TikTok has introduced new updates to its Family Pairing feature, expanding parental controls to help manage teens’ screen time and interactions on the platform. The latest enhancements allow parents and caregivers to access and adjust more than 15 settings directly within the app.
TikTok Family Pairing Update
A key addition is the Time Away feature, which allows caregivers to restrict TikTok access for those under 18 during specific periods such as school hours, family time, or bedtime – parents can set recurring schedules and use a passcode to grant additional screen time at their discretion. It’s worth noting that the app already has a default screen time limit of 60 minutes per day, unless adjusted by a parent or guardian. Parents will now also have visibility into their teen’s interactions on the platform, including who they follow, who follows them, and which accounts they have blocked.
TikTok has also introduced a wind-down feature for users under 16. If a teen remains active on the app after 10PM, their ‘For You’ feed will display recurring full-screen reminders with calming music and prompts that become “increasingly harder to dismiss.” TikTok has already disabled nighttime push notifications for teens, and the company plans to introduce guided meditation exercises to support relaxation and sleep in a future update.
Additionally, parents now have the ability to re-enable the STEM feed if their teen has turned it off. The STEM feed, which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics, is currently available in over 100 countries, TikTok says – with over 10 million related video published in the past three years, the company aims to provide educational content to the young audience in a time where social media platforms are increasingly scrutinized for exposing teens with harmful content.
Pokdepinion: It’s one way of keeping teens from getting addicted, although I do feel this feature can be expanded beyond teens as well.
