat) that allow the user to post a collection of photos or videos to their profile. The story lasts 24 hours then disappears.
  • Your personal photo & video collection profile with captions that others can love, comment, and share.
  • Photo filters that offer limited editings, like color and hue.
  • Option to tag and @mention others or your post.
  • Links to other social media platforms including Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr.
  • The ability to search and explore public profiles and follow favorites, like celebrity profiles.
  • Instagram offers suggestions of videos and posts you might like as well as potential FB contacts to follow.

What are Instagram’s popular features? 

  • Direct Messenger allows users to start a conversation with friends.
    • Send messages, photos, videos, and posts. You can even video chat with up to 6 friends.
  • Watch long-form videos where users can create and watch videos that are not limited to one minute.
    • Similar to Stories or photos and videos you see in your Feed, you can like, comment, or share IGTV videos with friends.
  • Shop as You Scroll allows users to find products in your Feed and Stories that you’re curious about.
    • Tap the Product Tag to see the price, item name, and even have the ability to buy it directly from Instagram. There is also a save ion that will automatically add the item to your private Shopping Collection.
  • Search & Explore offers fresh content based on people you follow and posts you like.
    • Refresh the Explore page to see a new set of photos and videos, all created based on your interests.
  • Close Friendsallows for private messaging and posting to occur on Instagram, similar to private stories on Snapchat.
    • Start at the main page of Instagram, press the top-right icon of three bars, choose which followers you’d like to add to your list, and press Done.

What is included in the personal profile?

  • Number of posts, followers, and following
  • Username (can be a nickname)
  • Bio (like a website and other social media contact info here like Kik messenger, Skype, Facebook)
  • Your collection of photos and videos with the date posted, likes, and comments
  • Tagged photos and videos of you
  • Photos and videos you save

What are the privacy options?

Profiles are set to public by default. To change this, follow these steps:

                  • Go to the settings icon, select the Privacy icon, and under Account Privacy turn the Private Account toggle on to require the approval of follow requests. If your profile is private, posts will not appear on the EXPLORE tab and only followers can see your posts.

Teens typically create more than one account for improved privacy options. Instagram allows you to simply toggle between the two. I require my teens to keep even their main profile on “private.” But they also generate a second account, offered referred to as a “Finsta” (a spam Instagram account) where they only friend their closest friends. Be aware that the posts on the finsta accounts are where the most questionable content is posted. Don’t forget to spot-check those from your child’s phone directly. You can’t just assume you’ll see everything they are up to on your feed.

Be aware that if your child posts other contact information on their profile (like Skype or Kik usernames), the public can view that and reach out to them even if their post is set to “private.” Another tricky workaround that people aren’t usually aware of is that if you SHARE your Instagram post on another social media platform like Twitter, your Twitter followers can click on the link and see your private post.

What Instagram trends and slang should I know about?

Clickbait: The practice of using a provocative title with the sole purpose of driving clicks.

Finsta: “Fake Instagram account.” Followed by a close circle of friends where teens post their casual, authentic side, where they can let their guard down a bit, act silly and not edit out every blemish.

 #influencer: Instagram is becoming a huge platform for brands to publicize their company. 48.8% of brands use Instagram for promotional purposes. They pay people who are “Instagram famous” to show these brands on their profiles.

Rinsta: “Real Instagram account.” Usually accessible by a wider audience for teens polished and idealized selves.

Slide into someone’s DMs: The practice of randomly sending a DM to someone.

Throwing shade: The act of publicly denouncing or disrespecting someone. Often used in reference to sarcastic remarks against someone or something.

VSCO: The term originally referred to an app used for simple photo edits. It is now commonly used to make fun of girls who use the app.[3]

What are the risks for use?

Cyberbully potential:

  • Bullies posting unflattering or humiliating tagged or @mentioned photos and videos (@drtracybennett is a loser).
  • Cruel comments or hashtags (#annoying).
  • Fake accounts and impersonation.
  • Influencers making certain activities or expensive clothes/makeup seem normal.

Tracking potential:

  • Users can include contact information on comments or in their bio. Although posts are set to private, anyone can see your profile photo, username, and bio.
  • Photos and videos may be geotagged so the location can be tracked. For safety, turn off this feature on your device by turning off the “location” option for “camera.” To prevent Instagram from capturing your location on the iPhone, go to the phone’s settings, tap Instagram, select Location, and choose the “Never” option.

