text:
7 dangerous Apps that parents need to know about
A look into the some of the scariest Apps for your kids
I work in public relations at Cook Children's. It's my job to be on social networking sites, peruse the internet and keep up with the latest Apps offered on smartphones. It's a great job and I love what I do, but over the last couple years, I have learned so much about the dangers of Smart Phone Apps. It's downright scary.
Technology, especially if you're a little behind the times, can be very deceptive. Your kids may be downloading Apps that you think are innocent and just a simple way for them to keep in contact with their buddies, but unfortunately, this isn't always the case.
To keep your children safe, it's best that you monitor their phone. Look through their apps, texts and pictures. They may feel that you're invading their privacy, but let's be honest… You're paying the phone bill, so you can do whatever you want! So, as you monitor your kid's phone, keep an eye out for these 7 apps you may not be aware of, that in my opinion are very dangerous:
- Yik Yak – This App is one of the newest and one of the most dangerous. It allows users to post text-only Yaks of up to 200 characters. The messages can be viewed by the 500 Yakkers who are closest to the person who wrote the Yak, as determined by GPS tracking. Users are exposed to – and contributing -sexually explicit content, abusive language and personal attacks so severe that schools are starting to block the App on their Wi-Fi. Although the posts are anonymous, kids start revealing personal information as they get more comfortable with other users.
- SnapChat – This App allows users to send photos that will disappear after 10 seconds. Once the recipient opens the picture, the timer starts. Then it's gone. From both the sender's phone and the recipient's phone. However, the recipient can take a screen shot of the photo and have it to share with others. This App enables kids to feel more comfortable "sexting" with peers.
- KiK Messenger – This is a private messenger app and is coveted by those under 18 for a number of reasons. The App allows kids to send private messages that their parents can't see. There is very little you can do to verify the identity of someone on Kik, which obviously poses the risk of sexual predators chatting with your child. And again, this is an easy tool for sexting.
- Poof –The Poof App allows users to make Apps disappear on their phone with one touch. Kids can hide every app they don't want you to see on their phone. All they have to do is open the App and select the ones they don't want you to see. Very scary! The good news about this App is it is no longer available, which isn't uncommon for these types of Apps. But, if it was downloaded before it was deleted from the App store, your child may still have it. Keep in mind that Apps like this are created and then terminated pretty quickly by Android and Apple stores, but there are similar ones being created constantly. Some other names include: Hidden Apps, App Lock and Hide It Pro.
- Omegle – This App has been around since 2008, with video chat added in 2009. When you use Omegle you do not identify yourself through the service – chat participants are only identified as "You" and "Stranger". You don't have to register for the App. However, you can connect Omegle to your Facebook account to find chat partners with similar interests. When choosing this feature, an Omegle Facebook App will receive your Facebook "likes" and try to match you with a stranger with similar likes. This is not okay for children. There is a high risk of sexual predators and you don't want your kids giving out their personal information, much less even talking to strangers.
- Whisper – This is a meeting App that encourages users to post secrets. You post anonymously, but it displays the area you are posting from. You can search for users posting within a mile from you. A quick look at the App and you can see that online relationships are forming constantly on this App, but you never know the person behind the computer or phone. One man in Washington was convicted of raping a 12-year-old girl he met on this App just last year.
- Down – This application, which used to be called "Bang with Friends," is connected to Facebook. Users can categorize their Facebook friends in one of two ways: they can indicate whether or not a friend is someone they'd like to hang with or someone they are "down" to hook up with. The slogan for the App: "The anonymous, simple, fun way to find friends who are down for the night." If that alone doesn't scare you, I don't know what will!
I know it's overwhelming to keep up with your kids and their online habits. But just remember to check their phones often, and even more importantly have real life conversations with them. Discuss the dangers of the Apps and make sure they understand the need to keep personal information private.
I want to know what Apps your kids are using. Comment below!
Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user.
Kristin Peaks is the Senior Digital & Social Media specialist at Cook Children's. Kristin is a sports fanatic. Born and raised in Fort Worth, Kristin spends her extra time with friends and family, and loves volunteering. Her dream job is to be a Monday Night Football sideline reporter.
We also had a little experience with "Melt". That one is now blocked in our house as well as some of the others you mentioned.
Ask.fm and Hot or Not are a couple more that concern me.
Thanks for the insight to these apps, Kristin!!!
Hot or Not is also a dangerous one. From what I know, it is also based on GPS location.
Other Apps similar to KiK include Touch and Line...all run on the exact same premise.
Badoo is another app that shows you people currently near your location for the purpose of "meeting up."
You forgot Vine. It's snapchat for video. Kids are doing a lot of very bad things with this.
Thank you, this is great information.
Thank you for posting this - it's scary to see what is out there but as a parent, you simply cannot afford to ignore it.
This article is very educational and timely for me. Thank you so much for sharing!
How can we check for Poof?This is incredibly informative. Thank you.
No one should give their kids an internet device of their own without monitoring on it - mobicip seems to be an excellent choice. The free one does a lot of blocking. The paid one is $10 a year. Seriously, would you hand your kid the keys to the car and say Happy Driving? They aren't going to figure out how to handle the internet without some training wheels and guidance and you have to know what they are doing in order to guide them.
Typical close-mindedness. "There's the possibility that my child could be hurt on here? BLOCKED, BANNED, and REMOVED." Ever think that maybe you could use these programs, at least some of them, to teach your children or teens? The older generations have no concept of necessary caution with the online world. Yeah, they could get hurt. But then, they could get hurt just as easily doing something outside, or even just playing in the house. Teach instead of blocking. That's all I'm saying.
Or... we could just stop giving CHILDREN cell phones... I mean seriously, why does a kid need a phone? Teens don't even need one until they start driving... smh
I agree somewhat with your TEACH method Ryan, but I strongly feel that these and other apps are too much responsibility that teens should have. Also, we don't allow our children to have the password to their ID to download apps, and then every time we download an app, we immediately sign out of their Apple ID. We've learned along the way. Lastly, thank you for sharing all of these apps...I hadn't heard of all of them.
My daughter 14 years old does not own a cell phone. I bought her an iPod touch and found that she was able to do things a normal phone does.This scared me, plus she abused the privilege, plus the iPod got stolen or lost which sorta ended up being a good thing. Since she abused her privilege she is not allowed to have any form of hand held device. But thank you so much for this story. It makes me feel comfortable knowing I'm not the only one who is aware of the crazy dangers on these smart phones for children.
While I would love to use the "teach" method instead of banning certain apps, there are ways to teach kids. I was listening to NPR today about teaching kids how to respond to marijuana (and alcohol or other drugs), and one of the points they made was that a teenage brain is not fully developed to think through long term consequences of their actions. Also, they do not have the experience adults do. While they may want to make good decisions, they need guidance to do so as they are still learning and developing. Conversations about apps (or any other issue) are great, and we certainly cannot keep kids from making mistakes. However, having certain things banned until they are old enough to know how to appropriately handle apps may be a good measure to take. Let them have other apps like facebook or instagram. It's just like having a driving permit before a license. Also, these aren't small issues of getting hurt by posting too much information and getting their feelings hurt. Giving out too information to the wrong person can have severe consequences (kidnapping, rape, murder, etc). I don't think any parent would want to consider that a small issue!
Dear Kristin, I was just talking to my daughter (age 23) about this and she told me that Vine has explicit videos as well. She said that several months back she saw where an 11 or 12 year old girl was masturbating on a video, and older men were commenting on it and giving "shout outs" to other people about it. She was so disgusted that she quit looking at Vine altogether. PLEASE check into this. I would never have believed someone could get away with this. Wouldn't this have been reported, or the FBI know about it? This is horrifying information.
Dumb ways to die ? What is this game ? 10 year old grand plays this
Settings> location and security> enable gps, unlick the checkmark in the box that turns on gps (Android). The fact that some of you don't seem to know this is much more disturbing to me. Explore your smartphones rather than asking others how to do anything on them almost all the time.
thank you sooo much
The scariest App is the parents who don't really parent their kids. Technology is not reason kids are getting into trouble. Poor parenting is the reason. Why a teenager needs an IPhone or Android is beyond me.
Let me share something as the daughter of a helicopter mom. Daily phone monitoring isn't so much a matter of privacy invasion as it is a shattering of trust. IF you are a responsible parent and teach your child IN ADVANCE to also be responsible (and don't give them a phone until they're driving or off to college), your chances of this are much smaller. There are also settings in the app stores to block apps above a certain rating. Please, PLEASE learn how to use the features of smartphones and their app stores. Daily browsing your kid's phone is the quickest way to make them think you don't trust them. Which you don't. So TEACH THEM to behave in trustworthy ways, and use the software's native safety tools as backups if you need to.
My kids are now 18-25. They were allowed to have cellphones when they could pay for them, and the service, themselves. They all started out with Tracfones, and learned quickly to manage their minutes, because they were paying for them. No smartphones during their teen years, because they couldn't afford it! BTW I still have a Tracfone myself. I just can't justify the expense of a smart phone.
Snap Chat pictures are not deleted from the cellular device, they are simply hidden.
Thank you. I keep my eye on what my children watch. My daughter had snap shot. But when we talked about she got deleted it. Thank you for keeping us up to Date.
Snapchat ruins adult relationships too. It's a terrible App.
I found my daughter using an app called IMVU...It is defiantly not for kids..
Is there a way we can block these sites from our home wifi.
Dumb ways to die is just a silly game, there is nothing harmful or profane about it.
My Step-Son had an app called "Fake-a-Text" (or one similar to it) where he could fake a text from anyone. It seemed harmless enough until he started posting texts from his Dad saying we were kicking him out of the house and to never come home again, among other hurtful texts. If an official was to view these hurtful texts...
Can I add another that a lot of kids have that parents think is ok? INSTAGRAM. My daughter quickly learned all she had to do was sign-out of the account, then she could create another account that "mom wouldn't know about". The second account was every mother's worst fear! So, if your child has it, I suggest you check their ipods and phones and their camera rolls. Frequently!!
We recently had custody of my 16 year old brother in law, and we bought him an iPod touch which did everything and iPhone did, and we searched it randomly. We found all kinds of stuff, on KIK,snapchat, and one that wasn't mentioned is PHOTO VAULT, it's a password protected app where you hide dirty photos.
What can we do about it to take out this app from smart phones? or anyother source?
Thank you for taking the time to write this post. Parents who care need to be one step ahead of the game. We are too trusting of people and programs, but we need to be more vigilant. Thanks again.
It is the parents responsibility at first place, giving their children an smart phone knowing all the risks they might be exposed to (If you want to be in contact with your children give the regular phones)! And second it is the responsibility of all this smartphones companies allowing this kind of apps to be offered to users.
Even Instagram and Pinterest--apps that are available in the 12
Sanctimommies contribute so much to us lowly, reckless, careless, thoughtless parents with their awesome parenting "advice". Get over yourself. Everyone else - thanks for the additional heads up on Apps not covered in the article. These things change faster than we can keep up, so helping each other is what it's all about.
My son doesn't have a smart phone, but his mother (we're divorced) gave him an iPod. Last summer, while searching his iPod to see what he was doing, his girlfriend sent a snapchat of her naked. I checked, and he had a number of these photos saved on his phone as screenshots. Less than 5 minutes later, my son was in my workshop, cleaning up what was left of his iPod...I destroyed it with a hammer. A few minutes later, I was on the phone with the girl's father. Needless to say, they aren't going out together anymore.Parents need to pay attention to what their children are doing online...Not only can it save their lives, it can save their future.
I have an app on all of our phones (hubby, 2 teens, and my own) as well as on all of our computers called covenant eyes. It cost $8/month, but it monitors EVERYTHING that is done over the internet and will send me a message if anyone is viewing or sending inappropriate material. This is not the end all be all, I still check their phones, but it does give me some piece of mind that I'm not missing something. Everyone knows the program is on their devices, I'm not trying to be sneaky. But I think that knowing I can go online and see everything they do on the internet helps to make sure they avoid temptations. And they can't delete the app because I get a notification if they do.
Hey Must READ!!!-JT
Intersting article.
My daughter has friends who are 10 yrs old. The parents of these children decided it was a good time to buy them a cell phone and now they're always in trouble with it for inappropriate things that they do on it. I told my daughter that she will not be getting a cell phone until she starts driving. She wasn't happy but hey, I'd rather her be mad at me than have to deal with all the dangers of the apps that are out there. She has an Ipod but we keep a very close eye on what she does with it. So far, no issues. It's up to the parent to set the boundaries. When you buy a cell phone for a child, you can expect trouble!
Ask.fm for sure. My daughter gets anonymous posts that are harassing and bullying. We know they're from kids at school.
I am not a parent, but have mentored ten junior high and high school students, and many elementary school students, over the course of several years. Please, please, parents, allow your children to build trust with you. I agree that the apps listed here have more potential to hurt than to help. But taking your child's phone at the end of the day is both naive and counterproductive. I guarantee you that if your child is doing something that they know they shouldn't, they are capable of hiding their behavior from you. If they are not doing anything wrong, they will resent your lack of trust and you will be building a wall between the two of you. I have seen both versions of this story time and again.My parents are currently allowing my little 12 yr old brother to have a go-phone because he has demonstrated that he can be responsible with chores, take the higher ground in conflicts with friends, etc. They will openly dialogue with him about sex (thank God he still thinks it's "weird") and are his source of information because he knows they are forthcoming with him and give him direct answers to his questions. He's not perfect, neither are my parents. He is not allowed to have his phone at night and may only use the Internet in the presence of a family member. But their system of trust works. My older sibling demonstrated that he could not be responsible. I called him out on his porn addiction and alerted my parents. He hated me for it at the time, but he had violated their trust, so he lost his privileges (and he was 16 at the time, which was sadly humiliating for him). Now he is free from that addiction because my parents knew taking away his technology wasn't going to solve the real issue, and my dad counseled him and created regular times to dialogue with him. My brother wasn't into it at first, but eventually learned that my parents weren't going to give up loving him and pursuing a real relationship with him. He now has their trust.
I found an app called iFunny that seemed harmless because it apparently features funny pictures but scanning through it there were numerous pornographic photos, kids posting their kik names for "hookups" and many hot or not photos. My daughters love funny pics and joke apps but there are always people out there who ruin it.
Article to keep
@Douglas Egbert Actually the pictures ARE deleted once they have been viewed, that's how the app works. They stick around long enough to be seen and possibly replayed after the first view is up, but that's it.
This article is great in that it tells me about apps that I might not know about otherwise. My daughter is 14, and yes, she has an iPhone. We do monitor her phone. Not everyday, but on a spur of the moment. We originally allowed her to use the App Store to browse, but she was never allowed to download an app unless we put the password in. However, I did notice recently that anything that has been downloaded on the Apple ID is now in the cloud, and anything in the cloud DOES NOT require the password! As a result, we have blocked the App Store from her phone. There were apps downloaded before (Snap Chat) that we no longer let her use, but she could easily download on her own.I agree that teens should be taught, but I also agree that sometimes it is better to teach them by not allowing certain things. Do you teach your kids not to drink or do drugs by getting them drunk or high? No, most people tell them not to do it and lock up the liquor at home. My biggest problem with all of this is why has society come to a point where it is acceptable to send inappropriate texts, pictures, and have apps where you can bash others???
I have an app on all of our phones (hubby, 2 teens, and my own) as well as on all of our computers called covenant eyes. It cost $8/month, but it monitors EVERYTHING that is done over the internet and will send me a message if anyone is viewing or sending inappropriate material. This is not the end all be all, I still check their phones, but it does give me some piece of mind that I'm not missing something. Everyone knows the program is on their devices, I'm not trying to be sneaky. But I think that knowing I can go online and see everything they do on the internet helps to make sure they avoid temptations. And they can't
Do you think Instagram is safe?
I would be interested in knowing how to block certain apps. You mentioned blocking them from wifi. Also, there are several parental control apps or programs that can track everything they do on their phone. Do you recommend any specific parental control app?
SnapChat shared photos "may" disappear from the sender and receiver after 10 seconds, but it does NOT get deleted from SnapChat itself. You have to wonder how many people who work there have access to those photos and what the heck they're doing with/to them. ICK!
Can these apps be blocked from your children's phones?
Is there a possibility for us to reprint this article in our Christian newspaper? Please email me any info that I'll need.Thank you!
Vine is nothing like what is being described anymore. They put better blocks on it. It's the job of the parents to monitor there kids usage of anything. Parents need to stop being lazy and watch whats going on.
Am I naive in believing that without the Apple ID password, my children are unable to download apps without my approval? My children have iPods, but must come to me to enter the password for any download. Are there ways around that logic that I'm unaware of?
My kids dont have cell phones but they have ipads and ipods. I turned off GPS and they need a password to turn it on. Doesnt that protect them? I have to put in a pw for them to download any apps too.
Thank god ur out there thanks for the insightI never new
What you need to realize is that we're the generation who grew up with technology. We know how to use it better than you do and we'll find a way around all of your snooping. I am 20 years old and a sophomore in college, and I have about half of these apps you mentioned. Snapchat I use for sending silly selfies to my friends from home to keep in touch, not sexting. Yik yak I use to find out where the good parties are on Friday night. Kik I use for messaging my friends who don't have unlimited texts per month. The point is, most of these we use harmlessly. Now, if you've never talked to your child about sex, I can almost guarantee you they're using them "innapropriately" as you put it. Why? Because it's "bad". Mom and Dad never bring up sex because it's taboo and that means it's fun! Here, look at my boobs. As someone who grew up in a sheltered home where my parents never gave me a sex talk, that's exactly what I did. If you want to keep your child safe, start treating them like an adult when it comes to these things. Lay down the rules of what you expect, warn them about the dangers, but be realistic. Monitoring your child's phone occasionally is fine, but the more you do it the smarter they're going to get. If you want to be able to trust your kids you need to talk to them, and then trust them. Let them make a few mistakes, help them learn from it, and let them grow up out from under mommy and daddy's wing.
I think every parent should monitor their kids fones because of all the preators out there regardless of there age. If they still live at home or not. That's my opinion and don't care wat u think about me or my opinion.
