As I’ve shared in many posts over the past months, one of the best ways to monitor what your kids are doing online is to follow them with your account. The only thing better is to actually have access to their account. Many parents already do this by looking through their phones every now and then. While I definitely support that method there is a better way. The Instagram app allows you to use multiple accounts in a single installation of the app. You can be logged in to more than one user name and easily flip between them from a dropdown above the profile page. In this video I will walk you through the simple steps to log in to another account and I’ll also discuss a couple of key points when it comes to social media and privacy for your kids.
One of the easiest ways to keep track of your kids activities on Social Media is to follow their accounts yourself. Some social media sites make it even easier to monitor by allowing you to turn on notifications. The major social media apps allow it but the way you set each up is very different. The video below is a walkthrough of how to set up post notifications on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Snapchat. Remember that following your kids is good and being notified when they post is even better. Communication is, however, more important than any of it. Be sure to let your kids know you follow them and that you’re getting these notifications. Hopefully the video below will help you out.
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Parents should do their best to be aware of their teenager or child’s activity on social media. Following your kid’s accounts can be a great way to accomplish this and is something we recommend in our workshops and meetings with parents. The problem is that our more sneaky kids know we are doing this and have ways to avoid our ever-watchful eyes. Your child or teen could possibly have set up a “SPAM” account on their Instagram.
A social media spam account is a way for kids to post whatever they’d like online without parental interference. It’s a secret account that they only allow to be followed by the friends they want to know about it. They have a double Instagram life of sorts because they can post things that are parent approved on one account and then post like all of their non supervised friends on the other account. You don’t have to worry, though, there is a way to find that spam account and disable it. I’ll show you how.
First of all you are going to have to be ok with making your child hand over their phone to you unexpectedly. Hopefully you have set a precedence for this kind of thing already so when you say, “Let me have a look at your phone.” there will be no discussion. If they aren’t used to it you may have to remind them who the parent actually is and require them to give it to you. The good thing is that you can find their spam account on Instagram in seconds so you can assure them they’ll get their phone back soon as long as you aren’t upset by what you find.
Here is a slideshow that will show you the few simple steps required to find a spam account if it’s enabled on your child’s Instagram app.
First:
Tap the profile image on the bottom right.
Second:
Tap the account name on the top center.
Third:
You can see all the accounts connected to that app.
What Next?
Hopefully you knew about any accounts you found. However, if you happen to find something you weren’t expecting then my recommendation is to have a serious conversation with your child about what they are posting that they feel they need to hide from you. Ask them what healthy social media use should look like and try to come up with an agreement on how to accomplish these healthy habits in your family. Don’t back down during these conversations and if you found anything that requires drastic action such as counseling or a loss of privilege then take that action as soon as possible.
Remember that these steps are about your child’s safety and protection. We know that our teens should be given a level of freedom within boundaries in order for them to build healthy habits but betrayal of your trust with a secret “SPAM” acc0unt should be taken very seriously. They may hate you for it now but someday they’ll understand and they’ll be grateful then. Just hang in there.
Those of us with smaller children are often less concerned with them looking for something inappropriate online but we want to protect them from seeing something unintentionally. Apple’s iOS devices have a feature built in called Guided Access just for that purpose. This setting will lock your iPhone or iPad to one app disabling the home, volume, and lock buttons. This is a great feature if you’re wanting to allow your kids to use an app but don’t want them to look around on other parts of your phone. This video will help you get Guided Access all set up.
Those of us with smaller children are often less concerned with them looking for something inappropriate online but we want to protect them from seeing something unintentionally. Apple’s iOS devices have a feature built in called Guided Access just for that purpose. This setting will lock your iPhone or iPad to one app disabling the home, volume, and lock buttons. This is a great feature if you’re wanting to allow your kids to use an app but don’t want them to look around on other parts of your phone.
You may have known about Guided Access for a while but if you haven’t looked at the settings recently you may be surprised at some of the new options that are available. You can turn off the sleep button, turn on the volume buttons, lock the motion (whether the screen rotates when you turn it,) turn on and off the keyboard, touch screen, and time limits. All of these settings are really helpful to customize the guided access for each app you allow your kids too use based on their age and ability to use the iPhone/iPad.
