TikTok is a very popular app with over 1 billion users and 200 millions of those are from the US. It is a Chinese company called ByteDance. This app was created in 2016 and has been increasing its popularity more and more. TikTok is a way of entertainment for everybody but I am sure we all agree that it is very easy to waste hours and hours just using the app without being conscious of how much time you’ve spent. The age limit for having a TikTok profile is currently 13 years old, but you still can’t use all the functions until you are 16. Making live videos, sending and receiving direct text messages and allowing people to download their videos are functions restricted to 16 years old. Actually 32.5% of the users are between 10-19 year old, 29.5% between 20-29, 16.4% between 30-39, 13.9% between 40-49 and less than 7.1% have more than 50 years. In July, TikTok classified more than a third of its 49 million daily users in the United States as being 14 years old or younger, but how can that be possible if the age limit is 13? TikTok is very popular among teenagers but it is actually starting to be used by younger kids who don’t know the dangers they can expose to if they have TikTok at such a young age. According to some studies 3 out of 10 parents allow their children to have social media before the age of 13, this can be very harmful for children who most of the time are not concerned about.
In my opinion there are pros and cons of the age limit of TikTok. Some pros are that they can easily communicate with their friends if they don’t have a phone yet, they can be connected and have the knowledge of recent news in the world and it is a way of entertainment for them.
On the contrary, there are some cons. Having TikTok at such a young age could cause some children addiction and these could affect their social life, their family relationship and the most important, their school grades. Some children don’t know what they are doing and they can end up chatting with strange people and end up giving confidential information. There have been some severe cases in which kids lost their lives because they were trying a new trend just for fun but they didn’t know how dangerous it was. For example, two girls who were 8 and 9 years old, died because they were trying to do the "blackout challenge" which consisted of choking themselves until they passed out. Finally, in TikTok there are a lot of fake news a lot of people believe they are true, for example, there has been a recent fake new about having found a crucified child in the Ukraine and Russian war.
For me the perfect TikTok age limit would be 15 years old. I think at this age children are mature enough to understand the different functions the app has and being concerned about the dangers it could have and the careful that they have to be. However, restricting TikTok to 15 years old and older, could end up with a lot of people faking their age to be able to have a profile. This is a problem I think parents should deal with cause it is very difficult for TikTok to figure out what is the actual age of their users.
Would you increase or decrease the TikTok age limit and why?
Would you allow your children to have TikTok at such a young age?
Should parents of kids under 13 years old be conscious about what content their kids watch?
Sources:
https://www.elgrupoinformatico.com/noticias/cual-edad-minima-para-entrar-tiktok-t78402.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/08/14/technology/tiktok-underage-users-ftc.html
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/jul/05/tiktok-girls-dead-blackout-challenge
Replies
Great topic choice and super job Maria!
I think that tiktok has gotten out of control with girls shakking there booty, when the app is made for dancing with non nudity for little kids to watch as well, not older aged girls dancing inappropitly just for a quick dollar on social media.
I honestly don think that they should just keep the age limit they have but it's just up to the parents to decide if their kids can use the app. If I had kids I wouldn't mind them having TikTok.
I don't agree with you. In my opinion the age limit is very important so parents can guide when to let their children create a profile eventhough a lot of poeple lie their age.
I think the age limit should at least be 14 or older. I think this becuase most children are not mature and enjoy bullying other people on social media. Im not saying older people don't do it as well because everyone does it no matter age. But younger kids are motr likey to bully. I would allow my children to have tiktok at 14 maybe 13 if they prove themselves mature enough. I think kids parents should worry about tge content thier 13 year old child is watching. there is alot of innapropite contant and to be fair the shouldn't be able to watch that.
I think the tiktok age limit should be a little higher, even though people can lie about their age. If I had a kid I probably would'nt let them have tiktok until 14 -15. Many people are addicted to this app and waste their time on it when they should be doing other things. This app also has plenty of innapropiate things that I think parents should be consious about and check on.
I think the tiktok age limit should be a little higher, even though people can lie about their age. If I had a kid I probably would'nt let them have tiktok until 14 -15. Many people are addicted to this app and waste their time on it when they should be doing other things. This app also has plenty of innapropiate things that I think parents should be consious about and check on.
I think that the age limit should be a bit higher even though people could just lie about their age. Depending what side of it you're on, there is definetly some stuff on their that young kids shouldn't see. But at the same time, I think that parents should check in on their childs watch history to make sure that they aren't watching anything innopropriat. If I were a parent I would not let my kid have TikTok until 14-15 so they aren't constantly glued to their phone and are old enough to make responsible decisions and not watch anything bad.
I totally agree with you. I would also increase the age so kids would be mature and responsible enough to have the app.
I would increase the age limit for TikTok. It can be very pointless and many people are addicted to the app. I also think there is some bad or immature things that youung children should not be seeing. People are still gonna lie about their age but if possible it should be higher.
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