By Gavin Boyle
Fanfiction is a popular source of literature for kids and teenagers, allowing them to creatively explore their favorite characters from popular franchises, but sometimes the material discussed is not appropriate for the younger audience.
“It depends on what type of fanfiction (slash for instance is usually sexual in nature) and your kid’s maturity level,” psychologist Gayle MacBride told Parents.
In many ways, fanfiction is similar to other forms of online entertainment; parents need to be proactive while also relying on their children to self-moderate themselves. Fanfiction is pieces of writing that can be as long as a full-length novel and expand on an already established universe. Most often, these are popular movie franchises such as Star Wars, Marvel, Harry Potter or Twilight.
These writings explore ideas that are not included in the original stories, instead offering alternative or extra plot lines that could have occurred. While not always the case, many of these plot lines focus on certain characters’ relationships, which is why so much fanfiction includes mature content. However, most fanfiction websites allow users to sort by themes, allowing younger users to avoid sexual content, for example, if desired.
“Some fanfiction sites include ratings and theme warnings to help readers and parents make informed decisions,” explained psychologist Tamara Soles. “Parents can use these tools to curate appropriate content for their kids who aren’t ready for mature themes or whose critical thinking skills are still too emergent to make good choices for themselves.”
However, because these themes are easily accessible, parents whose children engage with fanfiction should regularly practice online safety in order to ensure their kids are not exposed to mature content. The best tip for online safety is for parents to regularly talk with their kids about what they are seeing online. Having these conversations regularly allows children to feel comfortable discussing what they are experiencing — and feel comfortable to share negative interactions when they occur.
“It’s not about controlling our children, and it’s not about fear. It is about empowering them to make smart decisions, and we do that when they are at a very young age,” said digital parenting coach Elizabeth Milovidov. “We are trying to teach them how to behave when we are not in the room, when we are not looking over their shoulder — that is what digital guardianship is.”
This practice also extends to keeping them safe when engaging with nearly everything across the internet — not just fanfiction. Online video games, for example, can be a very dangerous place for younger children as it allows bad actors nearly free access to them. However, by creating a space where they feel comfortable sharing everything they have experienced online recently, parents can identify red flags before anything bad occurs.
“The problem is with the growth of games’ social networking spaces has exponentially outpaced the way the gaming industry has kept up with their moderation,” said mental health researcher Dr. Rachel Kowert, noting that video games have become the new place children are targeted by bad actors. “They shouldn’t leave the game with a stranger — just like you wouldn’t leave the park with a stranger. If somebody’s saying, ‘Hey, why don’t you leave this gaming space and come join these other people on a third-party server,’ that’s usually a red flag — especially for younger children.”
While fanfiction isn’t necessarily dangerous, parents can protect their children from its mature content by keeping lines of communication open with their kids and sharing why some topics are off limits.
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