If you don't think your kids are old enough to deal with apps like this, and you worry that they will give personal information to strangers, then don't give your kids a phone!If you need to b able to call them, then give them a phone that isn't "smart". Don't you think your kids will hide things from you, if they see you reading through their texts? And their pictures? They'll want privacy just like adults. It's not like kids aren't real people.
vine is just a video thing for twitter. that's all it is
We had to take my 15 year old sons cell phone away. Too many things to get him in trouble. By the time you find out what your child is doing it really is too late.
Seriously,"we could just stop giving CHILDREN cell phones"? This day and age, especially as a mom to a teen and a preteen, that's not even an option. Most of the homes in our friend circles no longer have home phones. It is my responsibility to know where my kids are and to communicate with them. The days of letting your kids leave the house on their bicycles and expecting them home at dark are long gone. Would you send any other member of your household out without their phone or other way to contact you? I agree with teaching them to do the right thing like we've done throughout history. If you stay involved, you'll know more about what the kids are doing and the kinds of people that they are with. Get with the times people. AND, if you don't have kids growing up today, throw your own phone/computer away and see if you can function in this time.
As for SnapChat- "The Services consist of interactive features and areas that allow users to create, post, transmit and/or store content, including but not limited to photos, videos, text, graphics, items or other materials (collectively, "User Content"). You understand that your User Content may be viewable by others and that you have the ability to control who can access such content by adjusting your privacy settings. You agree to abide by our Community Guidelines, which may be updated from time to time.You agree that you are solely responsible for your User Content and that Snapchat is not responsible or liable for any User Content. While we are not obligated to do so, we reserve the right, and have absolute discretion, to review, screen and delete User Content at any time and for any reason.You retain all ownership rights in your User Content. However, by submitting User Content to Snapchat, you hereby grant us a nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicensable and transferable license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such User Content in connection with the Services, subject to your use of privacy settings in the Services to control who can see your User Content. ...When you send or receive Snaps, we also temporarily collect, process and store the contents of the Snaps (such as photos, videos and/or captions) on our servers...In addition, as for any other digital information, there may be ways to access Snaps while still in temporary storage on recipients' devices or, forensically, even after they are deleted..."So yes, they do store data to use for future use IF they choose to, and others can keep your data if they know how.
Looking at all the other comments...people should realized that *every* app is "something to watch out for". There's no complete list of these things...it'd go into the millions..Also if fear/scariness/etc is our motivating factor here then we're fighting another losing battle. We can only hope to extend it by removing all technology exposure altogether. Not joking here. But what about when they go off on their own?The only way to really deal with these problems is to do the tough work of turning chillun's into responsible adults. This process comes way before exposure to technology.
As a 20 year old looking back on all the debates I've heard on this kind of stuff, I just want to caution parents that no matter how many apps you block or what restrictions you put on your child's device, your child can definitely and probably quite easily find a way around it. There is simply no way to make an Internet and app-enabled device completely safe. I would humbly suggest that parents should be attempting to deal with the heart and instructing and training their kids to glorify God in all things... including how they use their mobile devices. Yes, parents should take precautions and attempt to safeguard their kids from blatantly dangerous apps. However, the only way to truly protect your kids is to instill in their hearts a desire to glorify God. Hope this is helpful.
great info, looking forward to future post from you..
Meetme has a lot of fake profiles.
They use these?
Stop giving children phones or iPods . Geez. I grew up without them and I survived. Children are given to much to soon now. They are becoming socially crippled.
Watch for photo vault app.
I disagree that going through your child's phone is a trust issue. In fact if my child feels this way I really could care less. If I am paying the bill and I bought the phone then I in fact have every right to go through it. If the child gets upset this to me is a sign that they may be hiding something. Also going through a child's phone and monitoring there apps is a parents way of showing they love their child and care about what their doing. My daughter is 13 she owns a smart phone but I monitor it have parental blocks and go through it. She understands and knows I'm doing it because there are terrible things that could happen if the phone is not used right. However I'm not all for the kids having phones but I also feel at ease knowing my daughter walks home with her cell in hand.
My 12 year old daughter is addicted to snapchat and even though I limit her use on it, now that it's been downloaded I don't know how to block it. Is there a way to lock an app or prevent the download of it?
I think this a great article. My parents never put controls on my phone, because I had never abused my privileges when using the family desktop. When I did get a phone, I let my parents know when I was getting a new app so they wouldn't worry. Most kids don't do that though. My brother had major controls on his phone because he abused it, and my parents took it away and gave him a go phone for a long time. The only reason he had that was because he had a job. Now, he has major controls my nieces new device and will download almost anything she wants. Howver, if he decides it's too dangerous, then he sits down with her and tells her why. It's a mix of the teaching and controls that has worked really welike for my family.
My boys have android tablets that are designed for adults and I have found it very hard to make them kid friendly. Any suggestions on what I can do for peace of mind?
I'm so grateful to have stumbled across this article today; it's a timely find that will be out to immediate use.Ryan mentioned using apps for learning purposes. I have given my daughter an iPhone and the Safari App is the only learning tool she needs. For instance- a couple of days ago she lied to me about something stupid. In an effort to drive home the lesson on INTEGRITY (doing the right thing even if no. one is watching) she lost her phone for 3 days. Why? I told her "If you are being dishonest/sneaky about something this small, how am I to know that you will practice integrity with the World-Wide-Web at your fingertips?"HOW DO WE KNOW IF THE "poof" APP IS ON OUR KIDS PHONE?
Thank you. Great information!
Thanks for posting an article. Now all the kids on the internet know what apps to get!
Interesting. It is amazing how many parents are giving their young children a smartphone. We will be getting a firefly phone for our daughter. My brother had it and it is amazing. It only allows you to call preset numbers and you have to enter a pin to add/delete a number. We loved it for him. It is compatible with any network that uses a simcard. http://www.fireflymobile.com/store/phones/?osCsid=lapvb874ok9u694e51uuav7mi5
@Jcub and Elisa- Douglas is correct. They are hidden on the device itself in a OS file that if your tech savy enough you can get too. Smartphones work much like a computer nothing is never really gone. Rachelle is also correct that Snapchat its is saving "snaps" on servers for lawsuits or whatever can make money off their use from.
I used to work in the phone industry snapchats and vines are hidden in the phone. To view them simply plug a phone into the computer>pictures> snapchap then boom you see the "gone" snapsAnother thing you can block apps with the phone, cell phone provider, and in the app store.The fact that kids needs smart phones and bitch about it being the wrong color is annoying.
Oh geez! This scares me to no end. I do look at my 12 yr. old's phone often and go through followers etc. with her. Seems like the bad guys are always one step ahead. Thank you so much for the info.
I think that it is very important to know what your kids are doing these days. It is so rediculous that kids at the age of 10 or even younger are being given a smart phone or even a phone at all. Kids should just injoy there lifes with haning out with friends and going to Birthday parties and just being a kid. I just cant bileave that kids have phones these days. WE NEED TO STOP TREATING THEM LIKE ADULTS. and just let them be a kid. Kids should just injoy being youg and getting to do the things that adults dont get to do. Being a kid does not last long at all so injoy being a kid. I didnt get my first phone till i was a senior in high school. Now i am a freshman in college and think that it is important to have a phone to get ahold of my family becuase i live soooo far away from them but thats all i really use my phone for. If we care about our kids then we should watch out for what they are doing these days with there phones and dont give them a smart phone becuase they dont need it. If they need a phone then give them a flip phone that only alows them to call there parents.
Instead of giving your 8yr. Old a phone so that they can go on these apps why don't you let them go outside and play, hang out with friends, or do something other than play video games or having a phone also if you have a teen...THEY DONT NEED A IPHONE OR ANDROID five them a prepaid phone our kids are so corrupt because they get everything and they don't earn it!
POF is another one thats not good. People on there thinks it a sex site. When its a dating site.
Thank you so much for sharing this info. Will pass it on.
read this!! We have to keep up:)
Why don't you just not let a kid have a smart phone until they can buy it themselves with money they earn as an adult?
Yes, but if you have kids that are mature, not all those apps are bad. Snapchat can be used in between friends. Calm the fuck down lady, your a physcotic freak
Ok... you guys really think it's fine for your teens not to have a phone? Especially when half of you let your kids go out and hang out with their friends? Have any of you been outside lately? It is not okay for your kid to be outside without some form of communication. Maybe you should give them a flip phone so they can't get apps, or maybe learn some parenting skills. Sit down with them when they are young and watch the news and explain things to them. Let them know about all the creeps in the world and how bad society is. They are never to young to be told these things. I got my first phone in the 5th grade but because my parents raised me right and limited my access to technology I'm not addicted like most of these kids are or will grow up to be. I'm an adult now and I play very few games on my phone and use it mostly to read books. If you go through your kids stuff you will ruin your relationship with them. They might come home for Christmas when they grow up but they will never trust you with anything again. Instead of monitoring their phone, why don't you monitor their friends?
Thanks for sharing this. so good to know.
Very infomative. You can nip a lot of these apps in the bud if you have control over the Itunes account on IOS devices. Don't let the kids know the password and they can't download any apps. Anything that gets downloaded goes through me and we all share the same account. Seems to work so far.
NONE, because I won't give her a phone, she has no access to internet at home unless it is for school projects and the FB she did have we deleted as well as instagram.
I'm curious....does "Ryan" have children. His response sounds like my teenage daughter; educated but with no real insight. I'm a father of four children and I completely agree with limiting what apps my children use on their phones. It is my duty as their guardian to safeguard what they are exposed to. When they move out on their own (as adults) then they will have the ability to act as they wish.
Teach your kids to make responsible decisions instead of sheltering their lives for ever. If you just cut everything out, I can guarantee they're going to rebel. Some parents have no clue how to deal with technology; your kids can get around any block you put. Teach your kids safety and ban the really stupid ones. Tell your children why you're banning that specific app, don't just be a tyrant. Kids do need cell phones; you want your child/teenager to be safe but you don't want them to have communication? You're putting your teenager in society by not getting them a cell phone honestly.
This article is very informative. I'm not criticizing the author or anything but it should be realized that this article is a double edged sword. You may have warned parents, but you also advertised these apps for Phedo's who haven't tried them and kids/teenagers who is possibly reading this article right now and in their twisted mind they say "whoa nice a list of apps I haven't heard of! lemme try em!".
I have an easy solution for my house. We don't allow cell phones until high school and, basic phones only with no data, my kids can call or text, that's it! They can' teen send pics. I'm strict about computer/internet use at home, why would I give them free access on their phones!
Thanks for all the great apps! Keep them coming
Have already learned about kik, oovoo as well is another, made my son delete both he is only 11 but I worry about what they are talking about
Hot or not is another one
Fear is not a good place to parent from. Stay informed by talking with your kids rather than simply reacting to every new thing. The best way to keep your children safe is to have open, non-reactionary communication with them.
They are a few good apps out there to monitor and control phones , iPods, iPads, kindles ect... all those apps can be loaded on to most wireless devices and just not phones. If your not sure what your children are looking you should monitor all the devices they have, not just phones. Some good apps that I have used for this are are AMBER CHILD SAFETY, WEBWATCHER, PHONE SHERIFF to name a few. Social media IS a pedifiles paradise, watch your kids.
Westside shares this article on facebook
My concern with turning off the GPS location services is that it also prevents me from using family safety apps like Life 360. Any suggestions ?
Someone asked about blocking apps on your wireless network. There is a free service called OpenDNS that does this. It is password protected and blocks sites on any device that connects. The only thing to be aware of is that things like this only block domains, not the content within it. So if you haven't blocked instagram, they can see anything posted there. But it does prevent a lot. Also one devices leave your home, the protection is gone.
I hope our kids don't have these on their iPods! I am so bad with iPod stuff. I know you have to approve. Thought I would share this with you.
My son has an Android and I check it regularly. My philosophy is trust but verify. We had a talk with our son before he got the phone. That was a requirement. He agreed so I don't see this as violating his trust. With his Facebook, anyone on his friends list had to also be on mine.
@Jennifer, I am desperate to keep these apps away from my child. When u say blocked in your home, do u mind explaining how to do that? She seems to find away around me!
Just remember it's kids that are out there praying on the predator. Kids are so out-of-control these days and they are the ones that should be arrested for sleeping with older people when they go out looking for it.
or you could, you know...not give your 12 year old a smartphone.If you live in an area where you feel they need a cell phone for safety, prepaid services off virtually free flip phones. They are small, they arne't smart phones, you can't download a bunch of apps. Stop worrying about making your 12 year old the coolest kid in school by getting them the latest, greatest iPhone on the market.Parents are just daft these days....
Thank you for posting this info. VERY useful.
While I do agree with most of these apps being dangerous, I'd just like to point out that Kik is as safe as texting- if not safer. I use it with internet friends who aren't allowed to give me their phone numbers. Some random sexual predators chatting you on kik is just as likely as someone randomly TEXTING you. You have to search a full username to find someone and use Kik them, just as someone could type in a random combination of number to text them. It's also very easy to block someone. But, I actually do agree with most of these(especially Omegle). So thanks for posting this :D
I know all about KIK my daughter got messed up with a man and still not sure where he really is, I have over 300 pages I snap shotted and you would not believe the things this person says. KIK is really bad and needs to be taken down
check this!
mocospace...perfect for sex talk, hook ups and other dangerous things. people lie about their ages, have secret chats...bad nasty stuff!!!
Look, parents who constantly invade their child's privacy will get nowhere. This is why teens rebel, because parents need to learn to trust their children. I use vine, and there is nothing wrong with that app. It's against the rules of Vine to post "bad" or "dirty videos. Unless it's cussing, then they have that on their videos. But maybe, if you learned to trust your kids and not be so controlling, they might actually not have to hide anything. Now, I agree there are bad apps, but not every teen or child uses apps in a bad way.
I feel like if everyone who has a child acts like a parent {not a friend} these types of apps would not be a threat. Teach your children right from wrong, set expectations that they must achieve to have rights such as a cell phone. . . and most of all be involved in EVERY aspect of their lives!
Tumblr is another one to watch out for because of what it can be used for (pornography)...the "atmosphere" and "searchable content that pops up" changes late in the evening from what I have read and understand.
Most routers can block sites you don't want you children going on just call the manufacturer support and they will talk you through blacking site this only works though with connection with home internet not smartphones that use carrier services.
"Trust But Verify"In the Adult world, this is a reality. Banks trust their employees, but have cameras and auditors. So do all large business concerns. This is a reality that needs to be taught to all children, before the become Teenagers. By the teens, our kids should trust us parents implicitly, but understand that we will continue to monitor their behavior until they become adults. With Freedom comes Responsibility. When I gave my teenaged daughters more Freedom, they understood that they had a Responsibility to show me and their Mother that they were trustworthy. Do not give in to your Teen who wants total Freedom with no Responsibility.
Some one just called Vine the "Snapchat for video", but its absolutely not. Snapchat includes video. Vine is merely a way to post 6 second videos, they don't disappear.
Parents need to watch out for these app!
As A Parent, Can We Not Have These Apps 'Deleted' And/Or Blocked, Completely, When The Services Are Being Paid According To Chosen Plan, Correct.......Therefore, The Providers Must/Should Abide By Plans Selected By Selector
We've had a few bad cases with Kik. My 14 yr old has received a couple of messages from complete strangers, seeming to be teenagers, asking "do you send pics?" That's how they start the conversation! Another time a teen girl she doesn't know threatened her with supposed blackmail. Everytime I've gotten on (thankfully she shows me right away) and I let them know the legally ramifications of "child porn". I also teach jr high and hear of tons of stuff these kids do. Seemingly "good girls" doing very bad things. Makes me sad they believe it's what they need to do for attention or love.
I have a 9 yr old..no actual phone service till 13...but are there any parental blocks to avoid these? Even without service
Here's an idea: how about they don't have a smart phone?? Then you don't have to worry about it. Duh.
Thank you for this very important and helpful information.
In regards to Poof, keep in mind that just because an app is no longer available via the store, it can still be side-loaded directly from the installer package. For Android, many APK files are easily downloaded outside the store.
just to know to get read for there future , like you saidit will be more interesting.
Instagram is not good for kids too much nude exposure and video porn
My children are too young for phones yet, but my husband is a youth pastor and I've heard of many of these apps, mostly from parents who don't allow them. We recently had a discussion in youth group because my husband attended a presentation by a lawyer about social media. The problem with the "let's trust our kids" line of reasoning is that even one slip up can lead to dire consequences in their lives. The lawyer talked about the laws in our state relating to the creation and possession of child pornography. Our state does not make an exception for pictures taking of one's self. So if a teenager takes a naked picture of themself and sends it, they have committed 3 felonies: creation, possession, and transmission and the receiver has committed a felony: possession. As stated by previous posters, Snap Chat and other apps do keep the photos and law enforcement can and does find them and prosecute. If convicted, they must be registered on the sex offender registry and are obviously barred from certain professions and other consequences for that one "mistake." It seems crazy, but it's the reality in our state and others. So parents, be very concerned and talk to your children. They don't even begin to understand the long reaching consequences that can result from sexting. Predators are a real threat but many people don't realize that there is more to it than that.
Sure I get telling your children about the dangers of strangers and not giving out personal information. With that said, what happened with trusting your kids to do the right thing? Not invading your children's privacy is very important, once they think that you don't trust them your children are going to go on the defense. The fact is that if you tell them not to do something they will find a way to do just that and probably worse. Now I am assuming that four year olds do not have cell phones note would they be looking for these type of apps, if you feel that your children are not mature enough to say no to these apps then do not buy them a cell phone.
Could add the icons of these apps so that I know how to identify them on my child's phone
Why do 11 and 12 year old children need phones and ipods?! I don't get it. If you are that concerned about keeping in touch while they are away from home, get them a tracfone to be used in emergencies. I never had a cell phone in my teenage years, and that was only about 10 years ago. I survived. Everyone thinks they have to "keep up with the Jones's" and buy the latest and greatest things for their kids, and that is why we are raising a generation of selfish, self-absorbed kids who think they are entitled to everything. End rant.
I knew about every one of these, kids should be able to access these this easily! Heres an idea! dont want your kids on things they shouldnt be? how about not giving a cell phone to a teenager!!!!!!