Attention-seeking potential:

  • Users often try to attract large numbers of followers with poor posting or comment choices.
  • There are numerous other apps that are affiliated with Instagram and they give the option to buy likes for your posts and even buy more followers.

Inappropriate content potential:

  • Sexualized, cutting, violent, politicized, and eating disorder images and inappropriate memes are commonplace and easily found when viewing photos and videos from the Explore tab.

Ability to send and receive instant messages, photos, or videos directly:

  • If your child’s profile is public anyone, including Instagram users your child does not follow, can send them messages, photos, or videos directly. If your child’s account is private, then the messages will be sent to their “message requests” instead of directly to their inbox. From there, you or your child can proceed to decline or accept the message. If one ignores the request folder, the sent item will disappear after two weeks.

What are the protection features?

By setting your profile to private, only followers can see your posts and stories. (There is an option to let anyone see your Stories, followers or not, make sure this setting is turned off). However, keep in mind that ANYONE can see your profile information (profile image, username, and bio), even non-followers.

If you come across an inappropriate photo (or you are tagged inappropriately), go to your profile page, select the three-line icon located at the top right corner above “Edit Profile”, select “Settings”, and “Report a Problem” in the Help area. From there Instagram offers many categories for the report with specific instructions.

  • Spam or Abuse
  • Something Isn’t Working
  • General Feedback
  • Image or Video Quality Issue
  • After the Block or Report is completed, that person cannot search for you or view your photos. However,  mutual followers can still see your likes and comments on other people’s pictures. Blocked users can also still @mention you. You will receive a notification that they mentioned you but it will not show you the comment they made unless you unblock them. You must change your username to avoid mentions.
  • If an unwanted comment on your page appears, simply swipe on it and select the “!” icon to report Spam or Scam or Abusive Content or simply trash it.
  • Instagram’s help center page also encourages social media awareness by providing “Tips for Parents” and “A Parent’s Guide to Instagram.”

Instagram Safety Ideas

Make the account private.

Block problem users.

Report problematic posts.

Manage comments.

Review your profile often and delete old or questionable photos.

Finesse your posts to favorably reflect positive activities, experiences, and character traits (like a digital resume).

Track your time.

Parents – check for extra accounts and other social media follow requests.

Social media can be really fun, but it has its risks. If you think your child is ready for an Instagram account or if they are on it and you want to optimize safety and resilience, YOU WILL LOVE OUR GKIS Social Media Readiness Training Course. It covers social media risks to digital injury and teaches tweens and teens the psychological wellness tools they need to thrive!

Thanks to Isabel Campos for her research and help with writing this article.

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting,
Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

Photo Credit

Photo by NeONBRAND on Unsplash

Work Cited

[1](Boyd, 2014)
[2](West, 2019)
[3](Zote, 2019)

Harvard Revoked Acceptance Because of Stupid Social Media Post Memes

by

“First impressions are everything.” This once referred to tone, dress, and personality. Now, it also refers to your social media page. Teens rack up an average of 6 hours per day of social mediag.[1] They not only browse endlessly, but many also post impulsively. With immature prefrontal brain development, kids and teens are unable to anticipate consequences. Plus, the internet culture is vulgar, shocking, and celebrates pushing moral limits. Using profanity, sub-tweeting and cyberbullying are common. Using principles from Dr. Bennett’s book, Screen Time in the Mean Time: A Parenting Guide to Get Kids and Teens Internet Safe, this article covers how to best guide your teen through the social media dilemmas of cyberspace.

Social media is the perfect place to “out” your enemies.

My friend “Catherine” used to expose her ex-boyfriends on Facebook. Once she posted, “He says he’s over me, but he just came to my house and cried.” Often, she’d think twice and delete her post. Other times, her ex-boyfriends posted angry responses outing her bad behavior back.

My friend “Robert” also shared a personal story. This is one about Myspace going wrong. When he was in the eighth grade, his high school sophomore girlfriend sent him sexy selfies. Robert showed his friends the photos. Although he refused to text them directly, a friend hacked his phone and sent himself the photos. Within a few days, the girl’s family and the police were at Robert’s door. Her photos had been posted on Myspace. Although Robert did not directly post her photos, he was held responsible because they were initially on his phone.

