Discord for an 8yo?

Dec 261 min read

My son wants to join Discord so he can talk to his friends while playing Minecraft together. I know Discord has some safeguards but honestly it feels like he's a little young? Most of his friends have accounts already. What's the actual age recommendation and is there anything I should do if I let him have one? Like monitoring his conversations or limiting who he can chat with?

He's pretty responsible about gaming - respects time limits, doesn't spend money without asking - so I'm not worried he'll get into trouble, but the grooming stuff freaks me out ngl.

4 comments105 views

Comments(4)

LLiam S.RegularDec 27

Your gut is right that 8 is on the young side generally, but it really depends on the kid and the context. If it's just 4 of his actual friends from school playing Minecraft together? Low risk. If he wants access to the whole Discord ecosystem? Yeah, maybe wait a year.

MMarcus W.RegularDec 28

I let mine join at 8 and set up parental controls. The thing nobody mentions is he'll accidentally click on something weird and you need to be ready to explain it. But otherwise it's been fine - he uses it to coordinate games with his actual friend group.

AAl G.RegularDec 28

My 8yo has had Discord for about 6 months now and honestly? As long as you set it to restricted mode and only let him use it with kids you actually know IRL, it's fine. The problem is when they start joining random public servers. Keep tabs on it.

GGreg M.RegularDec 28

I get the hesitation - Discord definitely has a wild side, but if he's just using it for Minecraft with his existing friend group it's pretty contained. The real issue is he can stumble into public servers that are... not appropriate. My suggestion: make an account, friend him, and stick to private servers only. Check his friends list once a week.