TikTok Family Pairing: The Safe Approach Parents Should Take

With over 1.1 billion active monthly users globally, TikTok is one of the most used apps in the world. However, the platform is rife with unsavory videos. Hence, it introduced the TikTok Family Pairing to further combat this issue in 2020. That is why this article delves deep into using TikTok Family Pairing and other safe approaches to keep a child safe on TikTok.

Part 1. What Is TikTok Family Pairing

As the name implies, TikTok Family Pairing is a parental control on TikTok. It allows parents to connect their TikTok account with the one belonging to their child or children. Through this intra-account connection, parents can monitor their children's account activities. Likewise, they can activate multiple content and privacy control settings as they deem appropriate.

Part 2. Custom Settings Review

In this section, the settings that you can make changes to are thoroughly discussed.

Daily Screen Time: You can restrict the time your child spends on something in the range of 40 minutes to 120 minutes. It comes with a sleep reminder that will pop up to remind the child it's time to log off.

Mute Notification: TikTok stops notification once it's 9 pm for accounts aged 13-15 and 10 pm for accounts aged 16-17. But this feature will help parents set the limit to when they prefer.

Content Preferences: Family pairing on TikTok can be used by parents to ban some videos from appearing on the "Following" or "For You" feeds of their child's account. You can even filter out video keywords.

Search: Parents can prevent their children from searching for accounts, hashtags, sounds, and videos.

Private: By setting an account to Private, the child can now choose to accept or reject follow requests. You can also improve the privacy of the account by limiting who likes and comments on your child's videos.

Part 3. Step-by-Step Guide on How to Set Up Family Pairing

Now, we want to examine how you can set up this feature:

On Parent's Phone:

Step 1. Open the TikTok account on your mobile device.

Step 2. Click on your profile image or icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Step 3. Click on the menu button with the hamburger icon.

Step 4. On the ""Settings and privacy"" screen, navigate to Family Pairing and click it.

Step 5. Click on "Parent" when asked "Who is Using this TikTok account?"

Step 6. A QR code will appear on the screen.

On Child's Phone:

Step 1. Open the TikTok account on your child's device.

Step 2. Click on their profile image or icon at the bottom right corner of the screen.

Step 3. Click on the menu button with the hamburger icon.

Step 4. On the "Settings and privacy" screen, navigate to Family Pairing and click it.

Step 5. Click on "Teen" when asked "Who is Using this TikTok account?"

Step 6. Scan the QR code that appeared on your phone's screen.

On Parent's Phone:

Step 1. Select the Child's account.

Step 2. Complete the process by adjusting their settings as you deem appropriate.

Part 4. Features and Benefits of Family Pairing

Using the custom settings and steps already discussed, you can start enjoying these parental care benefits.

Screen Time Management: You can drastically cut down the time spent by your child TikTok-ing, especially on a school night.

Notification Schedule: By turning off the notification or scheduling it with TikTok Family Pairing, you are encouraging healthy living in your child.

Content Preferences: Through exposure to sane content, your child will be smarter and more informed.

Privacy: When some restrictions are not set, your child's comments and activities are available for anyone to see.

Safety: You can keep them safe by turning off their DM. Scammers, abductors, and seducers often use the DM to speak to a child, convince them, and lure them away.

Part 5. Online Safety Tips for Teenagers

This section has identified those things parents can still put in place to ensure online safety for their teenagers.

Open Dialogue

If there is any harmful trend, the parent can find out and counsel the child against it through dialogue.

Educate about Digital Citizenship

By educating one's child on peer pressure, identity theft, scams, and exposure to rated content, they will be better prepared for the online space.

Use Third-Party Parental Control App

Several third-party apps give users more parental control over their child's TikTok activities than Family Pairing on TikTok. One of the best choices is the AirDroid Parental Control app. It is a reliable tool that helps parent see and manage the activities of their children on social media platforms, including TikTok.

This app allows you to:

Screen Mirroring: You can cast the screen of your child's phone to yours and watch what they are doing on TikTok in real-time.

Schedule Screen Time: You can schedule how long you want your child to use their phone or how long they spend on an app such as TikTok.

App Schedule: You can set when your child can access their TikTok app. You will even get an alert if they try to open the app when it is not time.

Sync Notifications: You can track their notifications on TikTok to see what trends are being pushed to them or when strangers message them.

Keyword Detection: Set keywords you want flagged when they are using TikTok, and you will get a notification if the word appears in their activity.

Activity Report: View your children's daily activities to know if they are addicted to TikTok.

Part 6. Real-life Experiences

Many parents have found TikTok's Family Pairing to be an effective tool to ensure their child's online safety while using the app. Here are some real-life experiences shared by parents who have used this feature:

Laura, mother of a 13-year-old: Family Pairing is amazing. It's such a relief to know I can manage my son's screen time and keep an eye on his interactions.

James, father of two teens: I'm all for anything that adds protection for my kids online. Family Pairing does just that - keeping their TikTok use safe and sound.

Mary, single mother: Family Pairing is definitely gives me peace of mind. The friend request approval feature? Super useful.

Mark, father of a 14-year-old: Used to sweat over what my kid might find on TikTok. Family Pairing changed that - now I can filter out the iffy stuff. Feels a lot more secure.

Nina, mother of a 12-year-old: With Family Pairing, it's like I can finally strike a balance - my kid gets her online freedom, but with safety checks in place. It's the best of both worlds.

Part 7. Bonus: A Watchful Eye Online for Parents - AirDroid Parental Control

Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Safari are the most popular web browsers. However, there are several other options like Microsoft Edge, Opera, Brave, etc. You can help your children maintain healthy use of the internet by keeping watchful eyes on them.

Hence, what you need is AirDroid Parental Control. This app is the right tool to know everything your kids are doing online in real-time. That means you can monitor your children visiting sites or content with the screen mirroring feature even if they delete their browsing history afterward. You can even use the tool to set a time limit for them to control their prolonged engagement with certain sites, especially social media.

Besides, AirDroid Parental Control supports:

FAQs about TikTok Family Pairing

What Age Is TikTok Family Pairing?

Elsa

Family Pairing was released in 2020 for teens. Children from ages 13 to 17 are still under parental control, and the feature enables parents to keep them safe. With the app, parents can set a child's notification schedule, screen time, privacy mode, etc.

How Do I Link My TikTok to My Kids?

Elsa

You can link your TikTok to your kid's own by using the Family Pairing feature on TikTok. In the "Settings and privacy" of both accounts, select Family Pairing. Select Parent on your account and Teen on their account. Use their phone to scan the QR code on your screen. Complete the process by selecting their phone and changing the setting to what you deem fit.

How to Turn Off TikTok Family Pairing?

Elsa

You can unlink or turn off Family Pairing with your child's phone easily. In the "Settings and privacy" of your account, select Family Pairing. Select the account you want to unlink. Click on Unlink and select Unlink again.

What to Do If TikTok Family Pairing Not Working?

Elsa

Is TikTok Family Pairing not working on your device? Firstly, ensure you are using a mobile app and it is the original app. Also, confirm if the original app is not outdated. You can perform other checks on your device, such as confirming your internet connection.