Listening

Warm Up

Helpful Words and Phrases

Listen and repeat.

  1. a feature
    • ex. I bought an expensive washing machine because it had a lot of nice features.
  2. a device
    • ex. Please put your devices on airplane mode or turn them off.
  3. disable
    • ex. The criminals disabled the museum’s alarm system and stole many paintings.
  4. restrict
    • ex. My company restricts social media websites on our work computers.
  5. deactivate
    • ex. If you never use your account, you should deactivate it.

Article

Read the article below and answer your tutor's questions.

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Video-sharing app TikTok has added a new feature called Family Pairing. Before, parents had to use their children’s phones to control their account settings. With Family Pairing, however, parents can now use their own device to control their children’s settings. The feature allows parents to disable direct messages, control comments, set screen time limits, and restrict the content that their kids can see on the app.

To use the new feature, parents should have their own TikTok account. Children also need to agree to have their accounts linked to their parents’ account. After that, parents can turn on Family Pairing by following the instructions in the app. Although children can deactivate the feature at any time, their parents will receive a notification if they do.

TikTok’s user base is famous for being very young. The US version of the app says that 32.5% of its users are between 10 and 19 years old. For users under 13, TikTok offers a special version of the app that doesn’t allow them to comment, message other people, or share their own videos.

Discussion

Choose a topic and discuss the questions with your tutor.

Apps and Children

  • Should very young children be allowed to use apps? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Why do you think apps like TikTok are so popular with children and teenagers (ex. they can find new friends, the content is interesting)? Discuss.
  • Do you think more and more children are becoming addicted to apps like TikTok? Why or why not? Discuss.

Parents Controlling Children

  • In your opinion, how much control should parents have over their children's app activities (ex. disable direct messages, set screen time limits)? Why? Discuss.
  • Should children be able to deactivate their parents' control on their accounts? Why or why not? Discuss.
  • Should parents always know what their children are doing? Why or why not? Discuss.