How to protect your child on Instagram with privacy settings, supervision tools, and practical advice for parents.
Instagram is a Meta-owned photo, video and Reels sharing app with private messaging, hugely popular for following friends, influencers and celebrities.
Official age
13+
We recommend
14+
Developer
Meta Platforms
Risks
4
Instagram is a photo and video sharing platform owned by Meta. Users share posts, Stories, Reels, and can message each other directly. The platform places considerable emphasis on appearance and popularity metrics such as likes and follower counts, which can affect young people's self-esteem and body image.
Teenagers use Instagram to share photos and short videos, browse content from influencers and friends, and communicate through direct messages and group chats. Reels offer a TikTok-style scrolling experience. Many young people curate their profiles carefully and can become preoccupied with likes and comments.
Private Account
Location: Settings → Account Privacy → Private Account
Set to: On
Only approved followers can see your child's posts and Stories. Essential for keeping their content out of public view.
Message Controls
Location: Settings → Messages and Story Replies → Message Controls
Set to: Only people you follow
Controls who can send your child direct messages and prevents unsolicited contact from strangers.
Sensitive Content Control
Location: Settings → Content Preferences → Sensitive Content Control
Set to: Less
Reduces the amount of potentially upsetting or mature content shown in Explore and Reels.
Parental Supervision
Location: Settings → Supervision → Set Up Supervision
Set to: Linked to parent account
Allows you to see time spent, set daily limits, view followers and following lists, and receive notifications about reported content.
Ensure your child has a Teen Account with a private profile and link your account via Parental Supervision
Time: 10 minutes
Have an open conversation about body image, comparison, and the curated nature of social media content
Time: 20 minutes
Review your child's follower and following lists periodically to check they only connect with people they know
Time: 10 minutes monthly
In immediate danger: call 999. For non-emergency police matters, call 101.
Concerned about a child but it's not an emergency? NSPCC helpline 0808 800 5000. Childline for young people 0800 1111.
Myth: Instagram is just photos — one of the safer apps.
Fact: Instagram carries real risks around body image and comparison, DMs from strangers, and disappearing ‘vanish mode’ messages. Its scale and algorithm make it a significant platform for both bullying and contact.
Myth: Setting the account to private is enough.
Fact: Private matters, but also restrict who can DM them, turn on Meta’s supervision (Family Centre), and talk about the body-image and comparison pressures the feed creates.
Myth: I follow my child's account, so I'd see any problems.
Fact: Many teenagers run a second, more private account — a 'finsta' — for a smaller audience, and the account a parent follows is usually the curated one. That's not necessarily sinister, but it means following them tells you far less than a regular, open conversation about what actually happens there.
Instagram's minimum age is 13, so there should be no account at this age. The groundwork you can do now is talking about edited and filtered images whenever they crop up, so comparison culture has less power when the app does arrive.
If they're 13 and starting out, use their real date of birth so Instagram's teen settings apply, keep the account private, link Family Centre supervision, and lock down who can message them. Make 'no chats with people you don't know offline' the clear starting rule.
The feed's effect on mood and body image is the ongoing conversation — ask what kinds of accounts they follow and encourage a cull of any that make them feel worse. Be direct about sextortion in DMs: flattery, then a request for images, then threats — and that telling you ends the leverage.
Supervision falls away now, so shift to their footprint and their money: what a future employer or university would find, and the fake brand 'collaborations' and investment offers that arrive by DM. Remind them that reporting and blocking work at any age.
Full conversation guides: first social media talk, social media addiction talk
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