TikTok is a massively popular video app among teens and tweens. Users can upload and share 15-second to 3-minute videos of themselves dancing, lip-syncing, teaching a skill, or highlighting a hobby. Unfortunately, TikTok can also have a negative impact on teens by encouraging them to participate in dangerous social media challenges, connecting them with bullies or predators, or encouraging screen time addiction. Parents should learn what TikTok is and then talk with their kids about properly using the app.

Parent and Educator Video

(Click on the three lines or in the video progress bar to skip to a chapter)

What can parents do?

• Create your own TikTok account and try it for yourself
• Ask your student to show you the app, and videos that they have enjoyed, and then watch positive content together as a family
• Talk as a family about setting screen time limits and use your device's settings (or the app's settings) to help regulate the time each person spends on TikTok

Potential negative effects of TikTok

Addiction: Since the app boasts an “endless stream” of material, students are likely to spend a long time in the app and might even become addicted to watching the videos for hours at a time.

Bullying: A high school principal in New York tells SmartSocial Founder Josh Ochs that students are being bullied on TikTok. Some students are making fun of each other's videos, while others are making videos just to ridicule their fellow students.

Comparison: Some students make outrageous and dangerous videos to get more likes and followers. Social media challenges can be an easy way to gain likes, but some of the challenges are not appropriate for tweens and teens and can potentially encourage teens to break the law.

Safety Concerns: Apps like TikTok can easily be used by predators to solicit minors because the app makes it easy for strangers to direct message children. "There are no restrictions as to who can join the app and it is used internationally, connecting virtually everyone," explained Digital Family Expert Theresa Desuyo, at the parental control software company Qustodio.

Mental Health: Some experts report it can be easy to come across triggering content on the app that could promote issues like self-harm or eating disorders. The Center for Countering Digital Hate found that when they created new accounts with the age set to 13 years old, TikTok recommended “harmful” content, “sometimes as rapidly as every 27 to 39 seconds.” This included self-harm and eating disorder content. (Source: GMA)

Settings we’d recommend on TikTok

How to set daily limits on TikTok

• Click on your profile image and then the three lines in the upper right-hand corner of the screen on the TikTok app
• Click “Settings and Privacy” then select “Screen time”
• Click “daily screen time” and select the time frame you want for daily app use

How to set reminders to take breaks from TikTok

• Click on your profile image and then the three lines in the upper right-hand corner of the screen on the TikTok app

• Click “Settings and Privacy,” then select “Screen time”
• Click “screen time breaks” and select the time frame you want to be able to use TikTok before getting a reminder to take a break and being asked to enter a pin number. Parents can set this pin number, so students are not able to override it

TikTok in the news

Our children are growing up in the age of social media — and many feel like they need to measure up the filtered versions of reality that they see on their screens. We know this takes a devastating toll on children’s mental health and well-being. -California’s Attorney General, Rob Bonta, Deseret News

Tricia Cuthbertson, has a warning for other parents. She told NBC News her daughter’s friend downloaded TikTok onto her daughter’s phone to post videos of the two of them. “In the matter of an hour, she has 20 followers, all men, and they were starting to make [inappropriate] comments. - NBC News

The tech website Motherboard investigated the app and found a large community of adult users on TikTok soliciting nude photos from kids. Some of those users even sent explicit videos to children. - WDBJ7

“A… football player was dismissed from the team Friday, and several more will face “serious consequences” after recording and sharing a TikTok video bullying a female classmate” - WCPO Cincinnati

What students think of the TikTok app (video interview)

What parents say about TikTok

‍**Warning....this app contains Adult Video Content!**

After I started exploring the app, I realize that at the bottom of the video people could put hashtags. I clicked on a hash tag, which took me to another video with a different suggestive sounding hashtag at the bottom that I clicked on, which then took me to videos that were Adult content. - Common Sense Media

Caution! Very fun but not for Tweens!

The BIG problem is that a lot of the available music and sound bites contain all the very adult language and innuendo you hear on the radio. So when left to her own devices, I found my 10 year old lip syncing to suggestive lyrics she didn't even understand... What's worse is that the rating system becomes addictive… [My daughter] and her friends kept pushing the envelope to see how many "likes" they could get. What originally was supposed to be a private account became public for the thrill of getting the approval of strangers.  -  Common Sense Media

Additional Resources

YouTube Kids Guide for Parents

Conclusion

TikTok is a fun and creative outlet for users to post dance compilations, tell funny jokes, and show off their talents. But some of the content users post can contain explicit language, suggestive themes, and lewd gestures, and since the app’s algorithm is designed to be addictive, teens may have difficulty turning off the app.

Smart Social recommends creating a family media agreement WITH your students while discussing appropriate use of the app and using the screen time limit settings within TikTok and your device to help your student use it in a balanced way.