I was in total agreement with the concern then I realized that the most dangerous app is the browser. On the phone the browser can take you any where on the net and get you into all sorts of things. I have some of the apps mentioned and don't really think of them as dangerous. The real danger as others have pointed is giving a child a handheld device without constant guidance. We need to talk about appropriate use and not let themselves bury their noses in them 24-7. We also need to inspect and check on them regularly until the kids reach the age where they can make responsible decisions. There are too many tragic stories of parents "respecting their child's privacy" and end up burying that child.
I was in total agreement with the concern then I realized that the most dangerous app is the browser. On the phone the browser can take you any where on the net and get you into all sorts of things. I have some of the apps mentioned and don't really think of them as dangerous. The real danger as others have pointed is giving a child a handheld device without constant guidance. We need to talk about appropriate use and not let themselves bury their noses in them 24-7. We also need to inspect and check on them regularly until the kids reach the age where they can make responsible decisions. There are too many tragic stories of parents "respecting their child's privacy" and end up burying that child.
I'm a 15 year old teenager, and I agree with this website. Snapchat can be a harmless app, but many of these "chat" apps can produce a much higher need for security!
I'm a 15 year old teenager, and I agree with this website. Snapchat can be a harmless app, but many of these "chat" apps can produce a much higher need for security!
You want to know why the kids think its an invasion of privacy? Because it is. If parents Give them the phone, Thats their fault. SMH. how would you like it if someone went through all your shit on your phone or internet history? I am 20 years old and i NEVER did anything bad on my iphone or ipods that i had through out my teen years. the fact of the matter is, if you teach your kids to not do something and dont hide behind the "I PAY THE PHONE BILL SO I HAVE THE RIGHT." a mother in California was actually arrested for going through their Childs diary. The reason any of your children would hide shit from you is because you dont have a good enough relationship with your child for them to be able to talk to you. needless to say, conversations, apps, and the internet, aren't the problem, its you people authoritarian parenting style is. restricting children doesn't make them not do it, it just makes them better at hiding it. strict parents, always have sneaky children.
I'm 14 and my parents will randomly check my phone at odd intervals without warning. I'm not allowed to create accounts without parent permission currently, but I used to have to ask my mom for the pass code to download apps and stuff. I'm not allowed to delete text messages, clear internet history, or clear call logs without their consent either. One website (that I love) like others has the potential to be dangerous is fanfiction.net. You can create filter though that keep r rated material out of immediate line of site.
THANK YOU!!! i enjoyed reading this and educating myself.i passed this info on as i have a 16 year old step daughter who lives with her mom out of state.we just bought her a smartphone.bad bad call on our part.now we are really concerned.these apps can be used even if there are no minutes on the phone.so not paying the bill does nothing really which is what we did when a few months ago i discovered she had 5 different facebook accounts.2 of which had no family as her "friends" and she was posting pics of herself in the bathroom in skimpy clothes(she fpund ways to make her clothes smaller...rolling up shirts etc.) AND these accounts did not have proper privacy settings.they were public! any weirdo out there could just stumble across them...then we found out she is in "love, with someone online she plans to meet.SCARY!! if she lived with us things would be VERY different...sadly her mother sees it as "harmless girl games" and is too busy working two jobs to be monitoring her properly.i agree kids should not have smartphones.like it was mentioned earlier you dont give a kid the keys to the car and say "have fun!" they need training wheels first...i do think that these days kids need a phone...a "non" smart phone.they need to be able to call mom or dad or 911.i really wish this was the 50's or something and phones werent necessary...but these days they are.kids should have regular phones though...not smart ones with apps...scary scary world...we need to get back to God but that is another conversation. ;)
THANK YOU!!! i enjoyed reading this and educating myself.i passed this info on as i have a 16 year old step daughter who lives with her mom out of state.we just bought her a smartphone.bad bad call on our part.now we are really concerned.these apps can be used even if there are no minutes on the phone.so not paying the bill does nothing really which is what we did when a few months ago i discovered she had 5 different facebook accounts.2 of which had no family as her "friends" and she was posting pics of herself in the bathroom in skimpy clothes(she fpund ways to make her clothes smaller...rolling up shirts etc.) AND these accounts did not have proper privacy settings.they were public! any weirdo out there could just stumble across them...then we found out she is in "love, with someone online she plans to meet.SCARY!! if she lived with us things would be VERY different...sadly her mother sees it as "harmless girl games" and is too busy working two jobs to be monitoring her properly.i agree kids should not have smartphones.like it was mentioned earlier you dont give a kid the keys to the car and say "have fun!" they need training wheels first...i do think that these days kids need a phone...a "non" smart phone.they need to be able to call mom or dad or 911.i really wish this was the 50's or something and phones werent necessary...but these days they are.kids should have regular phones though...not smart ones with apps...scary scary world...we need to get back to God but that is another conversation. ;)
Thanks for sharing
Wooooow. It's like a Helicopter Parent convention in here...
My daughter just turned 14 don't have an iphone and don't plane on getting her one any time soon. For that reason.... The young people on phone way too much and there parents DO NOT check to see what there child is doing:( My question is how can I go back and see all of the SnapChat my daughter has on my phone ? She has been very good about showing them to me. Thanks ! ~L
Remember this
Okay all these people saying "Stop giving children cellphones" I don't agree with that once you start letting your child hangout with friends they need one. Your scared about what they will do with one. What about when they get kidnapped and raped and if they would of has a phone they would have been fine!
thats it taking smartphone away and going back to stupid phone...
My opinion app lock should be put on all kids phones. You can hide apps you dont want them in and you set password. You can also lock them out of the settings. I have younger kids and one has a cell phone to talk to other parent. I use app lock to lock the phone up so he cant do amything with out my passcode except games txt and call. Any downloading has to be permited also have norton kid safe (cant remember exact name) and this allows me to see what he looks at on the web and block pages that he should not be seeing. I pay the bill so if there is an issue thats tough cookies!
Having a good (friendly/open) relationship with your kids, educating them about the internet, talking to them about your thoughts/feelings/concerns > sticking your kid in a metaphorical bubble and taking away anything that could potentially pose hard to them before they get the chance to hurt themselves.Not trying to criticize it's just the truth. Especially considering the more you try and force them to stay out of trouble, the more they are going to look at you and think "gee, I really don't appreciate how my parent is always trying to keep me from having fun and doing what I want to do. Why don't they trust me? Whatever, I'm just going to do it anyways and hopefully I don't get caught".
I had no idea about Down or Poof but i'm downloading them right now! :D Also if you think those type of hiding apps are all that we have to hide apps/photos/etc you're SLEEP. I am practically a programmer. Good try on informing parents though. LMAO
I have to disagree about snap chat being that dangerous. I won't deny that there are probably plenty of people that use it for the wrong reasons but there are also a lot that use it to talk to friends and send goofy pics to each other. However all the other apps you listed I can totally understand why parents should be cautioned about them. Some of those are just sick sites.
7 dangerous apps? Holy balls people, what in the hell does a child need a smartphone for anyway?
You all need to simmer down. You can't start policing your children so harshly. They are going to do what they want anyway, the more you push and the worse it will be. 99% of the people reading/commenting here, their children probably won't even do anything dodgey with things like snapchat, but the more you push the higher chance they will. Remember what it was like when you were teenagers? Have you even seen a teens snapchat? It is normally just full of pictures during class and selfies with friends. As for the person who said Vine is bad, Vine is nothing to be worried about, if you do then you are stupid. Vine is monitored very heavily for inappropriate content which is removed.This kind of article is made just to scare all the parents who will now go and keep tabs on their kids phones. You all need to chill out, you can take away the phones but then there's still laptops and computers where this stuff can happen but generally doesn't. Have faith in your children and stop being bad parents.
Someone should invent FB AND ALL OTHER APPS TO NOT ALLOW ANYONE To fake age to be able block or add more disrupted apps.
Think you SO HELPFUL!!
This is my teenagers do not have smart phones. They can talk and txt and that's enough. Their minds are too young to handle the responsibility of making the right choice with these apps. We were lucky not to have these temptations as kids.
1. Build a relationship with your kids. Know whether they can be trusted. And set some family boundaries that they know are for everyone's benefit. Set some limits and stick to them. Sometimes kids can bully their parents. 2. If you change the restriction setting for the App Store in the Settings menu, you can have it so that EVERY time an app is downloaded you must enter the password. Even if it's in the Cloud. 3. Don't give a kid a smartphone if YOU don't know how to use it. There's a user guide available for every phone online. Read it. Or Google your question if you don't know the answer. If it's important enough to you, you'll do whatever it takes to find the answer.
Keeping your child's iTunes password from them so "they have to come to you" is naive! All they have to do is have one of their friends log into their account on your child's device, then download what ever they want and log back out. There are plenty of apps out to hide other apps so once they're done you will have no idea at all! Not giving your child a phone isn't going to help either, you don't think they won't just get an old iPod or iPhone from a friend that got a new one. Try being a parent and raising responsible children!
Where is flappy bird in all if this? That game is a gateway drug. It's like meth, can be so addicting
I worked at a highschool computer lab and I had to block lots of sites like Instagram and tumbler they both have naked pictures and videos of people having sex and basic porn. They also have proctor sites that when you get on the page you can put any site in and it will completely bypass the security and open up any website or ap. these sites change constantly so it is hard to block them.I do want to say that when my son was in 7 th grade a girl sent him pictures of her boobs, so I took the phone away, the parents can go to jail and be tagged for life in the system as a sex offender for child porn if a pic like that is found on your child's.
Palringo is another app you should be aware of. It is a chat app you can send any type of photo, voice messages, private message strangers and chat in groups with strangers. There are hundreds of groups that anyone can create. Porn groups as well that can not stop underage children from joining. The groups have people who monitor them but it isn't constant and there is a lot of online bullying with this app as well as harassment, people can save others photos and repost them claiming to be that person. It's a very dangerous app for adults and children.
First of all, kids are just that KIDS! They aren't adults. My first cell phone I purchased and I paid for every month, not my parents! And this was before smart phones even came out! My son got a prepaid phone as a teen. Then when my daughter was older we put her on our plan with a regular phone, no internet. Then she was given a phone with text and camera when she got a little older. I had to cut the data off her phone which meant she could send or get pictures due to her going over her data by $100 one month after already being warned. When she got a tablet with Wi-Fi we had to approve of what was and wasn't downloaded. Well she tricked us with instagram. I had it, but did not us it in the ways they used it and was appalled at what I saw on there and made her remove it. Since then I have found many different accounts through instagram, kik, and snapchat thats shes created and thats just what ive found and she no longer has a cell or a tablet. She uses her friends phones to create all this stuff!!!! And started blocking me and her dad so we wouldn't find or see the accounts!!!!
Twitter is the worst in our area abusive, foul language and harassment. The kids just don't care what they write or that the world can see it. Many parents do not follow up and try to teach their children appropriate social etiquette and make fun of those parents that do! It is like "Lord of the Flies" out there. Snap Chat is still being used for sexting, but mostly for silly pictures. We did just have a picture of a naked teen girl go viral and my child's very good charter school. It is my understanding that the sender gets an alert when a screen shot is taken on Snap Chat, so the child knows the picture has been captured. Bottom line... parents need to make the time to be involved in their teens life. They are still children that need guidance in the continual development of their child's adult values. I have even heard the excuse, "We let our children make their own mistake." as a rational for not monitoring and guiding them )aka I am too lazy to be a real parent, put up with the push-back, and do my job of teaching my child to be a good person.) They are allowing their child to hurt others with no feedback, consequences, or accountability. It is shameful.
While I understand your concern over these apps and that parents should be aware of them, most of these apps are made for persons over 17 or 18 years old and require confirmation of age in the app store, which means that if you child is under age they're illegally using it. The apps are not "dangerous" on their own, they're being misused. Please please please don't let your children use apps not intended for children and make to install correct parental controls. They are there for a reason.
Must Read
Must Read
Sorry but let your kids live their life! Check their phones regularly??!! If you trust them with a phone, you trust them! Checking their phone is just plain nosey! I bet you had things you didn't want your parents to see, this is no different!
Preditor websites
Thank you grandmother's don't always get them latest technology.
Thanks a lot Kristin, this post is so revealing and very helpful, God bless you.
Thanks a lot Kristin, this post is so revealing and very helpful, God bless you.
Censor your children from the real world their whole lives and they will be real whores behind your back and the second they get to college.
My son(16) does not have a phone but he has and iTouch which he no longer has use of currently, due to info we found on it. I can't remember all the apps I deleted from his phone but one was SnapChat. We would regularly check and read his messages, photos and apps. Discuss with him what we did not like and when he gets use of his iTouch back, he is not allowed to download ANYTHING unless we have approved it. This is helped by the fact he shares his apple acct. with us so we can see what Free or purchased apps he is getting. Told him once he is 18 he can do what he wants until then I monitor EVERYTHING with the internet and cell/iTouch use.
As a mother my advise is to trust your kids. If you allow them to have a smart phone, you have to trust them with it. To be totally honest kids are smart these days. If they want something they will get it. If you block all these apps they will find a way around it. When you allow your kids to have a smart phone you are allowing them to make these decisions. Good or bad. We live in a fear based culture... Yes, be careful. But don't be afraid. There is a HUGE difference between love and worry and that is something most parents need to learn.
A couple of thoughts on the comments to this article:1 my daughter's school "requests" that children bring a phone, computer or tablet to school to access online books, materials or content. Rather than my 13 year old lugging around a laptop along with her textbooks and other stuff overloading her already-weighing-a-ton backpack, she has a smart phone. Our schools are all-but-requiring our kids to have smart phones these days. You cannot just stick your head in the sand and just not give your teen a cell phone. 2, The rule in our house is you can have a flip phone (on contract, we live outside of a HUGE city and God Forbid something happen, i want the added hope of being able to track their cell phone, a feature not always provided with trac phones) at 11 IF your grades and chores prove you deserve it.. and you can have a smart phone going into the 7th grade for the BYOD classes (bring your own devise). 3. My 13 year old daughter just provided us with a huge scare as she was talking on IM4U (also known as IMVU) and her avitar was dressed in a nightie straddling some guys avitar. She said she was just chatting, and the conversation history proved as such and it appears she was not controlling the avitar, but this app went away quickly. My daughter has been well educated about the dangers of online and app usage, both at home and at school. HOWEVER, she is also well aware that we can and will be inspecting her phone at any given time. what im saying here is Trust but Verify. I trust my kid, but have had to verify that they are behaving in a way that I approve of. I also don't just delete an app, I delete it while explaining the dangers, and my reasons.
Take a look at this
Snap chat is gone unless your kid snapchata with random people
I got my first cell phone when I was 14 only because I was in my schools marching band and my parents wanted to be able to contact me when we were at "away" football games. I bought my iPod touch when I was 15 with money that I had saved up from birthdays, christmas's, etc. and my parents never really looked at it/went through it, because they knew that they didn't have anything to worry about. When they did, I was infuriated because they did not approach it properly (demanded the phone, etc) but it didn't matter to me because I didn't have anything to hide. I'm now 20 years old (about to be 21) and can honestly say that I haven't used any of these apps. I use Instagram for pictures of my friends, Facebook for keeping up with events, and GroupMe for information from my sorority. I have also never drank alcohol (even at home), sent/received nude pictures, smoked cigarettes, or have done any type of drugs. I have never even went to a party or a bar. Why? Because I don't want to. Not necessarily because my parents taught me better (which they did) but because I don't see the need.
Most of these app aren't dangerous at all if you teach your child commen sense:1. People lie over the internet, don't go randomly meeting them.2. Your information stays personal, Don't give it out.3. Pictures stay on the internet forever, and spread very quickly.If your children are dumb, any app can be dangerous, from Facebook to Clash of Clans. Don't teach your children to avoid certain apps because they have the opportunity to be "dangerous", teach then to be smart on the internet, because what they do now could effect their whole lives in ways they don't realize.
My daughter and friends have snap chat. They are very responsible with it; at least as far as I know! After reading your description I can see how this can be a "bad" app. I cannot believe the boys and girls - athelets and the "popular kids" supposedly - that post detrimental "poses" by "sexting." Unbelievable! YIK YAK has been terrifying to say the least! It was brought to my attention by a teacher; it had been "banned" at the school. How so, I do not know but the point here is that the school was aware and taking action. I have banned it from our house with no problem. I downloaded the app and within days saw the names of several kids and teachers - middle/high school - that I knew attacked by kids using this app; pretty nasty posts calling out the names which is "not allowed" by the rules of the app. I reported each one, Called each persons mother or the teacher, wrote to Apple and to the YIK YAK creators. Within about a week of my "crashing" them with reports .....as I would pull up my app it would sometimes state "it looks like you are in a middle or hs and do not have permission to use this app." OR if I went to my "local" yik yak it would not pull anything up and said "this page is being reviewed." I posted to all of my FB parent friends twice and they were ON IT! Many thanks for your blog post here; have shared and it is going around like wild fire. Good job!
Although we are not dealing with this personally (our son is 2) my husband is a youth pastor and has found out that some of the worst apps for viewing pornagraphic images/videos that most parents are unaware of are twitter, Pinterest, Instagram,Vimeo, and You Tube. There was recently a situation where a teenager who did not have a phone was given a phone without her parents knowledge and using a snap chat like app to sext. We can take away phones, block apps and the like but this stuff is everywhere, the conversations need to be had about these apps and their danger with the kids not to mention how they could land themselves in trouble with the law!
My 12 year old daughter has a smart phone. I know some people disagree with this, but I use a program that remotely shows me everything she's done on the phone, every keystroke typed, page viewed, email/text sent, etc. also, and the number one reason I gave her the phone, with it's GPS capability, I can pinpoint where she is within 9 feet, any time I want. I can see if she's at her friends house, playing in the park down the street, or someplace she shouldn't be. Parenting is ultimately
I am a Twenty Something, and like to think that I have a pretty good control of what kind of information I let out. After reading this, I am deleting a few apps from my phone. "HOT OR NOT" "TINDER" and "BLENDR" are also bad apps. Hot or not I think is really bad, because even myself flipping through there, I see A LOT A LOT A LOT of young kids are on there, and it grosses me out. So please parents, take charge of your childs life. After all, YOU are THEIR protector.
