TikTok terminates teenage screen addiction

Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Photo Courtesy: Unsplash

Teresa Barger

   With a change in season this March, the popular social media app TikTok introduces a controversial setting that will limit users under the age of 18 to one hour of usage per day.

   Although this change can be turned off with the click of a button, it was created in partnership with Boston Children’s Hospital in an attempt to encourage greater boundaries between adolescents and their mobile devices.

   According to CNN, “While there’s no collectively-endorsed position on how much screen time is ‘too much’, or even the impact of screen time more broadly, we recognize that teens typically require extra support as they start to explore the online world independently,” TikTok’s head of trust and safety, Cormac Keenan said.

   In addition to even greater limits for users under the age of 13, parents will be able to link accounts with their children’s, which will allow them to control changes in screen time and monitor detailed breakdowns of usage.

   “We’re improving our screen time tool with more custom options, introducing new default settings for teen accounts, and expanding Family Pairing with more parental controls,” Keenan said.

   On the other side of these well-intended changes, many parents and lawmakers argue that this limited availability will counteract the positive impact TikTok has had on many teens’ mental health struggles, according to CBS.

   All eyes remain on the popular app as the U.S. government moves toward the complete elimination of TikTok on all federal devices.