How to block graphic social media posts on your kids' phones

Many schools, psychologists and safety groups are urging parents to disable their children's social media apps over mounting concerns that Hamas plans to disseminate graphic videos of hostages captured in the Israel-Gaza war.

Disabling an app or implementing restrictions, such as filtering out certain words and phrases, on young users' phones may be sound like a daunting process. But platforms and mobile operating systems offer safeguards that could go along way in protecting a child's mental health.

Following the attacks on Israel last weekend, much of the terror has played out on social media. Videos of hostages taken on the streets and civilians left wounded continue to circulate on varying platforms. Although some companies have pledged to restrict sensitive videos, many are still being shared online.

That can be particularly stressful for minors. The American Psychological Association recently issued a warning about the psychological impacts of the ongoing violence in Israel and Gaza, and other research has linked exposure to violence on social media and in the news as a "cycle of harm to mental health."

Alexandra Hamlet, a clinical psychologist in New York City, told CNN people who are caught off guard by seeing certain upsetting content are more likely to feel worse than individuals who choose to engage with content that could be upsetting to them. That's particularly true for children, she said.

"They are less likely to have the emotional control to turn off content that they find triggering than the average adult, their insight and emotional intelligence capacity to make sense of what they are seeing is not fully formed, and their communication skills to express what they have seen and how to make sense of it is limited comparative to adults," Hamlet said.

If deleting an app isn't an option, here are other ways to restrict or closely monitor a child's social media use: