How to Monitor Kid's Instagram Messages

The Right Ages for Kids to Use Instagram

Well, there is no right time to do something. But, that is not the case when it comes to social media, smartphones, and kids. With smart gadgets, it is not so nerve-wracking, right? All they can do is play games, learn how to take selfies, code, and watch videos that interest them and are age-appropriate. It is thanks to the parental control settings that come with the gadgets, and you can easily monitor what the kid has access to on his device. Thank God for technology, huh!

However, what happens when your 10-year-old asks you to let them join Instagram?

"Pretty much all my friends are on it, everybody but me is on Instagram. Can I get an account, too, please, mom?"

They plead, probing you with their adorable puppy eyes. You are torn apart between saying no and saving them the unfathomable damage Instagram brings on everyone (kids and adults alike) or saying yes because they have been good kids and have waited so long on your feedback about the matter.

Well, the appropriate age to join Instagram is 13 years. Anyone below 13 years and has an Instagram account, should be reported to the concerned personnel and have their accounts shut down until they are of age, as required by the law. But you have seen toddlers on Instagram! Yes, parents can manage Instagram accounts for their kids and let them have full control when they reach 13. Such parents certainly have Instagram monitors they use to track their kids' Instagram activity.

So, the choice is up to you. While you are figuring out the answer to give your 10-year-old about joining Instagram, below are some dangers of this app to kids.

What are the Dangers of Instagram for Kids?

Instagram was developed to make it easy for people to share their stories and happy moments with the world. However, we cannot ignore the fact that there are bad people out there who are always waiting for opportunities to do malice. Social media platforms are a catch for such villains since they can't get caught easily. Hence the terror when parents find out their kid is on Instagram.

At the end of this list, you will realize the need for you to get an Instagram monitor for your kid. Plus you will have a better chance at explaining to them why getting an account is not appropriate at a tender age, and why you need to monitor their online activity in general when they join Instagram.

a) Cyberbullying

There is no limit to how many accounts an individual can have nor how to figure out when someone has more than one account. It is a loophole that's utilized by bullies to pick on others virtually. They create 'Finstas' (fake Instagram accounts) and use them to abuse and comment nasty things on their victim's posts.

b) Sexual explicit content

There are no restrictions on what content people can share on their Instagram. It is thus easy for your kid to run into pornographic images, clips, and text. Your kid could be innocent, but just being on this platform exposes them to such content when others share them on the gram.

c) Sexual predators

Kids on Instagram, especially when they are not under any supervision, are very vulnerable to get sexually groomed. Instagram allows you to share very personal details easily accessible to pretty much anyone. There is also the direct messaging (DM) feature that predators can use to contact their child on Instagram privately. Being naïve and looking to have virtual friends, many kids end up being lured into sharing private information, threatened, molested and even killed in the long run without their parents having a clue when/how it all started.

d) Negative influence

Most postings, especially celebrity pictures, are always perfect. Everyone on Instagram seems to have their life together and they always look glamorous. Your kid will be pressured to be like that celebrity they follow on Instagram hence affect their self-esteem and lack of self-love because they are not as perfect. You will notice a queer change in how they dress, eat, who they hang out with, etc. It makes your kid lose their individuality. It affects adults as well.

e) Access to other sites

Instagram enables users to access a Twitter search easily and through Google, Bing, or Yahoo accounts on Twitter, they can do unfiltered searches for anything. They can do so without having to leave Instagram. When kids delete their search history, you will never be able to keep up with what they search for from websites. You wouldn't even have a clue what sites they use for browsing.

Part 4: How can I Monitor Kid's Instagram

There are thousands of tracking software developed to help parents protect their kids from online dangers and predators. FamiSafe is one such software and is ideal for Instagram monitoring. The program is straightforward to download, install, and set up for tracking. It also has a friendly toolkit with sufficient features to assist in the monitoring errand.

a) Detect suspicious text on Instagram

FamiSafe lets you get notified as soon as irregular words get sent to your kid's Instagram account. It happens when you connect Instagram to the app under Explicit Content Detection.

Then, select from the SuspiciousText Base module the content you want to get notifications. You can also add your own suspicious words list in the program in the Add Suspicious Word menu. You will get a notification immediately when they are sent to your kid's Instagram.

b) Check Instagram usage and block

FamiSafe gives you feedback on how long an app is used in the target phone and lets you block it. It is under the Activity Report module in the app's interface.

In case they have been using Instagram, it will get listed with time details from when the app got opened and for how long it has been running.

Part 5: How do I Monitor Kid's Instagram Activity with FamiSafe

FamiSafe parental control app works smoothly on all Androids and iPhone/iPad/iPod 9.X, 10.X onwards. So whatever your gadget's operating system type, you are covered. Now, to monitor Instagram activity on your kid's phone, follow the steps below:

Step 1: Install and launch the software

Download FamiSafe from its official website on your phone as well as your kid's.

Step 2: Registration

Secondly, create and register an account on the app to be a member on your phone. Next, sign in to the account you just created on your child's gadget. Set the identity to Kid.

Step 3: Activation

Now activate the service on your kid's phone. For Android gadgets, you have to allow several permission requests while installing. In the case of Apple devices, you have to install a mobile device management file to grant necessary permissions.

Step 4: Monitor

Go back to your phone and sign in to the FamiSafe account as Parent. It will connect FamiSafe to your kid's phone automatically. You can then personalize the settings to suit your needs, then sit back and watch the app do the job effectively.

Part 6: Conclusion

Parenting is not easy, and there is no 100% correct manual on how to do it. The uprise of numerous social media platforms makes it even harder to raise these smart generation kids. However, not all hope is lost. Thanks to parental control applications like FamiSafe, you have a third eye to track Instagram activity, among other things, on your kid's phone.

For a healthy parent-child relationship, get your kid to understand why specific sites and applications are not suitable for them. Let them know you care for them, and you mean well before installing any monitoring app on their gadgets.