Raven Wu
Updated on: October 15, 2024
Fact-checked by Kate Davidson
Reddit is one of the few social media platforms without any form of parental controls. As a result, it’s a virtual jungle where children may encounter many dangers, such as inappropriate content, cyberbullying, and more. Even seemingly harmless subreddits can pose a risk to children due to the nature of unfiltered user interactions and the free flow of misinformation.
One of the best ways to keep your child safe on Reddit is with a parental control app. Bark, for example, can scan Reddit posts, comments, replies, and even direct messages for potentially harmful content and alert you if it detects any. It also gives you the ability to set screen time limits or to block the app entirely if you don’t want your child using it. Read on to learn more tips for how to keep your child safe on this popular social media platform.
What Are the Risks of Reddit?
- Inappropriate content. Reddit hosts a wide range of communities, known as subreddits, some of which contain explicit, graphic, or adult material. For example, subreddits like r/NSFW or r/MedicalGore can expose children to sexual content, graphic violence, or harmful ideologies. Reddit does have policies against promoting hate, violence, or illegal activities, but some communities slip through the cracks. It’a also important to note that a lot of content (like adult content & humor) that’s inappropriate for children doesn’t actually violate Reddit’s User Agreement.
- Unfiltered user interactions. Any kind of online interaction comes with a certain degree of risk, especially on a platform where users can be completely anonymous. Reddit is not only a forum for discussion but also has a direct messaging feature that allows strangers to contact users privately, so children may be exposed to harmful behaviors, such as cyberbullying, trolling, and predatory messaging (such as grooming).
- Privacy concerns. Although Reddit allows users to create anonymous profiles, children may unknowingly share personal details in their profile or posts or interact with individuals who attempt to extract private information. Doxxing, where users’ personal information is shared publicly to harass or harm them, has been a problem on Reddit in the past, and while the platform has banned this practice, incidents still occur.
- Misinformation. Reddit is full of user-generated content, and not all of it is accurate or trustworthy. Communities like r/conspiracy can expose children to harmful and unverified information. And even seemingly innocuous subreddits, like ones on health or dieting, can be very problematic, as unqualified individuals might offer dangerous or misleading guidance.
- Scams. It should come as no surprise that there are scammers on the site. Many scammers operate through private messages which cannot be seen by Reddit moderators, and attempt to trick victims into visiting a malicious site designed to infect their device with malware or steal their personal information.
- Addictive nature of Reddit. Reddit is designed to keep users engaged and encourage endless scrolling, which can easily lead to excessive screen time. This can have a negative effect on your child’s academics, health, and social life.
What Age Is Reddit Appropriate For?
Reddit’s official minimum age requirement, as outlined in its User Agreement, is 13. However, this is merely a guideline. There are no actual measures in place to prevent younger children from creating an account and accessing the platform by simply providing a false age during account creation.
Even if your kid is 13 and eligible for an account, they still may be too young for Reddit, considering the various risks associated with the platform, including exposure to mature content, unfiltered interactions, and privacy concerns. Older teens (16+) are generally better prepared to handle these risks and make informed decisions regarding their online activities.
That said, you can still allow a younger teen to explore Reddit under strict supervision — perhaps by limiting them to more kid-friendly subreddits and/or with the help of a third-party parental control tool.
Ultimately, Reddit’s minimum age requirement serves as a baseline. But as a parent, you have the best understanding of whether or not your child is mature enough to shoulder the risks and responsibilities that come with using the platform.
How to Keep Your Kids Safe on Reddit
You can mitigate a lot of the potential risks on Reddit through communication, education, and judicious use of the platform’s settings and third-party tools. Here are some tips:
1. Install a Good Quality Parental Control App
Since Reddit doesn’t have built-in parental controls, a good third-party parental control app like Bark is a must have. Here are some of the things a parental control app can do for you:
- Social media monitoring. Bark’s Content Monitoring scans Reddit posts, comments, replies, and private messages for 15+ categories of potential issues, including bullying, depression, hate speech, profanity, and sexual content. Once it detects something inappropriate, it sends you a snippet of it, so you can review it and talk to your child if necessary.
- Scheduling. Make sure your child isn’t using Reddit at school or when they should be sleeping by restricting the app/site to certain times of the day.
- App filtering. Block the Reddit app entirely if you don’t consider it to be appropriate for your child.
- Web filtering. Block the web version of Reddit, so your child can’t get around your app filter.
- Activity reports. Get more insight into how much time your child spends on Reddit and when they access it to help you determine if intervention is necessary.
