Is Tik Tok a bad platform for kids?

 Recently in class we have been talking about our lives with social media. We have touched on the subject here and there about how social media affects others. One topic I wanted to look over was how social media affects kids? Kids are surrounded by tablets, phones and TVs. My cousin is 10 years old and she texts me off her tablet every day. Kids these days are growing up on screens. One platform that has recently caught the attention of this younger generation is Tik Tok. 

Tik Tok is a platform for users to share videos about anything! The videos can go up to three minutes. The algorithm pulls together videos based on the videos you react with. If you like dog videos your feed will most likely be videos of animals. Sounds harmless right? In most cases yes, but Tik Tok has a hard time controlling what does and doesn't go viral. Just today videos on Tik Tok videos went viral that today December 17th was a trend referencing possible school shootings and bombings. Classes all over the Nation have been cancelled today. Districts in California, Texas, Minnesota, and Missouri have said they plan to close down Friday in response, according to the districts and local media reports. Schools police presences were also heightened at schools worried about the threats. I had multiple friends text me from High Point asking if my hometown High School was shut down. Luckily, mine wasn't affected. My friends from New Jersey and New York had schools fully cancelled. 

Parents are now given the new task of having to censor what their children are viewing and posting. School violence is something that has been on the rise over the past few years. Social Media apps like Tik Tok make threats easy to make. Personally, I have seen videos on Tik Tok that require sensory, but they don't have it. Platforms like this shouldn't be as easy to access for younger children and teens. Things

 like this happen every day on these social media apps. We need to find a balance that helps parents know what their child is watching.