Instagram for 12 years old daughter???
Ladies i need some advice please.....
My daughter, who turns 12 in March, has been begging me to let her get Instagram for months now. I'm not sure about it, has any other mums had this predicament?? She HAS NOT got FB and i won't let her for a while, but i personally don't have Instagram so unsure about how it works etc....
THANKS XOXOXOXOXO
9 Replies
What are the terms and conditions regarding age? I don't use it myself, so I don't know, but if its 12 maybe you could suggest it as a part of her birthday present?
With the condition that you'll be making an account to follow her on, and that you want access to email and password until she's older?
What is she wanting it for?
I think if you allow her to get one you should set some rules like 1. You follow her so you can see what she posts and 2. Her account is set to private and 3. She only accepts people that you and her both know.
My cousin has instagram she's the same age but she doesn't post pictures of herself she only posts pictures of her pets and pictures of scenery or flowers etc that she's taken so I think that's fine.
Definitely no selfies! Follow her and make sure her device isn't in her room at night, this is a good habit to get into anyway and is suggested as a safety feature for Internet use by experts. And yes she needs to know you will be following her and have her passwords etc.
This really depends where you stand with social media. I think its very normal for a 12 yr old girl to want instagram as im sure her friends or people at school have it. However if you are uncomfortable about it then tell her to ask again in another year or so.
If you decide she can have then obviously some rules need to be set down, like only accepting people she knows, setting her account to private and not posting intimate photos of herself. I would also suggest you getting an account so you can see what is being posted.
That being said, i have a few young girls on my insta (my neices and their friends) and they just post selfies and it all seems like harmless fun
Instagram is all about photos. Is she interested in photography? Or photos in general?
You can set her account to private so only people yourself and she allows can see anything she posts.
If you follow what she does on it then it should be harmless enough.
Don't do it. Hold off as long as possible on social media. Instagram is full of self obsessive behaviour. Just a big pile of crap.
do not do it. My 12yo has had an ipod since she was 11 (her dad my ex bought it against my wishes) it is a nightmare, she spends all her time on it and when I request she take a break, it is major tantrum time. Instagram is the absolute worst.
There is also a direct messaging capability with this app which I was not aware of. This means there can be messaging between friends, or others and even group messages. Have had issues with my 12 year old and the messaging aspect. Even though I was following as a friend I was not aware of the messaging feature (like Facebook) and it's hidden not public like messages that can be left under the photos. Now I am aware and after a breach of trust we share accounts and I have full access. Hope that helps.
My 12 year old step daughter has been asking for it too. I didn't have it but signed up just to see what it's all about. She has an iPad for school but we have decided (her dad, her mum, me and her step dad) she isn't allowed any games Facebook etc on it, she can have emails and she sends messages to her friends, but we limit that. So if she got it she would be logging onto it on my iPad, and I said I would want to be her friend (or whatever it is) her mum doesn't use any social media, and my hubby isn't that into it. But her mum said flat out no, so she will have to wait awhile longer