Friend's kid was on Discord and got me thinking - my 11 year old wants to join voice chats with kids from his online gaming group. I don't know anything about Discord. Is it safe? Can I monitor it? Should I let him do it or is this one of those things parents should say no to?
That's a smart question to ask before jumping in. I'd look into Discord's parental controls and maybe join the server yourself to get a feel for the community. Better to be the uncool dad checking things out than surprised later.
Kevin here with four kids in the digital trenches. Discord itself isn't bad, but 11 is young for voice chats with strangers. I'd say start with friends he knows IRL only, check who's in the server, and make it a house rule that you can listen in anytime. Beats wondering what's happening.
Discord itself isn't inherently unsafe, but it really depends on the community. Make sure he's joining servers with active moderation and friends he knows. I've been trying to figure out the right balance with my three kids' online stuff - the key is knowing who they're actually talking to.
Good question. I set my kids up on Discord last year and honestly had some concerns at first. Moderation is key though - make sure he's only in servers with people you know and monitor his contacts. The parental controls aren't as robust as they should be.
Depends on the server honestly. Private ones with friends only? Pretty safe. Public servers with random people? That's where it gets sketchy. Make sure you explain internet safety first.
My daughter is 12 and we let her use Discord but with strict rules. No random servers, only ones I've approved, and I check in on who she's chatting with. She uses it mainly for gaming with school friends which feels safer than the wild stuff out there.
Good instinct to think about this before he joins. At 11 my concern would be making sure he's not in any random servers with adults. Maybe start him with just voice chatting with kids from his school or sports team?
My son's in a couple Discord servers with his gaming buddies from school and honestly it seems fine. Just tell him no random DMs and you should check his friends list periodically. That's what we do.
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I'd say supervised is the way to go at 11. My older kids use it but I make sure I know who's in their servers and check in on conversations. It's not inherently unsafe but there's definitely risks if they're talking to randos.