[biohax2015]

As if an 11-year-old will absorb any of that...

[DubiousPusher]

Not in those words no.

I have an ongoing conversation with mine about the things he finds online. We talk about how people try to benefit from appearing "rich" online. We talk about how people have problems in their lives and find things to blame and rant about online. We talk about how people you don't know can try to get things from you or make you think a certain way.

He even started using the term "clickbait" before I even taught it to him. These kids are savy. I think the biggest thing we can do for them is to help them understand how to contextualize what they're engaging with because they don't get to grow up in the "before" and "after" worlds that elder millennials did.

And frankly, I see that my kid is just as saturated in propaganda from his public school as he is from online media. So far, in parallel to his education, school seems to be running one giant ad for the US armed forces.

[vorpalhex]

They will if you explain it to them. I do mean explain and not command.

Sit down with them and go through tiktok or insta. Point out dark patterns, bad content.

Answer their questions truthfully. Sometimes the truthful answer is "I don't know".

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

Then they goto school and their friends say their parents are fucking jackasses and then they're bullied.

[vorpalhex]

Talk through it.

The field you want is "family dynamics". If things are already off the rails, find a mediator (doesn't have to be an actual legal mediator).

1. Understand their viewpoint and give them the tools to understand yours

2. Find common ground and define the areas of conflict

3. Reassure and reaffirm relationship

4. Repeat

[2OEH8eoCRo0]

I don't use TikTok or Insta, do I have to install them for this demonstration? Can I just ban them in my household or via parental controls?

[KaiserPro]

I first got the internet at in 1995.

I had the internet for a while when I turned 11.

My parents were pretty clear about what was good/bad. "you can see all sorts of stuff on the internet. But first things first, never use your real name or address. Second, we can totally see what youre looking at."

For me that worked.

For my older sister, she still tried to run off with a bloke she met off a chat room.

so you cant win them all.

[harvey9]

There was no internet when I was 11 and we still managed to think of stupid and dangerous things to do.

[ilyt]

We sneaked into local military training compound to look for bullet casings (coz guns and cool) at that age. We'd be far fucking safer if we played online games instead lmao.

We also hitch-hiked to save bus money parents gave us to get some ice cream

[tracker1]

You'd be surprised what an 11 year old can understand when you talk to them like a person.