2. Change the Content Preferences
While Reddit doesn’t have built-in parental controls, there are various account settings and preferences that you can adjust to tailor your child’s experience on the platform. You can, for example, prevent NSFW (Not Safe for Work) and adult content from showing up in your child’s feed and search results, have Reddit automatically blur mature images and media, and mute specific communities. To do so:
- Click your child’s profile picture in the top right corner of Reddit and select Settings.
- Go to the Preferences tab.
- Adjust the settings under the Content section.
3. Tweak the Privacy Settings
To hide your child’s Reddit account information and activities from other people and reduce the amount of data Reddit collects on them, I recommend adjusting their profile and privacy settings. To do so:
- Click your child’s profile picture in the top right corner of Reddit and select Settings.
- Go to the Profile tab.
- Toggle off Show active communities.
- Next, go to the Privacy tab and toggle off Allow people to follow you under Social interactions, Show up in search results under Discoverability, and Personalize ads on Reddit based on information and activity from our partners under Ads personalization.
For an extra layer of privacy, you can also consider getting a good virtual private network (VPN). A VPN can hide a device’s IP address and encrypt your child’s Reddit traffic, preventing anyone from tracking their online activities or reading their data. My favorite is ExpressVPN.
4. Block Private Messages & Chats
You can prevent other users from messaging your child directly. This is important because private messages and chats aren’t moderated and could present a lot of potential issues, including sexual predation, harassment, and malware. To do so:
- Click your child’s profile picture in the top right corner of Reddit and select Settings.
- Go to the Privacy tab.
- Under Social interactions, set Who can send you inbox messages to People I choose, and Allow chat requests from to Nobody.
5. Teach Your Child How to Block Users
Encourage your child to remove toxic people from their digital environment by teaching them how to block users who make them uncomfortable. Blocked users won’t be able to access your child’s profile (which means they won’t be able to message them) or see their posts and comments. Additionally, the blocked account’s posts won’t show up on your child’s feeds and all of their posts and comments will be collapsed by default. To block a user:
- Go to the user’s profile by clicking on their profile picture.
- On the far right of the user’s profile, click the 3 horizontal dots (overflow menu).
- Click Block Account.
6. Install Antivirus Software
Installing good antivirus software on your child’s device protects them from any malicious links they might run into on Reddit, whether it’s in a post, chat, or private message.
I recommend Norton, which has a 100% malware detection rate and a Safe Web extension that does a great job at blocking dangerous websites such as phishing sites (fake websites designed to trick you into giving away personal information, like passwords or credit card numbers).
7. Talk to Your Child
One of the most effective ways to keep your child safe on Reddit is communication. Stay engaged with your child’s digital life in the same way that you might ask them what they did at school that day. By showing interest in their digital life, you will also build trust, making them more likely to come to you with any potential issues they may face on Reddit.
Additionally, it’s important to teach your child basic online safety — especially that it’s important to avoid sharing personal information, such as their real name, location, school, or personal photos.
Editors’ Note: ExpressVPN and this site are in the same ownership group.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Reddit ok for a 12-year-old?
Reddit is generally not recommended for a 12-year-old. In fact, the platform’s official age requirement is 13. And for some parents, even 13 years old may be too young.
A major reason for this is that Reddit has many communities, some of which include mature discussions or graphic images. While there are subreddits that are educational and suitable for kids, it’s difficult to control what your child might stumble upon. Since the platform contains unfiltered user interactions, children may also encounter profanity, trolls, and cyberbullies.
Is Reddit safe to use for kids?
Reddit is safe in the sense that it’s a secure app/website, and it’s moderated by both humans and bots, so it’s highly unlikely that your child will get malware on their devices from the platform. But Reddit carries many risks for children, including inappropriate content, unfiltered user interactions, addiction, and more.
Does Reddit have built-in parental controls?
No, Reddit is one of the few social media platforms without any form of built-in parental controls. There are some settings you can adjust a Reddit account to make the platform safer — for example, you can prevent adult content from showing up on your child’s feed. However, there’s nothing stopping your child from simply changing these settings back. This is why I recommend getting a good third-party parental control app like Bark to keep your child safe on the platform.
Does Reddit have inappropriate content for kids?
Yes, there are communities on Reddit that discuss topics that are unsuitable for children, such as sex, or are home to radical or hateful ideologies. Any unfiltered user interaction also carries a certain degree of risk. For these reasons, if you allow your child to use Reddit, I recommend getting a good third-party parental control app like Bark to monitor their activities on the platform.