I have a 13 year old daughter. An she is on her phone continuously. So when I ask to see it, it's never a good thing. It always results in a fight. So these are the apps she has: *Snapchat- deleted it*Watt pad*Get likes*shazam*day after*instalikes*tagsforlikes*tumblr*vine*wefollow*askfmI would like to know about these. That askfm is bad I think. A lot of cussing an stuff. Please let me know what you find out. Thanks a lot! I really appreciate you for doing your job.
Wow, scary. Not the internet, not new technology, not even what teens can get up to. What's scary is the clinical, totalitarian drift of much of these comments. It's like you want Brave New World or 1984 to happen, instead of actually being parents. Revealing comments here from younger readers - bottom line, you can't control every aspect of your children's lives (even if you lock them in the cellar for 18 years) - and as a parent you should NOT want to. Your responsibility is to HELP prepare them for life. To help them LEARN about danger etc. The best filter against the (probably much much fewer than you believe) predators out there is that wonderfully sophisticated process called your offspring. Only they can adapt to the ever-changing scene quickly enough. A list of "danger apps" is interesting but as you see, it's much much more nuanced than that - and the "real" list is huge and changes constantly. By all means act the dictator with very small kids, but progressively use it as a learning process on both sides. It's no difference from sex, drugs or any other edgy topic. Talk with them, about what the dangers are, discuss how to handle issues etc. but understand that ultimately you will be relying on them to do the right thing. Help them. Before smart phones, computer games, etc. there was always something. When nudity or alcohol are off-limits eg. for discussion, that fetishises them. You get binge drinking, objectification of body parts etc. It's parents' responsibility (and joy, surely - why else did you have kids?) to prepare their children for the world. Do the job right. Be there for them, but understand that there will be secret places you'll never see. That's healthy. But your relationship will determine what gets put in that secret place - wrapping them in cotton wool risks them putting the stuff you're trying to block in there, without a way of being able to handle it.
Talking Angelica is very dangerous it's suppose to be like talking tom n repeat what u say in a funny voice but it can also ask ur kids questions
I'm not entirely on board with Kik being on this list. Kik only puts users in your kik "phone book" if you have their number in your phone's phone book or if you are on another chatting website like omegle (or many others on this article). So, maybe, what you should be monitoring is your kids' friends. And in response to the people talking about vine being bad, its not. I have never seen a dirty video on there. I'd you don't want your kid to hear bad language then I can understand why you wouldn't want them to have it. Also, did any of you know that PornHub and many others like that have free (or cheap) apps? Think about that.
Tango is another one.
Great information! Update on Snapchat: BOTH user and receiver of images can save the image now.
How can I get updated on new apps like the ones above? This world is scary now. What do you know about Vine?
Snap Chat pictures are not deleted from the cellular device, they are simply hidden.
Be on the lookout!
As an 18 year old who didn't get a phone until my 16th birthday, I find this article humorous. Why? Because KIDS SHOULDN'T HAVE SMARTPHONES, IPODS, TABLETS, ETC. If you give your child a smartphone or similar device, that's your own fault. If they're not mature enough to be aware of the dangers of the internet, GPS, etc, then don't give them that means to access it. It's such a shame to see so many kids with a screen in front of their faces EVERYWHERE you go. Learn to raise your kid and not just distract them.
the solution to this..... give your child until a age of near 17-18 a "DUMB" Phone. take away the start of the ability to post photos, and give them just text ability with no tracking at all. children need to be taught responsibility, BEFORE they can use a device with that kind of capability. this is how i was raised and this is how i will raise my daughter ( now 4 ) until she can PROVE to me she can do things responsibly and know how to spot when someone is possibly attempting some erroneous crap like what these apps can present.
OR you can just simply not give your kids smartphones to begin with?? What child in elementary or middle school needs a smartphone? A basic phone will work just fine if they ever need to call for emergencies or "hey I have practice after school" situations. Start blaming your own parenting methods before pointing fingers at apps. Any app can be turned into methods of "sexting". Whether or not it is used for vulgar or innocent actions depend on how your child uses them. If they've even a shred of a brain or knowledge of what's right or wrong, then you shouldn't have to worry about them getting involved with the wrong side of human nature.
What sites are good for kids??? Having issues where we want a small group of girls to just be talking to each other without others able to join?
Thank you.
Covenant eyes is a program that you can download to devices that report what is inappropriate for you. This works with I phones ect. Not sure of details because my sons internship uses it and set it up. But you might want to research it. Thing is it is accountability so your children know about it.
Thought you might be interested in this.
Hello, just wanted to fyi on this info. Have a great day..Love ya Cynthia
Your kids are going to be kids. If they want to have sex, then they're going to have sex. They will lie to you, just like you did to your parents when you were kids. Only thing you can do is hope they make it to their 30s.
My daughter and her friends use Instagram a lot. Snapchat is something new for them. As long as I can verify the friends she is talking to, then I don't have a problem with it yet. So far all her friends are other girls she goes to school with. If somebody asks asks to be her friend she doesn't know, she asks me about it. She also has no problems chatting in front of me and getting me to read things. All of this has come from simply talking to her about the dangers and trusting her to be smart about it.
I have read a lot of these post, saying how important it us to trust my 16 yr old son and not read his messages. I had trust, and only periodically read his messages. Then one day I stumbled across a message that made me do a lot more checking. I came across several sexting messages. Pictures and videos that were a mom's worst nightmare. He had joined sites I had no clue existed. Ths most recent one is "f
How about a teens perspective on this? Most of those apps are harmless if you have Internet safety stuff going on at school or in the home. I use whisper, kik
I cannot say enough good things about Mobicip.comWe have it on our child's mobile device, she knows it, we pay for the premium version which sends me a weekly report on the internet searches done. It also blocks inappropriate content. My kid is happy to have it as my child really does not want to see anything inappropriate and doesn't want to get in trouble for doing something wrong. It's a safety net for all of us.
All you mother hens need to wakeup and realize one thing. Your kids wouldn't have these apps if you wouldn't make everything so "taboo" to talk about. Make open conversation a normal thing in your house and watch your kids grow up normally. Also, your kids are going to experiment sexually. There is nothing you can do about it. Open conversation is the only way
Ryan... Most things/consequences can be prevented by blocking these apps. If a teen gets raped or worse by someone they met through these apps, that can be prevented. This is not a scrape on the knee that you cover up with a bandaid if you get hurt by playing outside. And definitely not a teaching moment like when you tell your child not to touch the oven bc it's hot but they do it anyways. They will learn. But being abducted, raped or even worse is not a teaching moment. These have serious consequences. An accident is an accident, but this is not an accident when a teen intentionally wants to "meet up" with someone. That is totally preventable and that's why parents need to be on top of their game when it comes to monitoring their children.
Great article. I monitor my kids' devices, and they are fully aware of me doing it. Do they like it? Absolutely not. They're kids. The problem is that at some point these kids with phones and ipods are going to unintentionally come across hard core or disturbing pictures and videos that they are just too young or too immature to fully grasp. And by then it's TOO LATE. What does an 11-year-old child do with an image of hard core pornography? Your guess is as good as mine. The repercussions are yet to come. Teach your kids common sense when using the internet and apps, and please, warn them of the dangers.
Tango and Tinder are super scary too.
It's Simple! Never Give Your Kids Technology That You Don't Know How To Use. All you have to do is look in the App Store to see what apps your kids have and what those apps do. You cannot educate your kids on how to use the technology safely and appropriately if you yourself don't know anything about the technology that they are using. Educate your kids on the reasons behind your rules. Remember that they can always use a friends phone to access things that they are blocked on their phones. If they understand the logic behind your rules they are more likely to follow them when there's no one looking.
More apps that are being downloaded by kids. I know Andi still has snap chat on her ipod. Not sure on the others but regardless of what kim is allowing I think you should look through her device. Theres no bill on it but these warnings continue to come up. Im not sayong she's being inappropriate but the creeps that are tapping into these things are!
Thank you so much for this information. I am currently going through where to set limits with my daughters iPod. One app that I have a concern about is ask.fm. Thanks again
Tango is another one that shows distance
I am 14 years old. I feel as I am responsible child. I agree these apps can get pretty sexual! Tons of kids use them for nudes. However there comes point where you have to know your child. I have never used snapchat or vine in any bad ways. I send silly faces to my friends! I watch funny videos. In conclusion, i feel that it is the child NOT the app.
Talking Angela is very scary also. It asks kids their name and siblings name. What do they like do with their tongue...and several other very scary questions. It remembers everything they say and continues the conversation each time they use the app!
If your child has access to the web there is no possible way to see every little thing they do.. The best way to stop all the unnecessary dangers that lurk online is to cut out the internet completely. Why do they need cellphones, iPods, iPads or computers anyway?? They're just kids. What ever happened to kids playing outside and interacting with other kids their own age without having to text?? I'm so glad that all this technology wasn't as advanced while I was growing up. I really feel sorry for kids of today's world because they have no idea what a real carefree childhood is like.
I would like to knoe can you send me info
What about meow?
Snapchat also owns the rights to the pictures you send. Isn't that scary? You think it's only going to your friend for 2 seconds, but actually the creepy creators get to see and do whatever they want with it.
Hey Rik - Vine isn't like snapchat - it's more instagram but video. Also not a great one for teens...as it has permanency, unlike what they think snapchat has.
I as a parent have tried all these apps myself. Be an engaged parent, communicate! Snapchat does stay on your phone, I've tested it myself. My photos are all there on my laptop in a file. Here is a list of apps I've looked at: 4Chan, Ask.fm, Badoo, Down, Fake-A-Text, Hot or Not, iFunny, Instagram, IMVU, Kik, Melt, Messenger, Omegle, Palringo, Poof, Photo Vault, Reddit, Snapchat, Tumblr, Twitter, Vine, Voxer, Whisper, Yik Yak.
I agree with Jennifer...why do young kids even have cell phones?? Mine didn't get them until high school. Even then it was a basic phone that got passed down to the younger ones. When THEY could afford to pay the monthly bill for a smart-phone, that's when they got it. I also agree with educating your kid(s)about phones/apps/etc. You can't ban everything...and most of us don't live in a bubble. And, there are people don't abuse these apps.
Thanks for all the information
ask.fm is the worst. Since the questions are asked anonymously, there are a lot of inappropriate and harassing questions
Most of you sound like HORRIBLE parents. Keep your kid under your thumb. Don't give me the garbage about being a mean parent. It's your job to make them good people and citizens.
I got word through the grapevine that "talking Angela" a spin off of "talking tom" is being investigated as a potential child predator app.While "talking tom" simply repeats back whatever you say, "talking Angela" asks questions.... I have not investigated for myself but I am told by my daughter (who had and deleted the app prior to my knowledge) and a friend that the app eventually begins asking personal questions. Knowing that many of these apps have gps included in them makes it super scary for this mommy. Furthermore- YouTube is very sketchy. Even with the filter set to strict, I was able to pull up videos with HIGHLY inappropriate content.
check these out
Both of my daughters have used a couple of these apps. KIK and OMEGLE. My 12 yr old daughter was at a slumber party where the kids were on OMEGLE and a naked guy was talking directly to them, telling the kids to show themselves naked too. At least my daughter told me about it directly. I didn't know about KIK which my 10 yr old uses but I will ban it now.
If you can't trust your kids to not use apps like this, and to use others responsibly, your kid shouldn't have a smartphone at all. Sorry, but sometimes the parent can be at fault too.
your very over protective and its not your responsibility to tell parents what their kids have You need to back off
Here's a great post on protecting your kids online: http://www.challies.com/articles/the-porn-free-family-plan. Hope some of you might find this helpful!
It's so sad the things we have to watch out for - don't know if Daniel and David have smartphones - Skylar doesn't - kids have no clue how much potential danger is out in cyberspace
It's so sad the things we have to watch out for - don't know if Daniel and David have smartphones - Skylar doesn't - kids have no clue how much potential danger is out in cyberspace
Also, Porn on Pinterest...who would have thought? I personally know of several young kids who were allowed to have a Pinterest account,who were watching porn vidios and their parents had blocked the internet on their phones. With the Pinterest app easily downloadable in a few seconds, the world of porn opens up to your child. The parents I talked to had no idea, and thought it was perfectly safe.
I don't have kids, but when I do they can pay for their own phone if they really want one. I'm old fashioned, but man what does a 13 year need a phone for?
My daughter downloaded a Barbie dress up type app that "chatted" with people with the same app. She is 10 so she thought the app was just making up what it was saying. You could dress up the girls then go out on a,"date", etc. It was only when she was reading them to me asking,"Mommy what should I say back?" I realized what it was and deleted it! They had already figured out her name and that she was 10!
@Ryan: You sound like maybe you don't have kids and may have never had a rebellious bone in your body. Kids/teenagers have a mental block called "it can't happen to me" They think their parents don't know "their generation" and that they know how to protect themselves when, in fact, they don't have the experience to shut down an online relationship when it's sending up red flags that their PARENTS will recognize. It's not being closed-minded, it's being smart for our kids because they cannot be smart enough just yet.
Here's the thing guys, you all acting like technology is bad, is the worst thing to do! You need to look at these apps and talk to your children. Let's face it, there is absolutely no way to protect your child. You are outnumbered. Talk to your kids. My mother refused to let me have a Facebook. I on the other hand got one anyway. Facebook is not harmless, but if you know how to use it correctly, it's okay. Just because your kid may have SnapChat, Instagram, or Kik Messenger, does not mean they are using it for inappropriate things. I have all three and I'm not using them for the things you people think I am. Neither are half of the people using them! Instead of flipping out, talk to your kids and have a little faith in them.- a typical 16 year old
There is an app call Ky-Clac, it is a functional calculator that when a certain code is put in it goes goes to a private web browser.
Thank you for the information and for everyone that added other apps to watch out for in the comments.
Has anyone had any experience with Tango?
Omegle (and similar type sites/apps) are also available through Safari or Internet... So banning app downloads doesn't fix it. You can make Safari unavailable on the iPhone.
I'm 16 and I use apps like SnapChat, Kik,
Vine , Instagram , kik,snap chat, ask. Fm. The hunt! Thank you for all your work. Linda
Thank you so much gor the blob it is good to be educated with all these apps out there fof kids, and please everyone talk to your kids about the danger about these apps.
Many of the "dangerous" apps you are all so concerned with are harmless and used for completely legitimate communication, This list is nothing more then a over protective and paranoid mother who has nothing better to due then sit around and make rash assumptions based off some faulty and sloppy research and it makes me personally sad to see you all take the time out of you're day to read this while you should be teaching you're kids about how to properly behave so they wouldn't get involved with the supposed dangerous parts, and do not use the excuse "You're paying the phone bill, so you can do whatever you want!" You made the choice to get them these smart phones anyways so who are you to say that you can just invade there privacy ! we all deserve respect and if you have raised you're children correctly and not neglected them and bought expensive gadgets maybe they wouldn't have miss used the Apps because in the end here people it is not the App that is dangerous but you're kids that you failed to teach to be responsible.
What about Socialcam? I saw explicit sex on there with close-ups.
Honey please read
Thank you for the information!! I know you talked about kik, but wanted to tell you how right you are. We had an issue with my daughter on this app where some guy was contacting her unbeknown to us. When I finally saw a missed message to her I tried talking to him but would not give up who it was. I then called police locally. A detective called me back and said that it is a Canadian app and they would have to get the state dept involved in order to press the company for who this was. I am convinced it was an adult just by the way he talked. Lesson learned and we deleted the app. Keep up the good work.
I didn't let Alex have these apps on his phone when I paid for it. You should check to see if he has them now that he's on your account. I don't like Vine but I think he has it.
Thank you!
If there is an age restriction on an app say I have a few apps that asked if I'm 17 or 18 and click yes and it will down load I am 21 years old but if you ask me age restriction should be more complicated then just to click yes idk how you could make it more of a restriction by adding the bday but hell these days kids lie about their bdays to create accounts and stuff idk all I know is untill my daughters old enough she won't have a phone
Very Informative, thank you. I never did understand why people post where they are going, I think that is so dangerous in todays world. I do have my GPS setting to off for this very reason from the start. We watch TV shows like Criminal Minds, SVU, NCIS etc, and just think its TV, when in real life these things do happen. No one ever understands until it happens to them or one of their loved ones or friends. Be smart people, it just might save your life!!!
Send to april
This is great information. Thank you so much. I hope you continue to post information like this. Im not computer illiterate but Im not computer savy either.Mahalo from Oahu, Hawaii
Could I work part time doing what you do I am an insurance agent and work from my home and want to get involved in your mission
Yes! The internet is a terrifying and horribly corrupt system. We should shut if down completely!
Hot or Not. Lets kids say if they think the photos of other kids are hot or not and allows them to share information and connect. Also based on GPS. Really easy for a predator to post a fake picture and lure a kid in.
you guys are all stupid. the problem lies not within these "apps" but within your parenting skills and the relationship you build with your children. Stop freaking out about what is there on the "internet" and start worrying about whether or not your children are comfortable enough to talk to you about their own lives. *****From a current HS student
Thanks.... the ever changing world of technology or just the ever changing world is scary.
KIDS - DON'T GIVE THEM A SMARTPHONE! Teach them what a "REAL" phone is really used for. If you really need to give them one to keep them in touch with you, give them a simple phone. SMARTPHONES makes your kids lazy and dumb!
My mom used to check my reading material and my older sister checked browsing history for both me and my brother. She used to say "Use me as an excuse!" What she meant was that if my friends were pressuring me to search stuff I shouldn't I could say "My sister checks my history and she might see."Checking your children's phone doesn't mean you don't trust them, it's giving them the support they need to make good decisions.Aside from that, I think it's a bit insane how many children have smart phones. In highschool, I had a tracphone, and got along just fine. After highschool, my friends were paying $60-80 for a smart phone contract, and I opted to keep the tracphone for less than $10 a month. I didn't get a smart phone until I moved overseas and needed it to keep in touch with family. Both times I've been back in the states, I've reverted straight back to using prepaid minutes. It is absurd how many people believe smart phones and data plans are necessities.
I let my teen have facebook and instagram.I know the passwords and check the accounts daily.As far as some of the other apps/sites etc. Adults shouldn't use them much less children and teens. Society today is much too depraved and selfish and it's sad when we are all exposed to danger and filth .
