Social Media Awareness and Safety

At Bronco Gymnastics, we advocate for responsible use of social media. We recommend that parents and friends keep athlete safety and privacy in mind and be aware of the personal information they are giving out.

Most social media platforms do not allow kids under 13 to have their own account. But there’s no age-verification process, so it’s very easy for kids under 13 to sign up.  Instagram is rated for age 15 and up because of mature content, access to strangers, marketing ploys, and data collection. Many hackers, thieves, bots and pedophiles just follow hundreds of accounts and try to connect with account holders for their own manipulative purposes.
 
Bronco Gymnastics recommends parents, friends and athletes set their accounts to private, and only accept friends or followers they know personally. Although it seems impressive to have a lot of followers,  it is not worth it because of the “stranger danger” this poses. Bronco Gymnastics recommends parents monitor and collaborate on all kids’ social media accounts, no matter their kid’s age, and be aware that kid’s can have multiple accounts at once.
 
To set an Instagram Account Private:
  1. Tap your profile picture in the bottom right to go to your profile.
  2. Tap at the top.
  3. Tap Who can see your content.
  4. Below Account Privacy, tap to check the box next to Private Account.
To set a Facebook Account Private:
  1. Open the Facebook app.
  2. Tap on the hamburger menu. …
  3. Scroll down and tap ‘Settings and Privacy’
  4. Tap on the ‘Settings’ tab.
  5. Under the ‘Audience and visibility’ section, click on the various options on the right updating each one. …
  6. If you want to make your posts private, tap on ‘Posts’.

You have control over who sees your content. This is by far the biggest benefit to setting your account to private. When your account is private, everything you post will be hidden from everyone who doesn’t follow you. If someone wants to follow you, they can, but they will not see anything until you approve them.

Other Reasons to Set your Social Media to Private

  1. Avoid Identity Theft
  2. Prevent Attracting Robbery
  3. Protect Employability/College Acceptance
  4. Protect Insurance
  5. Avoid Stalkers
  6. Keep business reputation in tact
  7. Reduce Rick of Oversharing
  8. Stay Safe Against Cyber threats

Read the Full Article: 8 Reasons to Keep Your Social Media Set to Private | ESET

Other Links:
Parents’ Ultimate Guide to Instagram | Common Sense Media
What Are Some Basic Social Media Rules for Middle Schoolers? | Common Sense Media
What Are Some Basic Social Media Rules for High Schoolers? | Common Sense Media
What Are Some Basic Gaming and Social Media Rules for Elementary Schoolers? | Common Sense Media