What to do when your teen reposts wild or inappropriate content
Reposting extreme content on social media raises concerns about whether shares are as alarming as original posts. Addressing the behavior directly can lead to friction, with teens dismissing parents as overbearing. This leaves parents struggling to handle online activity without damaging communication.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Talking to the child about what it means to repost somethingDid this help you?
- 2Having a serious conversation with both the child and the other parentDid this help you?
- 3Restricting smartphones and social media until a later ageDid this help you?
- 4Designing custom biology or science lessons to scientifically debunk nature-based misconceptionsDid this help you?
- 5Teaching critical thinking skills and logical fallacies to help the whole class spot manipulationDid this help you?
- 6Building personal trust and relationships to gently question the student's statements and have them talk it outDid this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I have at one student who frequently asks questions regarding manosphere content”source ↗
“I'm sure that I have other boys who are being pipelined to some toxic nonsense by influencers. I want to produce some lessons that hopefully dispel some of these ideas while staying in my lane teaching biology.”source ↗
“the manosphere freaks me out (mainly because I could see my teenage self falling for it if it had existed at the time)”source ↗
“Anyone have thoughts? Like reposting things on TikTok that are wiiiilllddd. Would that concern you as much as posting something would?”source ↗
“I let my kids have electronics too young and I can say it’s 100% that it’s my biggest regret.”source ↗
“I did have a conversation. With both the child and the other parent. Unfortunately I’m just “overbearing.” Ughhhhh!”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
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- 4My child is constantly loud but their hearing is fine
- 4Why do I lecture my child instead of comforting them?