My daughter uses kik, and I'm wondering how it keeps me from seeing the messages. I guess I'm seeing the texts but not the messages.
Ryan, you seem to forget that the older generation CREATED the internet so to say that they have no idea of necessary caution with regard to it only highlights your own naivety. Whilst the younger generations are admittedly a lot more active online, to say they have a better idea is ridiculous. The very fact that so many youngsters end up comitting suicide as a result of online bullying, get raped and worse just goes to show what little idea they and their slightly older generation parents actually have. The internet can be an extremely useful and beneficial tool for people of all ages, its only getting out of hand for youngsters as a result of the blase attitude that so many "modern" parents have toward their kids access. Nobody is saying kids should not have access to social sites, just that those that they do have access to should be vetted and decided upon by thier parents. You are rght when you say they could just as easily get hurt taking part in outside activities but this just supports an even stronger case for attentive and responsible parenting, part of which is taking in hand the responsility of controlling access to such vastly diverse communication mediums such as the Internet and if that means blocking access to certain sites and Apps then so be it. I applaud the efforts of people like Kristin Peaks whose dedication to their research is, after all, in the best interests of not only our kids, but our own as well.
The only reason I think a child should have a phone is for an emergency. I'm talking a basic "old time" cheap NON smart phone. Just something that they can call their parents, guardians or 911 with. They don't need a smart phone or to be sitting on their asses all day on their computer or phone. Go the hell outside and play...get some excersise, be a kid and stop trying to grow up so fast.
Rather than betraying parent/child trust, one could just block port numbers or protocols used by these kind of apps thru the phone company. Problem solved without looking like a control freak driving kids away. Prevention at the cost of trust would just make it less likely that kids will tell their parents when something bad happens. Keeping communication and trust open are important for a healthy lifelong relationship.
I'm a teen in high school and let me tell you, we (as in my friends and I) don't use snapchat to sext. The majority of other teens I know don't as well. It's an app where we send our funniest faces, maybe our outfit of the day, and whatever else we are doing (ie. Facebook, making music, hanging out with other friends, dancing, etc etc.) snapchat is one of my favorite apps to use. I haven't heard of these other apps, but searching through your child's phone breaks their trust with you because we think you don't trust us. When my mom searched my phone freshman year I hardly ever came home. It's just another way to push your kids away.
Snapchat pictures may be deleted from the phones, but as we just found out from our local police department they are stored on the snapchat servers and can be obtained with a warrant for criminal investigations.
I didn't even know what ask.fm was until my daughter showed me that someone from her school was bullying her on there and it's all anonymous. The things said to her were terrible, now I'm much more aware of her apps and what's going on.
Ask.fm......completely inappropriate for, well, anyone but especially for teens.
Ask.fm has also been banned in out house...another suggestion that I did was set up a security password on my daughters phone that only allowed ME to add or remove apps. So sandy time she wants to add an app she has to come to me first and I can go online and investigate before allowing it. Did that with ask.fm and the first article I found confirmed my decision to not allow it
Just wanted to let all the parents know that u can have the internet shut off on phones and your child can still call and text that's how I have my daughters phone set up
Easiest thing to do is... not have your child using an iphone. I have four kids, they do not have cell phones or tablets or get to play on the internet unless it is specified sites that I o.k. I never had a cell phone growing up, and I turned out fine. The whole kids using cell phone and getting into trouble thing is an easy fix. Don't let kids use devices they are not responsible enough to use. There are enough dangers out there without exposing our children needlessly. So in my household, you want an iphone, tablet, etc. Get a job and buy it yourself. If they are responsible enough to get a job, save the money, buy the devise and then pay to have that device hooked up and online, then they are responsible enough not to get into trouble with it. Teach the kids to respect the device. Respect people, not that hard. I don't think a 12 year old girl or boy has any right to be talking on social media. These types of apps are for adults. End of story.
As for those apps that can have GPS enabled, just turn them off in the Location Services. IMHO, it's the parent's responsibility to be aware of how the phone and the functions.
My daughter is 13 n uses snapchat Kik n tried the yik yak. She is very private w her phone or tries to be. Time for me to check her phone out!!!!
Oh my heck, my 10 yr old daughter has kik on her iPad. Her friend told her to get it so they could text. I'm taking it off immediately!! Thank you for your article. It may have saved my daughters future!!
Also add the popular game Clash of Clans to the list. When you are a part of a "clan" you have a chat feature. There are clans that only exist for sexually explicit chatting.
okay i only have kik messenger and snap chat and they are only my friends
okay i only have kik messenger and snap chat and they are only my friends
Excellent article about apps to watch out for and be aware of, but how about a much more simple solution? Don't give your children a phone (or at least not a smart phone) until they really need it. If they need a phone before they start driving (for example if they're working, or going lots of places and need a way to be in contact with you), just get them a basic dumb phone. That's my plan for my future kids (whenever I have them, that is).
I agree with teaching for teens and yet while they know a lot about apps they don't know as much as some of the perverts out there... we as parents are still responsible for guiding our children no matter what age... Would you allow a pervert into your home without protecting your children... I doubt it...
How do you block an app from your wifi?
What drives me crazy about this article is that you think every kid is going to sext with every single app in the article. Maybe, some kids are just using the apps to talk to their friends. I think you should stop JUMPING TO CONCLUSIONS and think about the other possibilities BEFORE you write an article next time.
I have a 6 yr old who loves playing on talking tom but someone warned me anout it recently. What's the official story?
"Please note: You can turn location services, or GPS, off on cell phones by going in to the device settings. This will keep the Apps and photos from posting the exact location or whereabouts of the phone user."Which is a massive waste of your time, because if your kid wants to use location services, it takes less than five seconds to turn it back on. Unless the kid in question is under five, but if you're concerned about your four-year-old sexting, you have bigger problems than their location settings.
World-proofing your kid is MUCH safer and more reliable than trying to kid-proof the world. Quit trying to keep "bad" "scary" apps off your kids phone, and teach them risk assessment, net safety, and privacy protection instead. Spying on your kids in the interests of "protecting" them only teaches them that they don't have a right to defend their privacy - a lesson I'm sure will be appreciated by any future abusive partners they may hook up with. By contrast, teaching them HOW to be safe protects them for life, and makes them feel trusted, which gives them an extra incentive to do the right thing. Some of your seem to think kids are stupid. With that attitude, I'm not surprised your kids feel the need to do stuff behind your backs. If you can't trust your kid with these apps, then the problem isn't the app, it's that you raised an untrustworthy kid.
I used to use text plus silver which is an app that lets you have an alternate phone number to text. I would text people my parents would ban me from texting through the app so they never knew I was still in contact
Believe it or not, there are a lot of apps that you probably use that are definitely not safe for parents or for kids. Pinterest, for instance, has become full of pornography. I blocked pinterest. Great app, but when it became a safe haven for pornographers and sex trafficking, I decided it wasn't worth it.
I personally got my first phone at the age of 8. I'm 14 now and I have yet to do anything wrong with my phone. I think parents should stop being nosy and start just telling their kids what not to do. If they raised the kid right, they'll listen.
Good job keep up the good work and may The Lord bless you .thank you!
Parent tip: if you allow apps on your kids phones, use the same Apple ID as them for the App Store. Then configure your device to auto download any new app that is purchased on the account.Idk if the android phones have the same ability. Can someone confirm if they do?
I our Hesse this product u think. Please get it done a soo a possible!
great Job! While This May be Informative To Parents, This Is Also A Gold Mine For Teens And Kids Who Are Looking For this Stuff. one Mom Shares This, And Her Daughter Sees All Of These Apps She Can Use And Tell Her Friends About. I Feel Like ThIs Article Was Made By The Creators Of these Apps, For Concerned Mothers To Share With Other Concerned Mothers, In Hopes That Their Kids Would Catch A Glimpse And Spread The Word To Their Friends On Some Valuable Apps That They're After.
what if the kid is paying there own phone bill can i still check his or her phone?
So, lemme see if I got this right...A. Kids SHOULDN'T be allowed to have smart phones. They lack the life experience to handle the drama that could come from mishandling such a powerful tool.B. Kids SHOULD have smart phones because that's the world we live in, and the wise parent will guide their children through the techno-intro because if they don't, their friends will, and I have NO control over what my child's acquaintances have on their phones.And the answer is...I don't know. I certainly can't say for anyone but my family, but one thing I do know. Whether I shelter my kids like greenhouse plants from the wild world until they are strong enough to take it on their own, or I take their hands and walk with them through the dark alley of this crazy, twisted world, one thing is imperative. My hand is not enough. My shelter is not enough. Hard knocks and wild oats are not enough. My children must know that whatever happens, there is One who loves them enough to die for. Jesus Christ has taken all their sin, all their pain, all their drama, so they can live life abundantly.He has for us too. If we focus on Jesus, the journey gets a lot clearer. He is, after all, the light of the world!Cryoutforwisdom.blogspot.com
How about talking to your kids PROPERLY about sex, the internet, and the consequences? That is a thing you can do. And do it early. Be a damn parent for once.
Vine is nothing like snap chat it's just like YouTube but the longest the video can be is 6 seconds
None of these apps are bad unless you make them bad Vine- don't follow people who put bad stuff Snapchat- teach your kid not to do bad stuff like that (most of the time kids don't anyways) Kik- don't talk to strangers Instagram- make yourself anInstagram and monitor your kids stuffYou need to give your kid TRUST!
Or you could, I don't know, raise responsible children who know better than to give out personal information or images in a public forum...Kids are gonna sext. Just make sure they know where to draw the line.
Thanks so much for this information! I worry continually about my grandchildren and sharing this has made it possible for us and most of all, my children can keep in touch with their children's apps and have knowledge.about the mthem. Another way Satan is sneaking in our families lives!
To all who are parents that care about there children's "supervision on line" "please Read This!!"
I recently had to remove a FunnyJokes app from my daughters phone. She had only been chatting with this "boy" for a night before I caught it, thank God. As I read these posts it was scary, it was almost like he was following a script for predators 101. Not something I expect possible from a joke app. So, parents please watch everything your children download.
So snap chat my daughter has. Can u tell me a little more to understand fully how this is bad for kids. Thanks
what about BOOM! my kids have a "dumb" phone with no texting, seemed so simple
I could not find any of the apps on Apple's App store. 4-19-2014.
Shouldn't Facebook be on the list? Just because it is well known doesn't make it any less dangerous for children to connect with people that could pose a risk.
Thanks for that. It was VERY informative. I'm a 13 year old myself. Thanks for warning me.
For those of you that use covenant eyes... It cannot monitor apps, and if you don't block the App Store or require a password to download apps, then the user can download other web browser apps which will not be monitored. I also think that if you think not giving a smart phone to a child will solve the problem, it will not. Parents still need to teach their children how to use technology wisely because they will certainly be exposed to whatever is on their friends' phones without your knowledge. I think it is impossible to teach your child everything they need to know to be safe with technology because it is constantly changing. You may want to show your child you trust them, but how can you teach them unless you are able to see the kinds of apps they have access to? Parents need to be able to sit down with their children and look at this together and come up with a system that allows the parent to have input in what their child is doing on their devices. You may teach your child to be smart, but predators will be smarter than them. Your child may not even realize that they are giving too much information bc predators can find sneaky ways to get information out of kids. And one slip up could be very bad. That is why you don't let your kids play in the street and when they are very young you discipline them if they run into the street. It only takes one car to kill someone who wanders in the road, and your child could wander unknowingly into something dangerous. It's just not worth it. I don't let my kids walk 10 blocks to school alone, even though we live in a pretty safe area. The risk is just not worth it.
How would one get access to a child's phone, if they have a password?
Dangerous Apps to avoid
While it is noble to share these kinds of things, I would like to point out that the majority of kids know how to get around any blocks a parent puts in the way of their access to technology or knows someone else that does and is willing to help. I still see where it is good to share these things, but it is still far more important to just teach your kids to not partake in things that can potentially endanger them. Not really tell them not to, just make it so they are not interested.-The guy that always got past his relatively tech-savvy parents security measures. ;D
This is so stupid, all you parents care about is coming to this board and pretending to care so you can post and act like you are some great parent! what can I block next,I destroyed my kids cell phone or ipod, yes applaud me I am great parent. Great job you desyroyed something that didn't need to be destroyed but it helped avoiding to talk to your kid about the dangers disnt it, great job! All I have read is, is this safe? Oh what can I block on wifi, I destroyed my kids ipod! Learn to use these devices before you complain about them
you forgot facebook
YikYak is becoming a major problem at the high school level. Since it is anonymous, the kids can say what they want...The text travels around the school and is causing serious problems for the school and the staff..
My girls are watched over pretty hard. My oldest is almost 21 so out of my control, but other than games she sticks to fb. She knows it will bother her if she feels slighted or attacked so she avoids it all. My youngest is just 11 and has blocks on her services. I have allowed snap chat only because her friends have it, but all friends are monitored. Then just games and no fb for her.
Before I begin, I am writing from a teen perspective. I'm somewhere in the 1-19 range and I feel that I should address a few points to inform parents around the world.1. Although this article might preach internet/smartphone safety, one must provide his or her name and email address before commenting. How hypocritical... Therefore, I am using an alternate email and an alias. (Imagine that! A teen knows how to post safely!) 2. While technology provides many opportunities for getting into trouble, at the end of the day we teenagers get into trouble because we are not properly instructed on how to behave. Properly instructing your teen on how to behave does NOT include saying, "Now sugar-muffin, I'm asking you not to abuse [app name] or I'll [punishment name]." Properly instructing your teen requires two perspectives. Ask your teen why they want to use a certain feature/app. If you have questions, ask! Unless we didn't get enough sleep, we'd be more than happy to answer. Now, I am sure many parents will completely disagree with my statement, but if someone wanted to stop me from using a bad app, I'd respond much better to a civilized chat than smashing my phone with a hammer. 3. I'd like to list the current apps I use and include how I use them:Instagram- I follow my friends, family, celebrity idols/sports accounts, and accounts that implement humor into their posts.Kik- I message people from my school only. Much like how parents don't go onto their phones and call/text random numbers such as 3728282828, teens do not search for usernames like lookingforprey123 or meetatmcdonalds.(Never used)Snapchat- My mother and I had a civilized discussion and concluded that I have no need for a snapchat and that there can be more harm than good done.4. If I were a helicopter parent, I would shelter my teen using these steps:*Note that I have no experience with mobile filters*a. Manage the apple account (only you have the password)- any time your child wants to download something, talk about it first for at least two minutes.b. Check purchase history to discover if your teen cracks the password. If they do, and only then, you have gained the ground to smash their device using any means you find necessary.c. Be open with your children about topics that you do not want them to be searching for on the internet. The Internet's original goal was to gain information, so if someone is already well-informed, there is not much more to learn.d. If you are going to allow use of non carrier messaging (3rd parties), you have no reason to check the messages.e. If you want to check text messages sent using your carrier, do it using your computer. Do not open your child's phone and search through it, as we can usually tell when you do so.f. I would not recommend creating an account on modern social networking and friending/following/monitoring them. If your teen has an older sibling, I would recommend asking them to follow your young'in and update you when something bad happens.I hope this helped! I would really love to invite people to contact me as needed for advice, but then I'd be violating some basic internet safety principles. On another note, just as teens should not be getting lip piercings beause "everyone else is", parents should not be deleting apps/smashing phones with hammers/following children on Facebook because "so-and-so from a website that compromised my identity and email did so". Actually, I'm not sure if parents are bandwagoning or if they are just trying to become the elite league of parents, but either way, you usually know what's best for your child.
Our oldest has a phone so when he stays at home or goes to a friends house he can use his app to check in where he goes. His phone uses my account so if he wants an app he has to have me enter the password and I can see all apps that have been downloaded to any of my devices on that account. Any questionable games they play we've alway talked to them they know the difference between fiction like TV, movies, and games and what is wrong or harmful in real life. I agree with the teaching if you come across it then block it, but just blocking it if found does no good, kids that don't know or don't think they are doing anything wrong will continue to do it.
The school that my boys go to said they are having problems with bulling ect... that they discovered an app used by chn as young as 8 to 12 is called KiK. the first i heard of it and have since read up on it. Thank-you for passing out other such apps that are disturbing and to watch out for them. My boys are almost 9 and are mainly into games only not the social ones, but i do have it on locks and try to oversee what they are using and have talks about their games, that they always excitedly inform me how the game went. Pairs
I recently heard of one called "secrets" (or something like that). You can send an anonymous message to all the contacts in your phone, and it is being used for cyber bullying and spreading rumours, including by adults in the workplace. So, your child may get a nasty message about themselves, but it has been sent by one of their 'friends', and they can never know who - what a way to erode trust and fragile self-esteem!
my 11 year old has an ipod and has used kik and is currently using snapchat. I wasn't happy with kik so persuaded her to stop using. I thought snapchat was ok, but now realising that they can screen shot and save - scary. My girl is smart, but still innocent and I appreciate the info to keep abreast of what's happening. Scary to be a parent sometimes...
I'm 20.and a psychology major, and have a 12 year old sibling with every piece of technology. People need to realise times change. Oversheltering is the number one reason for experimentation. My parents were open, honest but trusted me, and I knew what would be a bad idea at a young age, so does my younger sibling. Kik is used mostly to talk about their first crush, snapchat to send pictures of silly faces.. If your child is sending nudes, or sexting they're doing worse in person.And judging from these comments most likely because they feel like they have 'missed out' because of being sheltered
My 14 year old does not have a smart phone, even though she complains, and has been rude and mean to us over the last couple of years about that, says she is emabarrassed etc, we do not give in. We still say NO to a smartphone. We always remind her that the phone is for one basic reason - to contact her parents or school and to communicate with us where she is. We also put limits on texting on our account and if she gets an attitude, she can only text us.
I read a lot of these posts and see a lot of kids that get what they want until they break the rules? I have a 13 and 16 year old boys one has had a phone for almost 3 years and the other for just over a year. I believe that if you have a open relationship with your children explain the consequences of their actions they will make smarter choices. my children know at anytime I just ask for the phone and I am allowed to look at everything that is on the phone. So far I have only seen one questionable photo. and that was removed by him and all is good.
