How to protect children online – a video guide

Social media is shaping young people’s lives. Yet many parents are unclear about how it works or the potential dangers platforms can have.
That’s why we made a Parents Guide Video Explainer to help you navigate your children’s social media usage. With a special focus on TikTok, our CEO, Imran Ahmed, takes you through five easy and important steps that you can take to keep kids safer online.
Two-thirds of American teenagers use TikTok. The average viewer spends 80 minutes a day on the application.
Our findings showed how TikTok is bombarding teens’ feeds with harmful content – including videos about eating disorders, self-harm, and suicide.
Watch our video, then download the Parents Guide.
You can learn more about how to protect children online at protectingkidsonline.org.
Support Resources
- NEDA — US eating disorder support and advice. To reach a helpline, call 800 931 2237 from 11am – 9pm ET Monday to Thursday, and from 11am – 5pm ET on Friday. To access web chat support, use this link between 9am – 9pm ET on Monday to Thursday, and 9am – 5pm on Friday.
- BEAT — UK eating disorder support and advice. To reach a helpline, use this link to find phone numbers for England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, 365 days a year, 9am – midnight during the week and 4pm – midnight on weekends.
- Butterfly — Australian eating disorder support and advice. To reach a helpline, call 1800 33 4673, available from 8am – midnight seven days a week.
- Nedic — Canadian eating disorder support and advice. For their helpline, call 1866 633 4220 from 9am – 9pm Monday to Thursday, and 9am – 5pm on Friday. For web chat support use this link at the same times above, and between 1pm – 7pm on weekends.