UK advertising and media industry’s education programme Media Smart has joined forces with TikTok to roll out a campaign to help parents, caregivers and teachers support teens online.
The marketing drive follows the not-for-profit’s 2021 offering, ‘Adverts, Creators and You’. Devised by youth creative agency Livity, the new creative was developed alongside young people and parents.
Media Smart selected six ambassadors for the campaign made up of young creators (aged 18 and over) and parent creators to deliver content for the UK, Germany, Sweden and France.
The education programme and Livity revealed that 65% of parents felt confident in policing teens’ screen time. However, 70% of respondents reported they wanted to learn more about safety tools and features on platforms.
The campaign is aimed at adults who may not have great digital literacy skills, parents of teens who aren’t on social media yet, and those who have teenagers who have recently reached the age to join TikTok.
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Media Smart will also offer a downloadable guide on its website to answer commonly asked questions on screen time and mental well-being.
Rachel Barber-Mack, director of Media Smart UK, said: “It has never been more critical to support parents’ understanding of their young people’s online environment, particularly following the pandemic, which led to a significant increase in daily screen-time.”
“We’re pleased to partner again with TikTok and Livity, building on the success of our ‘Adverts, Creators and You’ campaign, to encourage parents and teens to engage in more offline conversations about online safety,” she added.
TikTok’s head of marketing and global business solutions (Europe), Isobel Sita-Lumsden, said the partnership is part of its commitment to working with the advertising industry to “empower families with the knowledge and tools they need to navigate the online world safely and confidently”.
“By bridging the gap between parents and teens – and equipping parents with the information they need to deliver informed guidance – we’re helping families to have meaningful conversations about staying safe online,” she said.
