The Dangers of Social Media and our Neurodivergent Children
Here is Some information on a few popular platforms and video game consoles as well as some links to information on parental controls.
I’m including some information here about what we have sent to the ‘bin’, replacements made, also info on YouTube, the Nintendo Switch, the X-Box and the Wii-U.
My child is not happy the phone is currently gone and the school computer stays at school and the iPad is a dream from days gone by. This road is crooked and needs to be made strait. At 14, it’s Not too late. It’s been a bumpy, angry and mournful road but this needs to happen in order to keep my child from harm.
REPLACEMENTS
If you go the route of literally saying goodbye to certain devices your ND (neurodivergent) child will need to have a replacement of some sort, so be prepared in advance with what you feel a safe and reasonable replacement will be. This helps to ease the transition but I’m not promising it will make things perfect.
The replacements we have used do not have the opportunity for live chatting or web browsing.
Replacements for us include a Nintendo Switch and a beloved GameBoy which has been a saving Grace. The Game Boy which is an ‘old school’ device handed down, has no web browsing capability. The beauty of the Nintendo Switch is that there is a parental control App you can get for it. You can control which games they can play and if they have access to social media. The App is easy to navigate! There are set controls and custom controls on the Nintendo parent portal. Your child CAN down load YouTube on the Switch but it can also be prevented with the parental controls. It’s rough at every turn. You can customize each day with the amount of time you are comfortable with on the switch as well.
Here is a link to the Nintendo Parental controls App
https://apps.apple.com/…/nintendo-switch…/id1190074407
RECORD PLAYER? 
I also purchased my daughter a record player with a CD and radio option and we are buying records and CD’s. Today’s records are sturdy, colorful and fun! Going Analog is possible ! The current music being played is background Minecraft music! It’s amazing!
The Wii-U: the Wii- U gaming console also has access to a web browser. I guess it’s to connect to other gamers. Be aware of this and shut it down or block what you can from you home Wi-Fi .We just made sure the internet connection was turned off for it. Kids can still play their games.
Or, you can set up parental controls as well.
Here is a link on how to do this.
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/…/how-to-set…
The X- Box : This gaming system has a web browser and you can google information from this console. Isn’t it fantastic how we think our kids are just playing fun video games and right there, they have access to the world?
Here is a link on how to set up parental controls on the X-Box to prevent chatting or web access.
https://www.xbox.com/en-US/apps/family-settings-app
YouTube is still being watched on TV but no comments or web interaction can be made. I’d LOVE to eradicate YouTube but I’m choosing the lesser of All of the evils. My focus is on NO access to private chats.
If your child is not yet on YouTube, just block it now. My child never uttered a single curse word until YouTube arrived.
I’m reading that parental controls and filters can be added to YouTube on a smart tv but I believe it needs to be set up under a parents email and then controlled from there. We would have to eradicate my child’s profile and personal favorites and we have said goodbye to so much already, the battles are being picked.
We may still implement controls down the road for cleaner content on this platform. Sigh… This YouTube thing has been tricky.
UPDATE: We figured out how to control the YouTube content without getting rid of my child favorites. My husband went into the YouTube controls on the TV and created a passcode so now all of the profiles are in Restricted mode! We figured it out!!!
There is also YouTube for kids which may be a good option, just look closely and test things out before you open that gate!
You can set a control on the YouTube App on your child’s device but it can be easily toggled OFF. I tried this some time ago!
A Supervised Account may be the only way you can control content. This platform has been the most difficult for us to figure out.
Here is a link that May help with parental control info.
https://support.google.com/youtubekids/answer/6172308?hl=en
Here we go! I’m calling this my child’s personal Re-Set. It’s NOT easy to go backward, but I feel in order to go forward, this must happen. It’s messy but it’s happening. Did I say it was messy? It’s messy.
Part 3 with some more detailed platforms such as Reddit, Tik Tok, Twitch and more with details coming tomorrow. It’s the bad and the ugly. Get ready.
Leave a Reply