This is a guest post by Hilary Smith. Enjoy!
Have you read the viral “breakup” text sent by an 11 year-old girl that has been flooding social media?
Screenshots of the preteens’ text depict the epic battle of playground love has left a lot of people laughing, but more importantly it has left a lot of parents questioning what our children are doing online with all those apps on social media. Almost two-thirds of parents are concerned about the dangers and possible side effects our children are exposed to on a daily basis.
Signs A Child Might Be Using Apps Wrong
In fact, it is estimated that four out five teens take measures to hide their online activity from their parents. Our children have developed clever methods to hide their online activity to keep us in the dark. A few common tactics teens use to cover up their apps and online behaviors include, but are not limited to:
- clearing browser histories
- dimming their screens
- deleting messages
- creating “dummy” accounts to hide their true activity
- using mobile devices that have Internet capabilities where parents don’t have daily access
Understanding Our Children’s Covert App Antics
It is hard for parents to realize the scope of how prevalent apps and social media are with our children. Studies found that a whopping 92 percent of teenagers log online everyday. This cements the notion that our children’s love of technology is a vital part of their self expression.
Granted, most of the time our kids are innocently messaging their friends or downloading a clever app. However, parents need to be aware of the dangers our sons and daughters are exposing themselves to when they login or send that friend request. Those lurking threats are very real and can be devastating to a child’s well-being.
For example, minors who are caught sexting can be charged with a felony of possessing or distributing child pornography. Even if they fly under the radar of the law, sexting can open them up to digital abuse. Besides sexting, cyber bullying occurs at such an alarming rate that over half of our teens admit to being a victim. And for the cherry to top it all off- predators are known to stalk the pages of social media looking for victims.
It’s no wonder that parents are worried about how technology and media are impacting our children. We have turned to following or friending our children on social media giants, like Facebook, but our teens are leaving this site in droves in favor of “no parent zones” that include obscure sites and apps.
6 Apps Our Teens Are Using Instead Of Facebook
Parents need to be aware of these new anonymous and disappearing apps that our children love. Here are six common dangerous apps that a majority of our kids use or frequent:
- Whisper- This anonymous app encourages users to post secrets and then compiles them based on proximity (a one mile radius) using location tracking. Cyber bullies and pedophiles have been known to thrive in this secretive environment.
- Yik Yak- Another popular anonymous social media site allows people to post short messages similar to Twitter, but with the secretive qualities of Whisper. Yakkers are also sorted by location, but it allows 500 of the nearest users to read the messages. Yik Yak has earned a reputation for sexually inappropriate material and digital abuse.
- Kik Messenger- This is a free private messaging app that allows users fun ways to individualize their messages with drawings and video. It works similar to text messaging, but doesn’t use all the allotted cell phone’s texting plan. It might benefit the phone bill, but the Kik ID’s can make it difficult to know exactly who you are messaging. This can open children up to unwanted interactions with people when they share their ID’s with others.
- Down- This app is meant to categorize online contacts into two categories: friend or people they are “down” to have a sexual romp with. This app takes the term “friends with benefits” to an electronic level.
- Hidden Apps- Surprisingly, there is a whole arena of apps developed to help teens hide their downloaded applications. Merely do a search and you will uncover how teens can use disguises like calculators to hide their apps from parents.
- Omegle- This app is intended to connect strangers who share similar hobbies or interests. While this might be a great way to learn new ideas or network with others who share a passion, it could be a dangerous place for children to socialize. Sexual predators often take advantage of the anonymity of this app and use it to seek victims.
Protecting Our Children From Online Dangers
Our children embrace new apps everyday, but that doesn’t mean we should ignore the possible dangers hiding behind the fluorescent glow of their beloved devices. It can be difficult staying informed about apps on social media when it is ever changing. Thankfully, we have access to information and resources that offer advice for parents to protect and monitor their child’s app activity.
We need to be actively involved in our children’s lives and know the apps they use. This will help us teach them appropriate social media skills to thwart off game changing scenarios that can make or break a child’s future. After all, it’s the loving thing to do and might save us from reading a viral break up text from our preteen.
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