Does Snapchat Have Parental Controls? What Every Parent Should Know

Snapchat offers parental controls through its Family Center to help parents manage their teens' app use. These controls focus on features like privacy settings and content visibility and are easy to set up. But how effective are these controls, and are they enough to safeguard your child?

We'll guide you through enabling these controls and highlight important privacy settings to adjust for added protection. Additionally, we’ll explore other strategies and recommend the best parental control apps to help keep your child safe on Snapchat and beyond.

How to turn on Snapchat’s parental controls

Snapchat’s Family Center will help you track your child's activity. You can see who they’ve been messaging or sending Snaps to in the last 7 days. You can restrict what content they see in Stories and Spotlight and also view all their friends.

Here’s how to access Family Center on Snapchat:

1. Open Snapchat and log in to your account.
2. Open Settings by tapping the gear icon in the top right of your profile.
3. Scroll down, tap Family Center, and click Get Started.
4. Invite your child to join the Family Center. This step is crucial because if they don’t accept the invite, you’ll be unable to monitor them.
5. Once accepted, you can view their interactions, friends list, and more.

What parental controls are available through Family Center?

You can access several parental controls through Snapchat’s Family Center to keep an eye on your child’s activity. They include:

• View who is friends with your child: See the full list of their Snapchat friends, helping you monitor their connections.
• See who is in contact with them: This feature lets you see who your child has communicated with over the past 7 days.
• Restrict content: The Family Center provides a healthy level of parental control by allowing parents to restrict sensitive content in Stories and Spotlight. Note: This doesn’t limit what they see in chats, searches, snaps, etc.
• Report abuse: If your child is dealing with inappropriate behavior, you can report users directly through the Family Center.

Snapchat privacy settings you should change

Beyond Family Center’s parental controls, adjusting Snapchat’s privacy settings can further protect your child. Here are key settings you can change on their phone to improve safety:

• Disable Quick Add: Turn off this feature to stop Snapchat from promoting your child’s account. This should reduce the number of strangers who send your child a friend request. Here are the steps: Click the Profile > Settings > Privacy Controls > See me in Quick Add > Toggle off Show me in Quick Add.
• Limit who can contact your child: Set Snapchat to allow only their friends to contact them through chats or send snaps. Here’s how to do it: Tap the Profile > Settings > Privacy Controls > Contact Me > Friends.
• Prevent location sharing: Disable Snap Map to prevent your child from sharing their location with friends or the public. Follow these steps: Tap the Profile > Settings > Privacy Controls > See My Location > Enable Ghost Mode.
• Prevent phone number searching: Ensure that strangers cannot find your child’s Snapchat account through their phone number. Here are the steps: Click Profile > Settings > Mobile Number > Disable Let others find me using my mobile number.
• Customize notifications: Review and adjust the notifications to minimize distractions and promote healthy app usage. Follow these steps: Click Profile > Settings > Notifications > Toggle off unnecessary notifications.
• Set up two-factor authentication: This setting adds an extra layer of security by requiring a verification code when logging into your child’s account. Here are the steps: Tap Profile > Settings > Two-Factor Authentication > Follow the onscreen instructions.

Is Snapchat safe for kids?

Although Snapchat has parental controls like Discord, the app's design and features still present potential risks for younger users. For instance, Snapchat scams can target teens, tricking them into sharing personal information or clicking on malicious links. Parents need to educate their children about these dangers.

Here are some of the ways Snapchat can be unsafe for teens:

• Snap Map: This feature lets friends see your child’s location in real time. Enabling location sharing can expose them to privacy issues.
• Quick Add: Strangers or inappropriate contacts can discover your child, leading to unwanted friend requests.
• Public content/profile: Your child’s profile and snaps can be visible to everyone, exposing them to risks. You can restrict that through the privacy settings.
• Discover section: The Discover page often features unfiltered content that may be inappropriate for teens.
• Snap streaks: Teens often feel pressured to maintain streaks, leading to unhealthy levels of screen time.
• Message and content deletion: Since messages and snaps disappear after being viewed, tracking or monitoring what your child has seen or shared can be challenging.

Other ways to keep your child safe on Snapchat

In addition to the Family Center, parents need to follow general social media safety tips to ensure their child’s safety across social media. Here’s a few tips you can follow:

Check in with your child’s Snapchat content

Have regular conversations with your child about the content they see on Snapchat. Encourage them to share their experiences and come to you if they see anything inappropriate or that makes them uncomfortable.

Teach good online habits

Help your child develop healthy digital habits, such as:

• Talking to an adult: Encourage them to reach out if they encounter suspicious or uncomfortable situations, or have unwanted contact with strangers.
• Choosing a safe username: Ensure their username doesn’t give away personal information.
• Being selective about sharing: Teach them to think carefully before sharing photos, videos, or personal details.
• Connect only with people they know: Remind them that it’s safer to interact only with friends and family.

Encourage children to block other users

Let your child know that it’s okay to block users who make them feel unsafe or uncomfortable. To empower them, you can guide them through the process of blocking someone on Snapchat.

Get a parental control app

If you want broader control beyond Snapchat, consider using third-party apps that offer parental controls. These apps will monitor the rest of your child’s phone, including other social media apps. Here are a few good options:

• Bark: This app monitors social media activity, including Snapchat, and alerts parents to potential issues like cyberbullying or inappropriate content.

  Get Bark | Read Bark Review

• Kaspersky Safe Kids: This app supports social media monitoring, including Snapchat. It is available for Android and iOS and tracks your child’s whereabouts.

  Get Kaspersky Safe Kids | Read Kaspersky Safe Kids Review

• Net Nanny. The app is available on iOS devices and helps monitor your child’s screen time and set time limits. It also allows parents to monitor social media use and get alerts on potential risks.

  Get Net Nanny | Read Net Nanny Review

FAQs

Bottom line

Snapchat offers parental controls through its Family Center, but it is limited in scope. Use its in-app settings as well as third-party parental control apps to protect your teens fully. Take proactive steps today to ensure your child’s safety on social media.

Ensure you set up Snapchat’s parental controls and consider using the best parental control apps to help monitor your child’s device.

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• Robust parental controls to track, monitor, and limit device usage
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• Screens content across 19 categories
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Author Details

Dennis Otieno

About the Author

Dennis Otieno is a technology writer who is passionate about teaching others how to keep their online data safe and private. More specifically, he enjoys breaking down complex VPN concepts so that readers can understand how to protect their personal information and browsing activities from third parties.