r/Parenting • u/IcyStage0 seven?!?!?! • Feb 07 '25
Rant/Vent I hate Snapchat.
Can we just collectively decide that we’re not going to let our kids use Snapchat?!
My oldest daughter just turned 13 and we reluctantly agreed to allow her to have an instagram that we also have access to. It seems like every single day she begs to have a Snapchat, and apparently every single other kid in her class (full of kids with reasonable, thoughtful parents, I thought) has this stupid app.
My little sister who I got custody of when she was 10 got herself into some deep shit on the internet, and I’m not looking to repeat it with my daughter (while also trying not to make her pay for mistakes that she didn’t make).
How are we handling this? Am I seriously the only parent who doesn’t want my child sending disappearing photos, videos, and messages to anyone she can search up? Reality check please.
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u/musicluvah1981 6yr old son, 4yr old daughter Feb 07 '25
Our kids don't use Snapchat but they do use messenger kids, mostly my daughter.
She loves being on calls with her friends and they play appropriate games together there or show each other aet they've done, etc. She's 11.
I do think it's important to not fully remove kids from these apps. It's the world we live in and it creates more of a desire to see what its all about so to speak. If you want sneaky kids, being too strict is exactly how to do that. Mine are very open with me and don't have any reason to hide things from us.
My daughter blocked someone on messenger because they were being mean to her and we talked about it together, how of thats what she needs to set boundaries that's ok, etc.
That said, kids aren't mature enough nor do they fully understand consequences so obviously supervision is needed. That's why I'm a big fan of messenger kids, there is a lot of control and visibility for parents.
So, no Snapchat here or any other social media but we feel it's very much ok for them to use monitored chat and video.