Instagram Dangers Every Mom Needs To Know

Being a mom of a teenager is harder than ever before.

With social media sites all the rage these days, being online and having access to social media accounts can cause harm to teenagers, and even get them killed.

But while social media giants claim their sites are “safe” moms everywhere need to be aware of what their teens are doing online, especially on Instagram.

You may be shocked to hear Instagram is dangerous.

After all, while sketchy apps like Snapchat encourage users to take provocative photos, promising they’ll be “deleted”, Instagram comes across as a harmless site where teens can post their favorite pictures for the world to see, right?

Wrong.

Instagram is all about the hashtags, and as it turns out teens are posting disturbing hashtags like #selfharm and #anathinspro which glorify self-harm and anorexia.

As if a suicidal or depressed teenager needs to be spurred on by other broody teens, many with mental disorders who want to harm themselves.

Or like teenage girls don’t struggle enough with their own boy image and need to be “encouraged” to become anorexic – a true illness that can kill.

And as it turns out, since Instagram doesn’t even have an adult filter, your teen could be viewing raw pornography simply by clicking the wrong hashtag by mistake.

Scary Mommy reported:

“Oh, and did you know that your child can view porn on Instagram? Yup. All your teen needs to do is stumble onto one unsavory hashtag, and it will be like falling into a rabbit hole of x-rated pictures and videos. Although nudity is against the network’s terms of service, users are relentless and upload everything from personal nudes to reposted videos and even revenge porn.

The worst part is, you wouldn’t even be able to stop your child from having access to this content. There’s no content blocking on Instagram. It doesn’t have an adult content filter at all.”

And don’t forget the relentless cyber-bullying that takes place online – where classmates create fake accounts pretending to be someone they are not, sometimes even pretending to be the victim they are targeting.

As Mommy Underground previously reported, some teens even participate in the game by inviting users to “roast them”, which further crushes their self image.

So moms, never assume social media is safe.

Even well-known and seemingly harmless sites like Instagram have their risks.

Try setting your teens phone on a timer, where they can’t post during certain hours.

And be sure you are able to monitor your teen’s social media sites so you can see what they are posting.

You don’t have to be a “helicopter mom”, but please don’t ever feel guilty for setting healthy boundaries for your teens, and teaching them proper online etiquette.

Trust us, they’ll thank you later.

Even more sobering, as Mommy Underground previously pointed out, teaching your children to have a healthy fear of online sites just might save their lives.

Do you have any boundaries you set with your teens and the social media sites they use?

Were you shocked to learn about how dangerous Instagram can actually be?

Tell us your thoughts in the comments below.

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