Triple click your home button to launch Guided Access.
You can turn off touch screen with the center toggle.
You can toggle on/off the screen sleep settings, volume controls, motion rotation, and the keyboard.
You can even set time limits.
(*Settings look different on iPhone but they work the same.)
For example, my two year old likes to mess with the screen while he’s watching something. (He even touches our TV screen if he’s allowed to sit close enough.) This would cause the show to pause or skip or back out of the episode entirely. If you turn off the touchscreen it doesn’t matter what he does, it won’t change the show. Now, of course we are trying to teach him to leave the screen alone but this is helpful while he’s still a defiant little two year old “cutie”. For our older kids we will lock into their school apps so they can’t back out and play Lego Star Wars or something. We also use the time limit extensively, they don’t have their own devices so this helps us make them take turns.
What Parents Should Know
You should know how to set up Guided Access. (See the slideshow below) Use it for, especially, your younger kids. Keep them away from apps that will link to the internet. Also, you can draw on areas on the screen to keep them from tapping there, this will keep them from tapping ads or the parental control settings button. We are learning that our kids benefit less and less from using screens but if we are going to give them the privilege it’s important to do it safely. You may give them your iPad or iPhone with an app that is safe for them but if they can back out of it and open something else you’re not doing them any favors. Guided Access gives you some peace of mind, knowing that you can protect them while they are on that device and you don’t have to be looking over their shoulder the whole time. Use the slideshow below to help you set up Guided Access and if you’d prefer a video, check it out here.
Select ACCESSIBILITY in your General settings.
Swipe down to and tap GUIDED ACCESS.
Now toggle GUIDED ACCESS ON and set your desired settings.
PASSCODE options. You can even use your touch id.
TIME LIMIT settings. Tell it to play a sound countdown when time is almost up.
Apple has a great way to help families keep track of what their children are downloading on their ios devices. Your kids can even have their own profiles. It allows for families to share the apps they have downloaded without having to purchase multiple copies. It lets the administrator see what apps the other accounts have downloaded. Best of all, though, it lets you set requirements for young users to ask permission before an app can be downloaded. If you have specific requirements and standards for the apps you want your kids to use, this feature will help you keep those standards in tact.
The video below is a simple walkthrough on my Macbook of how to set up your iCloud FamilyShare settings. I will add one new child account and even give some information about why you may want to use this feature.
Circle, Accountable2You, YouTube Kids, Young Kids and Internet Safety. All this and more in this Facebook Live video. This #givingtuesday live video was a great way to meet parent’s needs right where they are. Be sure to visit BecauseFamily.org/partnership to learn more about donating.
If you have an accountability software and/or a filter installed on your kids’ iPhone, iPad, or iPod you’re wasting your time unless Safari is also disabled. You will want to disable the ability to download new apps as well. In this video tutorial I explain why you’ll want to take these critical steps and walk you through the steps themselves. (more…)
Step one of the BECAUSEFAMILY S.A.F.E. plan is Set Up. Setting up the parental controls on your kids devices is the beginning of this important process. If you need to set up an iphone or ipad this video will walk you through the initial setup of the restrictions. This is a video tutorial available for subscribers. Subscribe below… (more…)
Social media is a fact of life. In fact, our kids are often more social on social media than they are in the “real world.” I hesitate to say the real world because for your kids, their life online is their real life as well. Use these tips to help you be as diligent as you can while protecting your kids on their social media accounts.
1. Do Use the Same Social Media Your Kids Use
Even if your only have this account to be able to see what your kids are doing it’s a good idea. I call this a “stalker account.” That sounds more harsh than it is. It’s just a good idea to be able to see what they are posting. This method is less intrusive than taking their devices and looking at their accounts. If your teen argues with you and says they don’t want you to follow them (or unfollows you themselves) you can always ban their use of that social media site and I recommend that you do.
