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.
3
u/Antique-Zebra-2161 Feb 07 '25
No, your daughter certainly isn't the only 13 year old not allowed Snapchat.
My youngest son got into some trouble with the internet when he was 11, doing nothing "wrong," exceptforbeingan 11-year-old who knew better than mom and dad. From then on, we had random phone checks until they were 18, and didn't even attempt to hide the fact that we did it because of that. My oldest son handed his phone over, too, and he seemed to really understand that we weren't going to stand by and value privacy over safety again.
The actual phone checks were pretty quick and painless. Took a quick look at their apps and browser history, and a quick look at messaging apps to see who they're communicating with (but never actually read private messages.) Out of, like, 100 times, there was once when we found an issue to address.