If you're raising your kids instead of them raising themselves these wouldn't be an issue. Sad
There's also an app called TANGO! this one is awful people can add you by gps and location services, it lets u video call send messages and anyone can access anyone profile, I have it but it's got a lock on I could never imagine my kids having it, they do have tablets but don't have any apps and "talking Angela" is terrible after 30 mins of playing on that it had asked my 6 year to try "funny adult drinks" and if He had a girlfriend and if he kissed her and touched her! Fuming parent... App is deleted and now blocked all talking apps x
My kids are on Vine, Instagram, twitter and use to have snapchat. I agree the children and students today are not aware of the situations they are putting themselves in. At the school I teach I talk to the students about dangers of using APPS(social media related) carelessly. Many have been talking about KIK. I am glad I read this article. Keep me posted. Thanks
I am 31, single and do not have any children. Therefore, take my advice with a grain of salt. HOWEVER - you parents asking more about apps, why they're bad for your kids, how they can be blocked/deleted, etc., are to blame here (as another commenter mentioned). Why you would give your CHILD a device that you yourself are not educated on is completely mind-blowing to me. Parents are responsible for the safety of their children. Would you give them matches without informing them that they could be burned? Do you put them behind the wheel of a car without teaching them and educating them on the safety of driving? The same is true of phones. We live in a digital age; this is not new news or rocket science. If you care - at all - about your kid's safety, whether it be physical, emotional, spiritual, do not give them something that will HARM them. Be a parent, and don't rely on articles like this one (although informative) to do the parenting for you. And seriously - "is there a way to block these sites..." It's 2014, people. It's called internet monitoring. Your kids will likely be babysitting my kids, and that? Is frightening.
I think that children can be taught without pain. When a child is exposed to sexual immorality, the more they are exposed to it the more they adapt I the idea. It gets in their heads and eventually into their texts and God forbid, pictures. If you teach your child before hand about these apps, but continue to give them opportunities to use it, u are just teaching them that they can get away with it. That is my standing on this issue
Thanks for keeping us up informed, I posted a link back to this article on the youth culture report. http://theyouthculturereport.com/7-dangerous-apps-that-parents-need-to-know-about/
Dumb Ways To Die was actually developed by the Melbourne Train company to teach people that trains hurt. Is is super popular - I saw someone playing itnon the NYC subway the other day!
Haven't seen if it is posted here. For iPhones/iAnything, set up your child's iTunes account as a shared account off your own - all apps that are downloaded need a password controlled by the adult, the apps can be seen by the account owner, and they can be monitored in that fashion instead of searching the phone. Not sure how the android system works.
You all are so naive. I am a 16 year old girl, and I can tell you right now,that when parents monitor their children's phones, and stand over their shoulder watching every little thing they do, kids get sneaky. Parents who allow no freedom have the wildest kids, I've watched it happen. So instead of worrying about being "smart,good, and protective, mommies and daddies" think about how you're effecting your child. I know that I hated it when my parents acted like they didn't trust me. Just because teens aren't fully grown up, we still learn from our own mistakes. We don't learn from being scolded, it just teaches us how to do it again- just sneakier and more under the radar. Take my advice, considering it is coming from a teenager, like your children you are oh-so-worried about. We aren't idiots, and if your son or daughter does something really bad, it will be brought to your attention without practically stalking them.
Thanks for the useful information
How do you block these sites if you have a wireless connection in the house/ Im not very good at the technology of computers....Thanks....South Africa
'Smartphones' would have been originally intended for adults to deal with their busy lives but now children are constantly playing with them. Of course they have apps that are potentially dangerous for children, because most apps are designed for adults. People are giving these adult-toys to children unsupervised - what do you expect? Don't blame the app. Just don't give your 10 year old a bloody iPhone for Christmas. They will benefit more from something constructive such a bike or a musical instrument.
This article is helpful in raising awareness about these apps. The apps, however, aren't so much the problem. The way in which the child is using them is the issue. If a child makes a secret account, then there's an issue about the secrecy, not the app. The solution isn't deleting the app necessarily, because the child still wants to be secretive so they will find a way. The real issue has not been solved or addressed. Punishing bad behavior isn't dealing with the root of the bad behavior, which means that it will most likely continue. Children need to learn how to handle themselves on social media, just like we had to. They need to know that privacy settings are there to protect them. That's only part of it. There's also the bigger problem of content. If a 10 year old child is masturbating and filming it and posting it, there's a major problem. And the app is not to blame. If a teenager is sexting, they can do that with a simple text message. If they want to be nasty, they will be nasty. Children need their parents to guide them through their journey by teaching them about the full picture of their actions and the natural consequences. It's easy to delete an app. It's really difficult to find the right tension of guidance, love, acceptance, trust, teaching, consistency, and consequences. But that's what we're called to do as parents. We're fully capable of finding that perfect tension if we're willing to not take the easy way out. Trust is earned. Trust is necessary for any healthy relationship.
I am so thankful we have a family account for downloading apps and the kids do not have the password. They have to come to us to have a new app downloaded. It gives us a chance to research a new app request before granting or denying access. I just had a request this morning for google hangout....
7 Apps that are most dangerous
My 2 children that we adopted has at least 3 of these sites...When I get home tonight they will be "Gone".I know they will be mad.but I'd rather be safe than sorry..Thank you for the info
It's really scary but many apps are scary. I believe that just by them having access to the Internet is BAD. My daughter was messaging back and forth to someone living in Texas and we are in Cali. She said she met thru twitter. I took her phone away and I called that number and talked to tha guy/ man and told him if he tries to contact her again I will notify the police over in Texas. Thank u for the information.
Check this
Can u suggest apps for messaging that may be safer than these?
Had an issue this past weekend with Tango. Not much security on the program at all.
Half of the apps on this list are only "dangerous" if you consider sexual exploreation dangerous. If your kid dosn't know enough about sex or sexuality to be safe about it then it is you as parents who have failed them, not these apps.
Instead of hiding these apps, why not teach your child the purpose of the apps and how they can be abused. teach them to look out for abusive things and delete them and don't participant. I don't get this whole ban everything that could hurt my kids thing.
Informative article. Thank you, Kristen. Kik and Snapchat have been on our 14 year old's iphone, but they've lost favor to instagram and vine. The social media celebrities on vine are intriguing to her. I wonder, on the opposite end of the spectrum, are there Apps that parents need to know about... that are good for kids to have?
All I see with these comments are ignorant parents that do not understand how to properly teach about these things because they don't understand the apps themselves. Pretty amazing how you can shield your children from the real world until it hits them like a bus. Have fun with your socially dysfunctional children.
We use My Mobile Watchdog on my 13 year old daughter's phone. It only costs $5 a month and is so worth it. It keeps transcripts of her texts, we set times online that she is able to use her phone and when it should be locked out. It has a GPS feature so we can see where she is and where she has been. If she downloads an app it blocks it and won't let her open it until we go online and approve it. It's not that I don't trust my daughter. It's that it is our job to protect her. Best way we could possibly spend $5 a month!
Check out oovoo
This looks like a Nancy Grace type of article that provokes fear and hysteria into parents (mostly middle-aged women). Yes, parents do need to be aware of what their kids are doing, but the suggestion that it's ok to invade their privacy is downright wrong unless the child or teen has done something that warrants a loss of privacy. It's the same thing as reading your kid's diary- they will not trust you any more and the parent-child relationship will be damaged. Helicopter parents who snoop around are only going to make their kids hide more information from them because the kids won't feel comfortable actually communicating.Additionally, parents are meant to guide their kids and that means communicating, teaching, and also allowing them to make age-appropriate decisions. Sometimes, it even means trusting them within reason. All of these Apps are not necessarily bad by themselves if used responsibly. Most people I know use SnapChat to send silly jokes and funny pictures (like any other picture App or camera for that matter). Some people use it for sexting, but that can go with any camera. The app is not the problem, the lack of parenting is. Instead of banning things, TALK to your kids. Set boundaries as well as consequences. If you are concerned about their behavior, then don't get them a phone until you feel like they are old enough (IMO 16 is a fair age).
If you turn the GPS off on your kids phone you won't be able to track them!
Read this!!!
Pls send
Ask.fm is just asking for people to bully you!!! It is awful. Thanks for this information. It is hard as a parent to know all the "new" apps out there.
You funny! Keep personal info private?! No such thing anymore darlin's. Parents are naive if they think today's kids don't know 100 x more than we ever will.
I have to disagree with some of these comments. As parents we assume that our kids will not be responsible. Some of you say you have passwords that is needed to download an app. Seriously you all need to grow up. Any social network or any app has the potential to be dangerous, but how can you learn to trust your child if you don't allow them the chance to be responsible. You have to start small. First of all you have to pay attention to the content of things. You want allow them to have an instagram, kik, or snap chat, but you let them watch fight videos posted on Facebook and then they try to reenact it by making a video of their own. Kids will always find a way to outsmart parents. If they can't download the app on their phone then they will use a friends when you are not around. We as parents have to teach our kids to make wise decisions because trust is a 2 way street and if you cannot trust your child to make right decisions then maybe it is you who have the problem. If you make a child be responsible then you won't have to live in fear. If you don't they will hate you for not trusting them and you do not want that. So as a parent you have to put something in place that works. Its not always what the parents want but what is the best way that the parents can trust a child without worrying.
I have snap chat but never use it does it effect me
If they run these apps over your wifi, then use a sniffer program to capture what they are chatting about.
funny - What we were just talking about
I have a 14 year old
Everyone take a deep breath and let it out slowly. First, those of you who are declaring that "no child of mine will have a cell phone" and "I only allow my kids to use the internet under supervision and only for school projects," go to sleep and then try to wake up in this century. Our world runs on this stuff. Don't make your kid into the future office idiot who can't demonstrate proficiency in modern tech.Second, EVERYTHING under the sun is dangerous to your kid when used like a derp. The more you make this crap interesting to your kids by trying to "protect" them from it (by treating them like criminals), the more you will struggle to retain control. Helicopter parents- that's what we hiring managers call you. Your kids end up being so crippled by your "protections" that they seriously can't make simple choices alone. You've bullied many of them into being weak, submissive misfits who will continue to wait for someone to walk them through EVERYTHING and take zero initiative. The rebellious ones might make a bold effort here or there but they're just as bad because they've never had to truly take responsibility for anything. If they make a mistake they expect the world to put up safety bumpers for them and continue to do what they've always done. Third, I really can't stress enough that teaching responsible use and good sense is priority
Along the same lines as Hannah a ways down the thread, without a doubt, if your child has any real competence they will find a way around the rules/restrictions. I'm a college senior, 22, and can tell you numerous times I and my friends subverted the rules on tech devices in high/middle school, from purchasing/trading extra ipods, to storing porn on thumbdrives/hidden locations in folders in computers, to installing a keylogger program to get passwords (when my parents would type it in an innocent circumstance) to restrictive monitoring programs, to creating a different username for an account of an app or additional apple ID (very applicable nowadays). It's very easy to do if you know what to do. From my experiences, if your concerned about your child's safety, education and proactive involvement is the best way to go. A good parenting relationship goes much further than basic rule setting and overly concerned parenting.
why is you all making it so easy for this to happen??????????????
this is indeed a yummy notifications to parents and guidians whom the responsiblities of their children's orientation rest upon their shoulders. if you are mention a dangerous Apps, then you have to include Apps like: WhatsApp, Queep Mobango and most widely used, Facebook. these 3 Apps i mentioned are full of easy access of sharing filthy images, videos and documents.care should also be taken about tthem.
FYI.. Gotta keep your eye out for this stuff now!
Please share this info
Just so you know
many tnx kristin for your wonderful info,your great!
To those of you saying " children don't need cell phones". You are absolutely incorrect with that statement. In today's society and how fast technology is growing, to hinder a child from using a cell phone is very dangerous.. unless you live in the hills and don't have to work for 8-12 hours without seeing your kids, KIDS NEED TO LEARN A WAY TO COMMUNICATE TO THEIR PARENTS OR ANYTHING IN CASE OF AN EMERGENCY. We see on TV a lot now about these "mass shootings" in the least places you'd think. MALLS. MOVIE THEATERS. SCHOOLS???? where young people are. and you feel it's right to block them from something that could save their life? let you know that they are okay.
FYI, not so much of a worry with Seth now, but probably will be with Reagan.
Hot or not? Hangouts? Instagram
Its easy and any parent should know. Just like handing your kids the keys to a car, they have to have a license to drive it. All smart phones require an email address to operate it. I made an agreement with my teen that I would not constantly snoop but at any time I could access her email and see what is going on. Also all smartphones have the ability to set restrictions. You can configure the market/appstore to require a password in order to purchase/download apps. You can also configure this to send an email with a recipt of any download done from the market/appstore. With a little know how and coming to an understanding with your child you can avoid these pitfalls. And I totally agree that children should be educated about all of these apps and there potential danger. You need to teach your children about the internet and agree on boundaries. Below are some links on setting up restrictions on iphone and android. Iphone: http://support.apple.com/kb/ht4213Android: http://nakedsecurity.sophos.com/2013/12/19/five-minute-fix-setting-up-parental-controls-on-androids/Pc: http://www.pcworld.com/article/2042233/how-to-child-proof-the-internet.html
How can I block these apps?
I thought I was being a good mom by closely monitoring my children's phones and Facebook. What I didn't know was my preteen daughter had 7 other Facebook accounts that I knew nothing about and was exposed to all kinds of things and talking to men in other countries. My kids no longer have smart phones and have very limited internet access
Did not see Keep Safe mentioned here..... Can hide any texts, photos, videos
Great info, but no matter how strict/careful we are, my son has ten friends that dont have the same rules. So he sees and participates no matter what I do. He cant live in a bubble. Best I can do is try to be informed so I know what to look for and ask about. And yes he needs a smart phone. They use their phones for school work inc internet research and aps for study notecards and band tuner all the time.
I am an 18 year old student and when I was growing up my parents used the teach method. When snapchat first came out I downloaded it and so did my mom. We sent each other funny pictures all day. Then again I have always been trustworthy and more mature then others my age. However if i would have thought about doing something wrong i wouldn't have done it just knowing that i could potentially send it to my mom. All im saying is just because we are young doesn't mean that we don't deserve the opportunity to prove that we can handle adult responsibility at a young age. Be open, and play along use these apps to communicate instead of texting or calling if they thought about doing anything chances are they are going to be too paranoid now.
I m so discusted with this all. - how much more stress can parents endure before we snap. **But thanl you for this info. Add it to my worries ( like i dont have enough)
I have three daughters ages 14,13 an 17 months. My oldest two have cell phones and I have found that with I phones you can link them all together so whatever they download automatically get downloaded to my phone as well. It's the same with contacts and any videos they watch. I trust my kids implicitly but I also remember what it was like to be that age and to have everything at their fingertips like they do now is just not a good thing. So all the iPhones and iPods and iPads are linked together. One of the only reasons I love apple.
Don't forget facebook and Twitter, you can send and receive private messages, see pictures, people see yours, know when your out with check ins and so on, a basic text message and picture message can be deleted when sent or received, pardon my sarcasm but it's not apps you need to worry about but parents that do not educate their kids to the dangers that are out there. Older parents that have young children are at greater risk as they do not have the education themselves to teach the younger ones.
We had a bad experience with the app VINE. My son and his friend would make simple very short videos and post them on vine. Vine has followers and soon a pornographic group was following my son and his friend and invited them to view their photos! Vine was immediately deleted from my sons ipad!
I am sickened, BUT very very thankful for this post. Why is it so hard to keep our kids safe? SMH. THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!! I will def be trying my best to keep up with my kiddos technology. ;)
I think all Online Apps need to be a concern for parents.. If you think your child is responsible enough to either have online access or a phone… Then you need to be a responsible parent and check it constantly and talk to your child just as much. We allow it, We regulate it.
FYI...if you have placed parental controls on your child's android phone, they can reset the phone which disables everything which allows them to get back in to the play store and obtain what apps you have restricted.
Excellent article! We keep my daugther's ipod and kindle connected to our accounts and only we have the password.
For youth parents
I have recently learned about the KIK app and my 13 yr old no longer has an electronic device. Most children just don't understand nor do they want to understand the danger in these apps. Thanks for the advice. Keep us updated
Thank you for this valuable information. Information to help protect our children from predictors helps busy and uninformed parents
Look at meetme as well.
My daughter is a 6th grader this year and wanted a fancy phone. I told her that's a want, not a need, and that she can have a phone if she pays for it herself. And she is. But she found out quickly that affording a smart phone is out of her ability to pay through baby sitting gigs. I just can't justify providing her a smart phone that can give her access to these types of apps and other bad things. Once she can pay for it herself, I think she will be more likely to have the maturity she needs to treat it responsibly.
For the majority of these, the things that are 'bad' about these apps are ridiculous. They have the potential to be bad, but most of the apps actually are fighting against it. Snapchat for example, they actually have Screen-Shots blocked now. Kik is equivalent to texting. If your kid is doing something they aren't supposed to on those two apps, that's poor parenting. Also, if you're stupid enough to enroll your child in public education and fear that they are being exposed to 'mature' language through an app, then you're ignorant. Most kids learn about sex in late middleschool/early highschool. Being a proper parent and teaching them morals and self respect can easily prevent 95% of the problems involving these apps.
Always remember that apps can be loaded from other sources. Android allows anyone to install any app from almost anywhere and you can sideload apps similarly on a jailbroken iPhone. Kids are good at this. It's extremely simple. You literally download a program and click once to jailbrake an iPhone. Bottom line. Just because the app store doesn't have an app does NOT mean your kids don't have access to it anytime.
We pay $5 a month through Verizon and have access to every app and contact that's downloaded into our teenagers phone. It's well worth the money and she can't hide or delete apps before we look at her phone! Kids need to learn to use appropriate apps responsibly!!!
Please, please, please, Parents talk to your children more. The things that happen online are totally preventable, and by doing so, you may stop some of the emotional and even sexual abuse that can go on with these apps/websites. I agree with some of the comments that basically say don't breathe down their backs but talk to them and keep an eye out for anything. Teens have a harder time talking about some of the things that go on in their lives than you probably had as a teen. Go easy on us, we, no matter how many times you tell us otherwise, feel it's better to learn by experience. Sometimes we need to go through it, just be there to catch us when we fall.