Online Behavior Matters

We love our podcasts at GKIS. In one of our favorites called Hidden Brain. The “You Can’t Hit Unsend” episode tells the story of William, whose social media posts destroyed a golden opportunity with Harvard.[2]

William was a brilliant high school senior from Pennsylvania. He was a great student who played competitive golf and performed for the local symphony. Although he didn’t believe he was “Harvard material,” he applied anyway. He was accepted through the early admission process and was overcome with joy. In the excitement of his acceptance, Will quickly joined an online group chat to meet other incoming freshmen.

One chatroom that focused on sharing memes was particularly funny. As the chatroom friends grew closer, they exchanged increasingly “edgier” memes, riding the fence between funny and offensive. To be added to the subgroup chat, at least one edgy meme had to be shared in the main group chat. As time passed, the memes increased in explicitness, oftentimes referring to outrageous, violent, and sexual topics. Will states that members of the chat knew that their meme was good based on how many likes and fire emojis members commented afterward.

The admissions department at Harvard University learned of the private chatroom and investigated. Harvard withdrew admission offers from ten prospective students because of their participation.

Will shared that he will always remember the last sentence of the email, “Harvard can withdraw admission under various conditions, including if you engage or have engaged in behavior that brings into question your honesty, maturity, or moral character.” Now he recognizes how adults would be offended and regrets his posts. He apologized, “It is far too easy to act out of character behind a screen in a fast-paced setting and to say things I would never say or even think of in my everyday life.”

The Harvard student newspaper later published the story. Soon after, the story was everywhere, including CNN and Fox News. Will and his family were devastated.

He waited a year and applied to other schools, only to be rejected by all ivy league universities. Will’s voice broke with emotion as he spoke of the experience. Fortunately, his emotional honesty appealed to a physics department chair at a school he was waitlisted at, and he was ultimately granted admission.

College Recruiters and Managers Search Applicants Online

Social media posts can make or break a teen’s future. The relationship between your digital footprint and personality is about as constant as the relationship between personality and behavior, also known as “the personality coefficient.“[3] That means that your behavior on your social media profile is a reliable source of information about your personality.[4]

Many college admission officers and employers use online data to investigate prospective students or employees. While the internet is fun and creates a space for creativity and connection, adolescents can make dire mistakes online just as they do offline. Instead of those mistakes happening in front of a few close friends and family, they can be blasted out to millions. Social media profiles produce large amounts of user-generated data that may be used and sold in ways we cannot anticipate.[5]

As social media evolves, parenting tactics must evolve as well. That means educating yourself about the risks of posting and challenging your kids to explore online risk with ongoing empowering dialogue.

Here are a few ways you can prep them today:

  • Use our free GKIS Connected Family Screen Agreement to set parameters and create a screen-friendly, cooperative dialogue.
  • Engage in fun co-viewing, both with passive screen use (TV) and interactive screen use (browsing the internet). Fun projects may include researching a particular topic using various learning formats (articles, videos, images).
  • Find food recipes and cook a meal together.
  • Co-create a movie – complete with music, still-image slides, videos, and graphics.[6]
  • Work together to purposely stylize your family’s cyber footprint. Ensure that that footprint will work for you rather than against you.
  • Act as a role model on social media and encourage responsible posting.
  • Block, filter, and track online behavior using the tools offered in our GKIS Screen Safety Toolkit.

Internet sites can collect and analyze large quantities of data from everyday devices.[7] This information provides more opportunities to use data in deceitful ways. With helpful GKIS tools, you can best prepare yourself and your teens.

Thanks to Isabel Campos for her research and help with writing this article. Interested in learning more about current cyberspace news? Signup for weekly GKIS articles by entering your name and email address at GetKidsInternetSafe.com!

I’m the mom psychologist who will help you GetKidsInternetSafe.

Onward to More Awesome Parenting

Tracy S. Bennett, Ph.D.
Mom, Clinical Psychologist, CSUCI Adjunct Faculty
GetKidsInternetSafe.com

Photo Credits

Photo by Pixabayon Pexels
Photo by Brett Sayles from Pexels
Photo by Nathan Dumlao on Unsplash
Photo by picjumbo.com from Pexels

Works Cited

[1](Granet 2016)
[2](Hidden Brain, 2019)
[3](Meyer, Finn, Eyde, Kay, Moreland, Dies, Reed, 2001)
[4](Meyer, Finn, Eyde, Kay, Moreland, Dies, Reed, 2001)
[5](Azucar, Marengo, & Settanni, 2018)
[6](Bennett, 2019)
[7](Granet 2016)

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