TikTok has gained significant popularity over the past few years, especially among teenagers.

As a parent, though, it can be hard for you to keep up with what your child is doing on the platform. You may also not know what kinds of content they might encounter while using the app.

Thankfully, TikTok has created a Guardian's Guide to help you understand how the app works. And here's why you should read it...

An Overview of TikTok's Guardian’s Guide

The TikTok Guardian's Guide is a resource for parents to learn about how to keep their children safe on the app. It includes information on how to get started with TikTok, as well as how to use its safety and privacy tools—including the Family Pairing features.

In TikTok’s words:

This Guardian’s Guide is designed to provide an overview of TikTok and the many tools and controls we’ve built into the product to keep our community safe. The guide also provides general information on common internet safety concerns.

What’s Included in the Guardian’s Guide?

The Guardian’s Guide serves as a go-to resource for parents and caregivers who want to know what their child's TikTok experience will be like.

The guide covers all of the basics, including:

  • Downloading the TikTok app.
  • TikTok's privacy options.
  • The TikTok Community Guidelines.

A chunk of the guide is also dedicated to TikTok's Family Pairing features.

Related: Is TikTok Dangerous to Personal Privacy and Security?

The TikTok Family Pairing features allow you to link your teen’s account with yours. This way, you’re able to control the content your child is exposed to—as well as remotely manage the privacy settings on their account.

person holding up the tiktok app on their phone

A Word on TikTok's Family Pairing Features

The Family Pairing features allow parents to remotely manage their kid’s account in the following ways.

1. Screen Time Management

TikTok's never-ending supply of short videos can make it easy to lose track of time while on the app. The screen time management feature allows you to set the amount of time your kid can spend on the app to make sure they're not spending too long on there.

2. Restricted Mode

Managing your child’s screen time is not the only thing you can do with the Family Pairing feature. TikTok also allows you to restrict the content your kid is exposed to on the platform with its Restricted Mode feature.

3. Direct Messages

The Family Pairing feature also allows you to decide who can send private messages to your child, or even disable direct messaging completely.

The Guide also contains information and advice on how you can establish ongoing conversations with your kids about their safety in the digital age.

Why You Should Read TikTok’s New Guardian’s Guide

parent teaching teenager

Kids now have access to an ever-increasing library of content on platforms like TikTok with just their smartphones. While this is not bad on its own, it could pose some dangers to kids who use the platform without guidance.

Some of these dangers like exposure to adult content, cyberbullying, and online harassment are not unique to TikTok. For example, Instagram has a set of features aimed at protecting teenagers from potential predators on that app.

The Guardian’s Guide is a comprehensive resource you can use to teach your teens about online safety.

Related: Ways TikTok Is Dangerous to Personal Privacy and Security

The guide contains all the information you need to help your teenager learn about online safety so they can manage their social media presence, both now and as they grow into adulthood.

Should Your Kid Even Be on TikTok?

Sometimes, the best way to keep your kids away from the potential dangers of a social media platform is to keep them off it. But that’s not always the easiest thing to do.

TikTok is very popular among teens. They may not appreciate your efforts to try and restrict their access to the platform, especially when their friends are on there.

Supervised usage is the way to go, and that’s what the TikTok Guardian’s Guide was created to help you do. So, it would be a good idea to use it.