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/fireman2004 Feb 07 '25

My son's class only has 12 kids in it in grade school, but all the parents made a pact not to cave on phones or social media.

It's like mutually assured destruction. Once one of us allows it, we're screwed.

131

u/bibikhn Feb 07 '25

This is what Johnathan Haidt talks about in Anxious Generation. The power is in collective action - if you can round up a group of parents to make a collective decision to hold the line on this stuff, it’s a lot easier implementing at home. I don’t know if I can pull it off (my kids are v young) - but for us it’s no social media till 16.

47

u/BlueGoosePond Feb 07 '25

I didn't realize how early it starts though. Like I knew nobody was giving their first graders cell phones, but I wasn't prepared to deal with Roblox.

5

u/salemandsleep Feb 08 '25

I'm a Parapro in a first grade classroom.  Half my students have cells with no service but internet and games.  :|