Beware of meet24 as well...it is a constant stream of nudity and people wanting to "hook up". Also uses GPS!
Here's a good example that shows how to teach your kids the best way. Think about this: say you had a younger child that didn't yet know why you shouldn't touch a stove. If they start reaching for the stove, you shouldn't just pull them away, you should take them aside and tell them WHY it's wrong to touch the stove. Children online are going to get burned at one point or another, but parents don't just say "NO!" Say, "No, and this is why..." Also, listen to the advice from the other teens on this thread. They truly know exactly what they are talking about. They are teens too after all. Teens are the best experts on teens you will ever see.
Mobicip is very very handy. With this you can turn off safari. I have the restrictions set on my kids pods and it requires a password immediately. So a pw is required for each app download. My kids don't know their pw. We also randomly check phones and pods and teach and discuss. Their Phones are not smart phones and have a data and internet block on them. We have given them apps, randomly checked, after 3rd strike app is gone. Itube is as bad as youtube. Certain songs are bad for children to be listening to over and over as well.
um that is why i dont get my children smart phones. it is that simple. i dont know why more parents havent realized you elmininate the problem by not buying one for your children! get them a flip phone! they dont need to be exposed to all this garbage! its called a tracfone people! you parents are the part of the problem if your the one who provided the smart phone to begin with.
Thanks for this information.
Thank you for these educational information
Ask.FM I think is one of the worst apps people can ask you questions anonymously and kids can bully other kids! I wonder how many kids have committed suicide from this aweful app!
Computers and electronics are able to do so much now and more is coming as the days pass by. Wonder when parental controls will be on phones. There has to be away to block these apps from being downloaded from the getgo.
Some of these apps may be bad, yeah, but YOU'RE the one who gave the child the app. Looking at these comments, I realize that a lot of children DO do bad things with these apps. However, it seems a lot of you don't understand a lot of things. Snapchat and Kik are harmless, by themselves. They're not created for sexual things, I use them to talk with my friends that don't have phones or to send a quick funny photo to a friend. A lot of you don't seem to trust your children at all; if you don't trust your children with these apps (as I said, some aren't intended for any sexual conduct) then you should not give your child a device that can use them. Considering these the only bad things is naive, just take a look at Facebook, I see a lot of posts that are completely inappropriate. If you don't trust your child that they won't look up pornagraphic material, or if you're worried they will see cursing or violence or anything like that, you shouldn't get them an internet enabled device. Constantly nagging your child, checking their device, and monitoring them will make them dislike you. Also, it's not just the apps that are causing this, they only make it easier. I see a lot of you almost blaming the devices for the kids seeing explicit material.
What is wrong with the creators of these apps. Kids can be cruel and don't even understand the damage that they can cause. Some do, I have heard kids say "I hope this makes her want to kill herself." What are we raising? This needs to stop, here, with us. This is not funny. Thank you for sharing this information.
How about making your snot-nosed brat of a kid buy his own smartphone? Show him real-life scenarios of what can happen online, don't be stupid and shelter them (they'll find ways around, trust me). Also, maybe your kid should work on their self esteem so they won't post half naked pictures to total strangers for compliments.
I'm a college student and the daughter of serious helicopter parents. I can tell you that I've never even heard of any of these apps (except SnapChat), so I'm fairly confident that they're not as wide-spread as some might think. The real issue here is how you show your kids appropriate behavior and demonstrate trust. If you're a parent who tries to instill values in your kids (and I hope you are), remind them of the principles you've taught them to follow in all areas of life-- the internet should be no different. Don't start out with these tremendous lists of things they can never download or say or post. Ask them to articulate what your standards are. Ask them how they would judge whether an app is appropriate. And only interfere if you have reason to believe they've violated the two-way trust. Don't be violator by reading texts, controlling their accounts, or-- dear God-- setting up their Facebook for them. Your children are people (just like you) and need to be allowed some measure of autonomy (just like you). Allow them the opportunity to grow that.
I would just like to say, some times trusting your kids is also good. Snapchat is a great way to know where your child is and they wont lie to you. My mother uses this with me. She simply sends me a text saying snapchat me. I then quickly send one back with a picture of where I am. Also I live in a small town, it is safe for a kid to have a cell phone because they need a way to communicate whose house they are going to. People who say children with phones are bad, maybe you should think again. Instead of all the bad things, think of good things and give your kid trust. If you trust them, they will be less likely to break it.
Great article and thank you for sharing. My daughter uses the Oovoo app. Is this ok? We still monitor it but wanted to know your thoughts. Thanks!Tiffany
You also say 14 year olds should not have a phone? Im 13. Im by myself on the farm, I run the long dusty country roads, I will drive next year, sports practice is long and my parents don't know when to pick me up, I hang out at friends after school. I have a lot of responsibilities and phones are a great way to let my parents know when and where I have to be at a certain place. Or to remind them I need snacks for this, or the basketball game will be here. I work on the farm by myself a lot and I need someway to let them know if the tractor breaks down or if I get hurt, and many other scenarios.
I am a Mother but, my children are older now . I have a suggestion I think personally that Tagged is not such a great page neither. I have heard from many people about that page so just to be curious I checked it out myself and it's so sad that they look like they have you teens in there and also as well as dirty old Men. They talk so provocative on there and very dirty I would love for that app and page to disappear as well.
an app going about in the uk is called HD cartoons or similar,people thought it was all caroons for kids,turns out it has pornography and everything on it.
i say parents need to be parent and stop blaming social media for your kids behavior! you need to teach them right and wrong not block things!
Well, now that you told me about poof--I may not know what they're using. Very scary. My 4th grader is not yet interested in social media. My 7th grader uses Twitter to follow teen stars only and Instagram for friends. My 15 year old uses Twitter and KIK. She said a teen leadership class at school really opened her eyes wider to dangers of social media. The class made a much stronger case than I was able to.
Maybe don't buy your 10 year old a smart phone. Maybe get them a limited flip phone that they can only call and text for emergencies. Parents get your heads out of your asses.
My phone has been hacked since IJoined facebook . Password has been Changed. Apps have been used, but still continues. Notified fb sec app se E mail sec, and still happening Maybe you can help
Some of you have suggested banning smart phone use. It's a great idea, but unfortunately not realistic. Our school district now required smart hand held technology be brought to school for kids to use in class for group projects and research. Many parents and teachers were very upset by this. That started when my daughter was in 7th grade. Now, Two years later-- the schools just gave all three of my kids Ipads. No warning either! So now, my fourth grader, 7th grader and 9th grader are required to keep up with it $$$$ , take care of it, charge it and use it for all school work. It even has a camera--"for group project meetings". I agree with the post -- it all starts with the heart and teaching from within. We have to develop their conscience. Unfortunately,it is a full time job to truly monitor technology properly and that's only one aspect of parenting. The college students that work with our teens in our church youth group help us by friending our kids on social media. In the end, my kids like the extra accountability.
Ask.fm is another app I feel is dangerous for children. In my opinion, it is a breeding ground for cyber bullying. It allows you to be anonymous but ask anyone anything or say anything you want without revealing your identity.
I have kicked my daughter off ask as well teen bullying app she was the one being bullyed
What do you do when your 14 yr. old has over 3000 friends on FB? I sat down with her and got her under 1000 and now a couple months later she has over 3000 again?
As an 18 year old in the peak of the cell phone hype, I find the idea of parents monitoring a teenager's phone absolutely fascinating. Now before I continue, I will say that I have an iPhone, I've had it since I was 16 and I've had a cell phone since I was 13. My parents stopped "checking" my phone once I was out of middle school. Anyhow, the truth of the matter is, ANY app can be dangerous in some way. I literally could not name one that does not have some option to turn your location on, chat with others, etc. So are you going to check every single app on your child's phone to ensure that they haven't been talking to people on the internet? Talk about tedious, and certainly a way to demonstrate explicitly to your child that you don't trust them. Maybe, instead of blocking and banning and pretending that these apps don't exist so that your innocent child does not get involved with them, they should be ENCOURAGED to talk to you about apps so they know what is "safe" and what is "unsafe". These apps aren't going away, and they certainly won't get "safer". On top of that, the more a parent makes technology out to be something that should be feared, a child will either a) rebel or b) live in a constant state of paranoia. I can honestly say that I have never done anything on my smartphone that would be considered dangerous and my parents didn't have to hold my hand and cover my eyes to make sure of that. And for the parents whose kids are hiding their phones from them? Maybe instead of immediately taking your child's phone and rummaging through everything, you could talk to them about potential consequences from behaving innappropriately online. I understand that parents have to be parents, but every teenager I know who has a helicopter parents has A LOT more to hide from their parents than I ever have.
When I read about Kik the first time we had a discussion with our 13 yr old. She said her friends use it, but she isn't interested in it. The only app she has is instagram, and she has followed all the rules. Her friend, however, was caught on kik talking to someone she had no clue who he was in a different state. We ultimately went into settings on her phone and set the age for "everyone" and she doesn't have the ability to download any apps that have any type of age limit associated with them. That setting is password protected and only her dad and I know what it is. Thanks for the info'
Haha it doesn't matte what app it is they can sexy talk to strangers on fb, twitter anything times have changed just bcz u block them won't mean they won't do them just sit them down and tell them why u don't want them too and ht could happen instead of being the annoying parent who blocks everything that they probably don't even use in a bad way
"A child was raped by someone she met on this app". Yet I'm sure 100's, if not 1,000 more kids had ordinary experiences with the app. Craig's list has has many bad experiences, but also polar whelming Over whelming success with good practice.key isn't banning everything that COULD be bad, but instead educating your children and watching over them.
How about you just don't give your kids smart phones?
Is there a way to log into the kid's Apple account and seeing what apps they have downloaded? And manage their use that way possibly?
Thank you so much. I was able to use your post in a very open and honest conversation with my 12 year old daughter about all of this. I have wanted to have a talk with her for a while but didn't know where to begin. This was the perfect vehicle to get us talking.
The south dallas rapist was using kik and mocospace to meet his victim. I monitor everything on my daughter's phone and only allow her family members on facebook. No new people or strangers and no kik or any other chat programs. Also you may want to see what kind of "selfies" your kid is posting and make sure they are not making what could be considered provacative posing.
On an apple phone, you need a password to download new apps. Given the flexibility of Android, I'm sure there's a way to do this on those platforms as well. With that information, is it really so far fetched to keep the password to yourself, and only allow kids to download apps approved by you?
Snapchat it's so scary
Someone mentioned Hot or Not which has been around since the early 2000s (at least)... a new generation finds it and makes it "hot" again. It's entertaining to see how how things just circulate from the computer to the phone. This is definitely a sign of the times. A lot of these apps are similar to things that happened in the late 90s/early 2000s on the computer. What I don't understand is... why are kids who are not mature enough to handle the responsibilities of having a phone with such capabilities, given phones? I would never dare check up on my child's phone for the simple fact that it's not necessary. I have access to his Apple Store and can see what is downloaded if I feel the need. However, that is not necessary when I have explained to him the responsibilities of having such an item, and that they can be dangerous if used improperly. Talk to your kids, discipline as necessary, and such snooping on them won't be necessary.
Its not about just having a talk with your child about safety. I go through my daughter's phone on a random basis. She is almost 16
Put them on flip phones with no data usage, set a limit on texting and set amount of talking minutes, problem solved.
thank you for posting this info, very very much. The proliferation and obfuscation of apps occurs at such a rate that even a computer scientist like myself, online nearly all the time, simply cannot keep up.THANK YOU
Tango is another one to be careful with. It is used as an alternative to Skype for video chat but suggests others nearby to chat with. Anyone nearby can start a chat. You know nothing about these people. Police also use this app regularly to find illegal activity.
ask.fm is AWFUL - the worst site ever
I don't know if any of you realize this, but after you type in the password on a phone, it's usually stays on for about half an hour after, so kids can be buying apps after you've typed in the password for them.
Any app that allows you to socialize with strangers has potential to be dangerous, but allow me to beat the dead horse. It is up to the parents to set boundaries for their children and monitor as they feel necessary. A few people mentioned geo based social sites and those are becoming more and more popular, for example Tango, Circle, and Skout. Also, parents should be aware of apps where conversations can be kept separate from normal threads like SMS pro for android. You can create a "private box" that requires a password and once they're moved to the private box they are also moved from your regular messaging folder and directly and exclusively into the private box within the app. All I can tell you is keep yourself educated.
How old to monitor? Isn't looking at your child's phone tantamount to how you would have felt if you found your mum reading your diary? I agree with Ryan, teach don't block.
So important and timely. We were those parents that thought we had all the safe guards in place, then we found an Ipod our daughter had borrowed from a friend hidden in her room. Despite all the internet safety training and all our safeguards we couldn't keep this crap out of our house. Even if you don't have internet at your house most signals are so strong they can tap into your neighbors. She was meeting strangers online and was in the middle of planning to run away with one of them and we had no idea she even had access to the internet in our house. It's not just smart phones, every Ipod and gaming device that has wifi has access to these and if they walk into a coffee shop or store with free wifi then they have access. Their friends have so many devices they are willing to give away their old ones, so even if you don't buy them don't assume your child doesn't have access. Instagram is just as bad all the rest. Many kids and predators use Instagram as an advertising board and then have their kik usernames on it for sexting.
You know another dangerous device? The internet. It stores all sorts of pornographic content, and people of any age can pretend to be someone they're not. We should definitely work on banning internet use in the US, that way, nobody can use it to create and share info on any of these apps. Better yet, get rid of electricity. That way, there won't be anything to power devices that could access the internet, or any sort of device that allows for near instant communication. My point is that there is always a risk of bad things happening on these devices if one is uneducated. Instead of banning your child from looking at a screen, teach them to be smart about what they should and should not look at. Raise them in a way that won't make them want to sext or chat with strangers. We need technology. Our world is smaller than it was in the past, and technology allows us to instantaneously communicate with a relative that's a continent away in order to say "good night." It allows us to cure most diseases that used to kill millions. We may be reliant on technology, but that isn't necessarily a bad thing. It becomes a problem when there is a lack of trust on the parents' part, and a great lack of responsibility on a child's part. Children don't need phones, but a responsible high schooler who has a job and numerous after school activities will likely need some way to contact his parents to let them know where he is. I agree that apps like Poof are bad, but most of these apps are only bad if they're used incorrectly; people need to make sure they know how to use them appropriately rather than giving kids a reason not to trust them. Of course this is only an opinion, you can do just about whatever you want, this is America after all. I simply wish to provide food for thought, not scare people into doing something. Sorry if I have offended anyone in anyway. (Btw, at 17 years old, my opinion may be a little biased, but I still like to think my parents did a pretty good job.)
um if you can block gps easily, your kid can just as easily unblock it.just sayin.(this means that your plan is really flawed fyi)selfish kids. how amazing.
Snapchat doesn't delete the pictures off of the senders phone like everyone thinks, it saves them in a folder labeled Snapchat on your phone that you can access when it's hooked up to a computer.
How about just keeping up with your kids? Let's go back to that!
Thank you and great job!! Please keep me updated with the latest dangerous apps!Best regards
ASK.FM has major bullying and sexually explicit talk issues.
Thank you very much for all your information I did not know any thing about these apps, shall now look into my sons phone.
Unless you are willing to get rid of your child's smartphone, you are merely playing whack-a-mole. The kids will ALWAYS be one step ahead of you. Don't be a fool by thinking you are a "good parent" by ripping your kids' phones away for inspection daily. The solution is simply not to allow your kid to have a smartphone while out of your supervision.
so how can we find out what apps our kids are using with out looking at their phones?
Thanks Steve and Kristin , My wife,Anita, and I are parents to 14 year old daughter and a ten year old son. Our daughter has snapchat on her iPhone , but, that is gonna change. I am aware of the content of Omegle, Chatroulette, etc. Thanks for your work with children and for sharing. Bobby
Honestly people who don't give their children the opportunity to technology are the ones at a loss. Sure there are some applications that aren't the greatest for our kids. But censoring them from the modern world is not the way to do things. Mobile and hand held devices are very important. My son (16 at the time) was deer hunting and he fell 13 feet to the ground. He then used his HAND HELD device to contact me. People come on. You guys really think that keeping kids away from technology is even possible. Let this one float in your head. At most schools classes are all about the technology. Censoring is making the kids not face how people really are. Ignorance is with most of you for not seeing this
I'm sorry, but if you distrust your child to the point where you feel like you are obligated to completely obliterate all of their privacy, then unfortunately you haven't been a very good parent. If you raised your child well, you wouldn't need to worry about them doing something they should not be.
And to add to the list, there is blatant porn on Tumblr.
== Block application on your home WiFi network ==I use OpenDNS which can be configured to reject any access attempt to any specific URL. Here is a SnapChat example: https://forums.opendns.com/comments.php?DiscussionID=16987 I will have to google around to see if I can locate a comprehensive single-source of the URL accessed by these applications. OpenDNS has both free and paid plans and I believe that the free account will allow this too. NOTE: This approach will not work if someone is using their phone 3G (or 4G or whatever) wireless data setting. This will only work for WiFi.
This article goes into configuring OpenDNS as well as your router. http://lifehacker.com/5791208/run-your-home-network-like-a-coffee-shop
Mine is grounded from her iPhone til Saturday because she was using an app called Tango, and using it to video chat with people. I have it set to where I have to put in my pass before she downloads something, but she either tricked me or found a way around it. You HAVE to look through their phones, that's the best advice I can give.
I want to pin this so I don't forget to be on the lookout with my students. Is there a way? Thanks.
We have to remember that most of these apps are only bad if they are used inappropriately. Many of these can be useful if used correctly. And can be harmless, if information is protected like it should be.
Snap chat, kik, ask.fm, facebook. Instagram is one my 14 year old sis uses and its just as bad as the rest!
Talk about obsessive parenting, this is exactly why your teens have behavior issues. You never let them do anything and they rebel and act out. How about a little thing called trust. It goes a long ways and improve relationships better than stalking and tyranny.
Teach them the dangers but start to forbid them to do anything and they'll want to rebel. Parents are supposed to raise children to know right from wrong. If they dont know by the time they have a phone, you did something wrong.
