There are the kids who enjoy sending each other Snaps of their feet, their breakfast or an interesting cloud. There are the kids who follow and copy viral dance videos on TikTok. There are the kids who love to watch #GRWM on . And then there is the Discord crew.
Is Discord safe for your child? A parent’s 101 guide to the social media app
By Holly Jean Brooker
Parenting Place·
6 mins to read
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As social media becomes further entangled in our daily lives, it's good to know what different platforms are used for. So what is Discord, and is it safe for your child to use? Photo / Getty Images
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Discord uses “servers”, which are set up with a particular focus, topic or theme. People can sign up, join a server of interest, discuss topics, share images, videos and web links, and connect via text or voice chat. Servers with themes/topics are identified by a hashtag, for example #fortnite.
When users join a server or channel, they’ll see a speaker icon and they will automatically hear ongoing conversations which they can join in on.
Discord has more than 150 million active users, with gamers making up 70 per cent of users. It allows them to create a community of gamers to chat to about gaming, while literally gaming. A gamer’s dream come true, right?
It’s not just for the gamers though; all sorts of communities will gather on Discord. (Some kids even use it to study and do homework together - apparently!) Discord servers feature a range of topics, including TV shows, geographical regions, sports, memes, dating and investing. For example, (and this is a true story I found while researching for this article - because, well, you couldn’t make this stuff up!) United States college student Delilah usually watched rose ceremonies alone. But in pursuit of community, she set up a Discord server for fellow fans of The Bachelor and now she watches with a bunch of friends who stream each episode together.
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Risky bits
How old do users need to be? Discord has a sign-up age of 13, but as you’re probably aware by now, it’s easy to sign up “under-age” simply by giving an incorrect birthdate.
Parents need to know that some of the servers on Discord are themed around adult content, with unrestricted access. Here’s some more internet slang to add to your glossary: NSFW = “not safe for work”. In other words, “don’t be opening this when your boss is around” . . . in other words, “100 per cent NOT safe for kids”. #NSFW servers, featuring porn and sexual content, are common on Discord and can be stumbled upon by our kids. There are also reports of illegal content being accessible on Discord too.
Extra features
Discord Nitro is the premium version of the app, giving you more capacity if you moderate a server. It enhances your Discord voice, video and text chats, and offers perks like animated avatars and a custom tag, as well as the ability to collect and make emojis. And it costs money – so talk to your kids about your expectations around what exactly they’re signing up for.
Safety tips
Like all social media apps, there are safety risks. There are about19 million different servers on Discord at any one time, and many, many millions of worldwide users, which means loads of potential for dodgy content and dodgy people. Sorry to be frank, but awareness and caution are vital when it comes to keeping our kids safe online. So yes, while Discord can be a handy way for our young people to connect and find community with like-minded peers, there’s also a risk of connection with manipulative strangers and even predators.
Here are a few essentials for keeping your child safer on Discord if this is an app they’re using.
- Filter explicit content in settings
- Toggle or turn off Direct Message (DM) settings
- Enable friend request settings so your child isn’t engaging with strangers
- Block unknown users
- Report any inappropriate content or users on Discord
- Set up a strong password and two-factor authentication (2FA)
Follow this link to internetmatters.org for handy, step-by-step safety instructions.
Get involved
If you have a younger teen or tween on Discord and you’re concerned for their safety, here’s an option - sign up to Discord yourself and ask to be invited to the groups your child is in as a quiet observer. We don’t have to give our children unlimited, unsupervised access to online platforms. Their access can be conditional upon our involvement. Just keep it cool - don’t be messaging them on their public page to “hurry up and put your dirty underwear in the washing machine” or anything embarrassing like that.
Keep in conversation
It’s really important we continue to have regular, robust conversations and check-ins with our kids about what they’re doing on social media and any problems they might be facing. This is something we talk about a lot at Parenting Place, and we have more tips on how to have these conversations here and here. The key is to remain non-judgmental, open, curious and calm.
Social media is a complex and tricky terrain to navigate, and chances are high that our kids will trip up at times. Hence it’s vital that the lines of communication are kept open and our kids know we’re here and available to talk at any time, about anything.
This article was originally published on Parenting Place. Read the original article here.
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Holly Jean Brooker works as a PR specialist, writer and presenter for Parenting Place. She is a mum of two, runs her own marketing consultancy business and has a background in high school education where she specialised in health and social sciences. Holly is co-founder of MakesSense.org.nz.
For more parenting news and advice, listen to One Day You’ll Thank Me, the Herald’s parenting podcast.
