Instagram is where most teens have their primary identity online. It is also where most ordinary social-media drama lives — likes, comments, follower counts, group chats — and where DM-based grooming most often begins.
Two specific risks are worth knowing about: stranger DMs (the entry point for most platform-pathway grooming and sextortion) and the fact that new accounts are public by default, so every post is visible to anyone until you change it.
The settings that matter
Doing four of these is meaningfully better than reading twenty things and doing none.
Make the account private.
Settings → Privacy → Account Privacy → Private Account. Once private, only people who request to follow your child can see their posts. This is the single biggest setting on Instagram. New accounts are public by default, so verify it even if your child says they did it.
Limit who can send DMs.
Settings → Privacy → Messages and Story Replies. Set DMs to “people you follow” only. This breaks the most common grooming entry point — strangers who slide into DMs after seeing public posts.
Turn off “Suggest similar accounts.”
Settings → Privacy → Suggested content. This stops Instagram from telling other accounts that your child's profile is similar to theirs — which is one of the ways predators find kids who match profiles they have already targeted.
Set up two-factor authentication.
Settings → Security → Two-Factor Authentication. Use the authenticator-app option, not SMS. Account compromises are how a lot of “this is not me” image-spreading happens — 2FA shuts most of those down.
Filter and hide comment words.
Settings → Privacy → Hidden Words. Instagram has a built-in filter that hides comments containing slurs, harassment, and common bullying terms. It is off by default. Turn it on.
Disable activity status.
Settings → Privacy → Activity Status. Otherwise Instagram broadcasts when your child is online to anyone they message. Predators use that signal to time approaches.
Worth knowing about Instagram
- The “Close Friends” feature (the green-circle stories) shares stories with a custom list. Instagram never tells anyone whether they are on or off the list, which can drive a lot of social anxiety. Worth a conversation if your kid is using it heavily.
- Instagram's Family Center (Settings → Family Center) lets a parent see who their child is messaging, without reading the messages. Optional, but useful for younger teens.
- “Restrict” is more useful than blocking for navigating school dynamics — it hides the other person's comments from everyone else but does not tell them they have been blocked.
For your kid
Print the kid-friendly version
The Stay Safe Online booklet covers Instagram (and the rest) in language written for a teen to read. Free, printable, no email required.