COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Social media can be tough to navigate both for the teens joining these apps for the first time and for parents trying to keep their kids safe.
That’s why Meta and the National Parent Teacher Association paired up for an event called Screen Smart at Franklin Heights High School in Columbus, held Thursday.
Social media safety is important to kids and parents so events like Screen Smart help people use parental controls on apps that are beneficial to everyone.
“I’ve learned more tonight than I’ve heard before about the controls and the teen accounts and everything, so I’m impressed,” parent Eric Young said.
Meta launched teen accounts on Instagram in September.
“These are built-in for teens so if you’re under the age of 18, you’re automatically going to be placed into teen accounts on Instagram, and if you’re under 16, to change any of these settings, you’ll need parental approval,” said Kira Wong O’Connor, Meta’s Youth Safety Policy Manager.
Some features of Instagram’s teen account are that it’s automatically private, it has a hidden words feature to block out offensive or sensitive words, and it allows parents to see who their kid is messaging but not what the messages actually say.
The event on Thursday night was about navigating the features and controls on these new accounts and opening up a dialogue between parents and their kids about social media.
“We want the parents to walk away with more information but more importantly, the reason we have the teens and parents here tonight, the conversation really begins at home, so if we can help start that, make everybody feel safer and give them the tools and resources they need, that’s like the win-win,” Mikki Wilson with the National PTA said.
Local parents and teens at the event said they were impressed and learned more than they expected.
“It really empowers the teen and it empowers the family to be involved,” said Eric Young.
“I really liked learning about the fact that with the teen accounts, parents can control who you’re talking to and see who you’re talking to but they don’t have to read too much into it because I know teens like to have their privacy, but it’s also good to know that parents are watching over and looking out for you,” teenager Amara Young, Eric’s daughter, said.
O’Connor said these teen accounts have received positive feedback from kids and parents.
“The settings that they’ve kind of forced the teenagers into until the parents and the teenager can have an open discussion and the parents can decide how to relax those restrictions, I think that’s excellent,” Eric Young said.
Meta and the National PTA said they are holding more Screen Smart events in many cities so teens and parents nationwide can be smarter and safer on social media.
