It’s a bit of a struggle to keep up with the apps our kids are using, isn’t it? Just when you think you’ve mastered one, the digital landscape shifts again. TikTok seems to have noticed that we’re all feeling a little “tech-fatigue,” because they’re moving beyond just sharing tips and actually getting hands-on with parents.
Their new #ThinkTwice Training is a series of workshops designed to give us practical, “how-to” experience with online safety. Instead of just reading a manual, TikTok is partnering with local experts to show us exactly how to protect our kids in the digital world.
To mark its inaugural launch, TikTok partnered with Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (Content Forum) and Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE), who shared expert insights on raising responsible digital natives. TikTok aims to further conduct #ThinkTwice Training workshops with various local communities year-round.
“We know it can be difficult for parents to keep up with the fast pace of technology, so we want to make their lives easier through Safety by Design. With teen accounts on TikTok having more than 50 preset privacy and security settings automatically turned on by default, parents don’t have to start from scratch.” – Firdaus Fadzil, Malaysia Head of Public Policy at TikTok
Attendee Using Family Pairing
Recognising that every family is different, #ThinkTwice Training empowers parents to have peace of mind by learning to customise their teens’ accounts with Family Pairing, all in a few simple clicks.” Mediha Mahmood, CEO of Content Forum, reinforced: “Digital skills are life skills. When parents are equipped with digital knowledge, tools, and experience, our community can collectively raise resilient and responsible teens who can safely navigate the real world and grow up to be capable adults, both online and offline. Instead of shutting teens out, we should be guiding them; letting them learn to navigate the digital world with our support and with the right safeguards in place. Thus, it is equally important for digital platforms to have default protections and provide intuitive tools that support parents.”
Tunku Munawirah Putra, Honorary Secretary of PAGE, echoed the sentiment: “Creative expression is vital for fostering self-discovery, boosting self-esteem, and developing problem-solving skills. It is also proven that digital participation translates into economic value. We must prepare teens for the real world, and we welcome the digital literacy initiative by TikTok to empower parents with practical skills to safeguard teens’ digital experiences. Most parents have busy schedules that make keeping up with technology difficult; platforms should lighten the burden with safety-by-design principles and provide simple-to- use tools that automate parental supervision.”
The Fireside Chat Session featuring (middle left) Tunku Munawirah Putra, Honorary Secretary, Parent Action Group for Education Malaysia (PAGE) and (middle right) Mediha Mahmood, CEO of Communications and Multimedia Content Forum of Malaysia (Content Forum), with representatives from TikTok.
A key highlight of the recent #ThinkTwice Training was the interactive safety simulation, where TikTok demonstrated how its safety features help parents protect teens’ digital experiences in real-life scenarios, including the Screen Time Limit under Family Pairing, Private Account setting, Restricted Mode, Creator Care Mode, and more.
Creators’ participation in the TikTok #ThinkTwice Training Safety Simulation pop-up
The #ThinkTwice Training workshop also guided parents through the step-by-step process of linking their accounts with their teens’, ensuring parents have the confidence and in-depth understanding to put knowledge into practice in their daily lives.
For more information about TikTok’s #ThinkTwice digital literacy initiative, please visit the multilingual in-app knowledge hub at: https://vt.tiktok.com/ZSHoCnGtdVAkh-6xc6m/