OK, this is going to show up at the bottom of the list, but I wanted to recommend Android's "Screen Time". You know it's good because there are reviews on there from kids saying, "My mom ruined my life! I hate this stupid app!"There is a remote control so you can put on your own phone, I haven't needed that part yet, so I don't know how much info you get back, but you get pretty major control. I once tried to uninstall this app when I forgot the password and it BRICKED MY PHONE until I could contact the company. Woah!Let's not get confused with calling it a "phone" though. I get a chuckle from the kids saying "I have to be able to contact someone in an emergency!" (Yeah, a flip-phone will do that) and I'm surprised by the parents who think they're safe because it's "only" an i-pod or a tablet. As long as it has internet connection, they can get probably access these apps. Our family always had a rule of having the computer in an open area where anyone could walk by. The danger (for adults too) is that it feels more private on a handheld device that you can hide away with.Now, that being said, you'll want to consider the needs and abilities of your own child (not how much she's whining for it). There needs to be frequent discussions about cyber etiquette, the dangers of the internet, having respect for your body (and others' bodies, even when they impulsively don't) etc. Chances are, you'll probably need a little of every approach listed. If you do check up on them, directly or remotely, PLEASE consider that it's akin to reading their journal or listening in on a conversation... Sometimes necessary, but try to refrain from doling out a lot of advice: "Why'd you say that to Amanda? Weren't you two friends in the second grade?" try to only step in when a parent is needed and let them sort a few things out for themselves (use your judgment. Wisely.)I did have to remove kik from my own phone because some little harlot i never met was getting a power trip sending me pic after pic of her body parts (AS I WAS IN THE ROOM WITH MY YOUNG CHILDREN) and I couldn't figure out how to block her or convince her to stop fast enough so I said, "Hey, if that kind of junk is even a POSSIBILITY on this app, it is GONE." I made the formal announcement to my family that they'd have to get a hold of me other ways and tried not to stay up all night wondering what this world's coming to.Love Jon that broke the phone with a hammer. Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do. That's a lesson he'll never forget.
I use kik to connect to my friends.
Quite educative.Can we get continuous update of new apps as they come to your attention?Thanks
I'd like to thank you for listing all these websites. I was aware of one of those website my daughter had been on but didn't know it was that many. I did take the internet off her cell because of this. But I worry when Wi-Fi is avaiable. THANKS
Plain old YOUTUBE. My daughter likes anime. Most of it is not for kids under 13 and even the 13 makes me wonder. Nothing is censored on youtube and she is safer without it.
How do you block apps on your wifi at home so kids can't use them?
As an Internet native and computer literate person, I find this article highly inflammatory. The easiest way to push your kids do stuff behind your back is if you invade their privacy and don't trust them. A parent policing a kid's phone/mobile device and looking through their pictures isn't any more ok than randomly raiding their room or looking through their diary. Not only does this set a kid up to have trust issues with their parents (and other adults), but it normalizes invasive surveillance.Social apps/Internet safety isn't about knowing what apps/websites are bad for your kids, because new apps/sites come out all the time, it should be about educating you child about the internet and technology in an intelligent way. The dangers present in the apps mentioned aren't REALLY anything new. Parents need to talk with their kids about sex, racism, sexism, abuse, and harassment anyway. Furthermore her focus on "stranger danger" is potentially harmful. As you well know, most cases of child abuse are perpetrated by someone who knows the child well, often a family member. This justification in particular really stood out to me: "You're paying the phone bill, so you can do whatever you want!" Whatever you want? If my parents did this to me I would disown them as soon as I turned 18. This is scaremongering for parents who are ignorant about tech. You don't need to be tech saavy to be a good parent, though it certainly helps, but you do need to have a good open line of communication with your children, and invading their privacy will shut that line down fast.
I am truly surprised that there is so much talk about blocking and taking away stuff and monitoring. Each kid in our neighborhood not only has a smart phone but an ipod, ipad, or some other tablet. All they have to do is call a neghbor and ask for their wifi password or ask to borrow one of their devices. I have seen this happen over
I'm a mother of 3, I would have to go with teach your kids the correct way, you can't be a helicopter parent forever. Do you follow your teenagers to the wash room to make sure they wash their hands? Do you bubble wrap them when playing sports? Get a grip on technology, talk with your kids ensure morals and proper internet use. The question is do you trust your kids?
Thank you for telling us this important information
Ok so this is all real good info for parents with children with phones. But here is an idea, don't give your kid a smart phone if you think there is such a risk. There are still plenty of phones on all networks that aren't smart phones. If you think they aren't old enough to be trusted to do whatever they want with the phone, don't even give them the chance. Plain and simple.
Banning apps only works for a little while, then the need for secrecy makes the behavior go underground. Our approach is to openly discuss what is appropriate, including out teen's input and to randomly check posts.
I find tumblr to be very dangerous. Yes, they post some great soulful quotes and have supportive message boards for troubled teens, but they also have very easy access to porn and it is not regulated in any way.
Broloader is a porn app allowing downloads of porn for free. found on mu sons android
thank you for all this information.
A lot of these apps are also used for what they are meant to be used for. Like kik. It's much easier than texting and doesnt cost any money.
Tinder my niece just told me the kids in college are using and it a way to see whom likes or dislikes someone and is a GPS app!
OoVoo is another one. We had our setting on private but my daughter's friend didn't. Some weirdo entered the conversation and displayed sexual images of himself. He then somehow hacked a friend of her and tried contacting her via her friend's account. Scary.
Even with all parental controls on your child's device, with wifi, some apps can subvert all protection. By simply clicking on the ad in some free apps, you are directed to the internet where you can look up anything and everything.
I am 16 years old and i have a phone. My parents have never given me any restrictions on my phone. Not because they dont care what i do on my phone but because they trust me and give me the freedom to make my own choices. I can honestly say i have never done anything inapropriate on my phone. Im not saying that this is for everyone but some teens and kids just need to be given freedom to make their own good choices. If my parents ever checked my phone i would feel that they didnt trust me. My parents have given me alot of freedom to make my own choices throughout my life and i find that this has encuraged me to not disappoint them and make them proud of me by making the right decisions.
Kids need to know internet safety and security. You can't monitor and shelter them their whole life. You're raising them to be adults.
Hi Amy, I saw this article and thought about you.... SnapChat is one of it...Sandy
I think that we need to get rid of all technology.
After reading through all of these comments, I feel really bad for most of your kids/teenagers. Yes, apps can be misused, but continuously putting restrictions on your kids with apps like snapchat and instagram is just going to tell them that you don't trust them, and will make it incredibly hard for them to trust you when they get older. Both my brother and I were heavily monitored on the internet when we were teenagers, and now as adults we both have a hard time trusting our parents or opening up to them. I remember the day I found out my mother was secretly reading my conversations with my friends/boyfriend by installing software on our computer. My trust in her was completely broken. I've never trusted her since. And before you ask, no, I was not talking about anything "inappropriate" (which my mother was delighted to find out). However, even after finding out that I wasn't talking about "inappropriate" things (as a 15 year old), she continued to monitor my conversations until I found out 6-8 months later. Like I said, that moment marked the day that completely shattered my trust in my mom, and I started being more closed off and secretive, even though I had nothing to hide. This is what happens when you hover over your child and don't give them any space to do their own thing and learn to be their own person. Your kids are going to grow up into adults, and it's important to teach them the right thing to do, and then give them the chance to do it. You can't just expect them to suddenly be responsible the day they turn 18 - you need to slowly work up to giving them more independence, and that includes trusting them to make the right choices with the way they use their cell phones and smart phone apps. There will always be the option to misuse anything for an inappropriate or sexual purpose, but that doesn't mean we should outlaw it and ban it as "bad," when there are so many other people who will use it for good.
Thank you so much to Cook Children's for employing those who are proactively keeping our kids safe. It can be overwhelming to screen every app and site available to our kids and it's so helpful to have Cooks on my side!
even if Poof has been removed from the Apps stores, they could still be installed onto a phone by sideloading (on andriod) or jailbreaking on an Iphone..... and really, these things take almost NO real skill to do
Jcub- No the photos are not deleted...they are stored in the devices memory even if the photo is deleted. My daughters I pad is in the crime lab being viewed as we speak because of something she did and it got turned over to police...imagine how she feels about me as her mom when I found the information on it and put the device in her hand and made her physically turn it in. I did it so that she will maybe learn from this before its too late. I realize she is facing serious consequences for it legally and at school, but Id rather have her safe and mad at me than dead!
Here is the link. Faye
Hi is there any way to email this article to someone?
Working with teens, I can say these apps have certainly increased cyber bullying, student depression, and the number of students who have considered suicide. Teens like the anonymity of many of these apps which gives them power to bully others and take risky behaviors/choices. And it is sad that the creators of these apps care little of the destruction their apps cause. As a parent myself, some solutions I came up with 1) my middle schooler got a pre-paid flip phone to be used only in emergencies. They still exist and cannot handle data usage. 2) my high schooler got a smart phone but not the latest and greatest version and pay for the most basic data plan possible to limit usage. If you do family plans, it will impact your data usage but my children's safety is more important. 3) we talk A LOT about being socially responsible and what it means to be a digital citizen.
All of you need to chill out. I'm 19, and when I was growing up I didn't have a cellphone until I needed it for high school football and my job. it was an old flip phone. your children DO NOT need a smart phone because a flip phone can make calls and text. i didn't have a smart phone until about 2 months ago when I Decided to upgrade. why don't you guys worry more about the messages your kids are getting from drug dealers. i wish my parents had but you learn from your mistakes...
This is really important
Hey there great article, I would like to share some information from the organization I work for its called Enough Is Enough, which has developed a parent program called Internet Safety 101, www.internetsafety101.org
I would love some more insight on Vine I heard it brought up a few times in the comments below. I was not aware this was similar to "snap chat" I have a 10 1/2 year old who loves watching the funny videos and am not aware she has ever posted! I would love your input on this sight?
Thought you might want to see this
Thank you for this educational information. We all need to at least once a month monitor our children hand held devices. Not only cell phone but I-pads
Agree whole heartedly with all your points. I would love to hear your thoughts concerning group chats and Face Time. My two daughters (11
I didn't have a cellphone until I was 19, and barely even had any internet access until I was 16. I had to pay for cellphone service myself, and only got my first one because of work. I'm on my third phone now, and I still don't have a smartphone yet. :PI agree with some of the other commenters about kids not needing phones. Once they have a job, then you might think about it.. but until then, make them borrow yours if they want to do anything. If they just want to play games, a computer works just fine, and is much easier to monitor.
In regards to the comment of let's not give our children cell phones... I never thought I would. Let me tell you why I did. Times are not the same for when we were kids. I love getting a hold of my son when ever I need to. My parents never knew where I was, until the street lights came on. One thing that I have done is set up his I tunes account with my email. So I get notified when there any purchases. I agree they are abused and suckered by these apps. This is where your parenting is put to the test. Plus what is given can be taken back just as quick!
well if you would take the electronics from the kids once in a while and make them go outside and play you would not have this problem. my children do not get on none of these sites and guess what my kids go outside and play with real people. i make my kids have a social life.
Or just don't give them a smart phone ... it seems extremely unnecessary! Give them a dumb phone. We did without them completely when we were kids.
If we teach kids right from wrong we wouldnt need to block things. What parenta do is give the kid a device with little to no warning. Then when they hop onto an app we disapprove of we go berserk. Im 13 and I watch over my autistic brother on his kurio. We have little to no parental controls on it however and he does fine. Me and mom went over approprate apps with him and he hasnt been on any of the apps we've warned him about. If you teach them what not to go on, chances are they wont go on it. And if they do they may br more responcable on the app. Snapchat for exsample.
Holy crap, people.If you can't trust your kids not to do these kinds of things, don't give them a phone!It's not like there's some law that states that all children in junior high must have an iPhone or a "Samsung Galaxy S11 XLGT Pro", or whatever their next phone in line is.And if you CAN trust your child (mostly) and you find that they've done something to break that trust, simply take the phone away.Again, where the law is concerned, this is totally acceptable.Until such a time that your child is 18, you can take anything from them as long as they have access to food and clothing (and a roof over their head of course).The apps on your kids' phones are not the problem, trusting untrustworthy children with phones is the problem.Just think about that for a minute.
This is ridiculous. If your child is intent on using the internet to meet people or chat with strangers, there's not a thing you can do to stop them. Its like sex. You're not going to be able to stop your children from having sex with each other, so the only thing you as a parent is able to do is educate them on the risks and benefits. It's much the same. When I was a teenager, talking to people on the internet was a good way to cope with my day to day stress. No one liked me because I was a bit left of center, but the internet brought me closer to people with similar interests who I knew I could talk to without dear of rejection or scorn. Today, I count one or two o those friends I made as a teeneger among my closest friends, and even shared an apartment with one for a while. Consider that majority of sexual assault victims know their attackers personally, and if you think people are more at risk of being assaulted by people on the internet than in real life, you're delusional.
As A Young Adult Who Used Meet Me Starting From 13. I Would Now Say Meet Me Is Still A Scary App. Its Main Use Is Hook ups And Use Gps Tracking
Ok first off parents are stupid these days. Kids that are 14 and under do NOT need an iphone/smart phone!! Let them start with a flip phone!! When I first started (age 10) I had a firefly (do y'all remember those?) as I got older, I got different types of phones! I will be buying myself an iphone 5C soon. But little kids DONT need an iphone or iPod touch!! They CAN have a flip phone or just a reg. iPod shuffle. And Vine isn't THAT bad, I used to have one, but I deleted it cuz of this one girl making fun of me even though I didn't do anything! And Jennifer, I think kids NEED a phone, just NOT a smart one, if they get lost or something happens they can call their parents!
Thanks for the information. We shared it to our page and encourage others to do the same. This information is scary but educational for parents/grandparents. Thanks again!
Ya I'm not so sure about ur advice cause I read ur whole thing about don't do apps like Facebook and Twitter and kik and all that stuff but then I scroll up and what do I see OH HEY GUYS LIKE ME ON FACEBOOK OOOOHHHH AND FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER TOO so ya before I take ur advice u might wanna take ur own
This is just disturbing. So many parents think that because they are protective, that nothing will ever happen to their child. That was me, twenty years ago a man I trusted in my own home (he offered to help me with my son after his father died) molested my son. I didn't believe my child because I just couldn't imagine it until the doctor diagnosed him with STD, he was 6. Now, with all the modern technology, my youngest son is 6 and you better believe I will be watching and listening to him and his every word and believing him above all others as well as sharing what some 'nice' people are capable of to trust but to also be aware. This silent crisis needs to come to an end, thank you for making us aware. Jori Nunes Author, Chocolate Flowers.
It is NOT an invasion of privacy . It is our job as parents to be aware of such things in this article. I don't doubt millions of parents buy these phones for their kids and some very young kids, and have NO idea what they are being used for. If a kid protests their parent/guardian checking their phone/computer, take it away.
This is really helpful!! I "thought" I was up to date
My 11 year old uses spray can a lot. They have fantasy chats about characters they make up and she draws a lot on it. What do you know about it?
I recently found an app called ask.fm on my 14 yr olds phone. You ask others questions and they ask you questions. I saw it on a random search of her phone and the questions and answers were horrendous. She had tons of people on there, from all over the world and when trying to figure out who was actually responding to her and vice versa, it was downright confusing. Check it out!
I must say Ask.fm is deff one of the websites that comes to mind. My daughter was being bullied and told many horrible things by kids that I know went to school with her and can post anonymously on this website. It's a shame teens now adays could bee so evil and cruel!! My daughter is not allowed to go on this website anymore.
Thought you might want to read this...
Kristin, I thank you for this post. It was quite informative and I have shared it to the moms on my FB page, Defining Moments 365 and within G . Knowledge is power and thus we can be equipped to handle these kinds of things targeting our children's safety.
I feel sorry for each and every kid that has a parent take this article seriously
is there any way to permanently block these apps
But if you disable the GPS you can't use Family Finder or other locator apps to find a lost phone or AWOL kid.
You don't have to worry about any of this when your kids do not have cell phones. If my teens want a cell, they get a job, and then they can earn a phone of my choosing. I get to choose because they are still minors and that means I also get to put all kinds of stops and checks on the app store in the first place.My oldest didn't get a cell until he was 19 and in the Navy. The next youngest doesn't have a job. Meh.
I find this info indeed very important for parent. Thanks to Kristin peaks.
Why even let your children have phones...
Please beware of what your children are doing on their phones and computers. It's our job as parents to keep them safe.
Take a look
Chatroulette is even worse. @Rik Vine is okay, I use vine a bit and don't see as much innapropriate stuff. There may be explicit language, but most kids these days are using explicit language.
Thanks for a great article. We use an app Covenant Eyes that won't allow our kids to add or delete an app without us.
Thank you so much for writing this article. I have a 15 yr old who has used some of these apps and has lost her phone due to the content. Struggling to help her understand that we are trying to protect her. The apps she was using are; snap chat, ask F.M, kik, vine, instagram.sincerelyLawreen
Most of you were probably not expecting a 16 year old such as myself to post here, but since I have no phone, I am in my church choir, and I have seen some problems such as this happen first hand in my school. I strongly suggest if for some reason you do give your child a phone, be smart about it and listen to the advice this nice woman was able to offer. I hate when a ringtone goes off in a class, and when someone shows me a picture or video I wished to not see. This is a growing problem, and again as a 16 year old myself, I know how annoying it can be. I thank people for their effort in providing awareness, and I love to see this sort of effort.
We've just shared this with our users via The Daily Mom app. Thanks for this helpful list. www.thedailymom.com
Very good to know all this info Thank you !!for your time to let us know what is happening with young people means my sons
on instagram people are now giving out their kiks
I use facebook twitter snap chat instagram kik tango Skype YouTube I HAD a meow stopped using it cause people just wanted nudes vine and some more i cant remember right now
Thank you so very much i will be checking on my daughter ipad and other devices on a regular bases again thank you for letting people know.
Thanks for this information. I have a beautiful 12 yr old daughter and made her delete whisper after investigating her phone. I know she has Yik yak and maybe more, they will be blocked also. I did not realize the dangers! Thanks again!
I feel I should say something as a teen (14) I have my fathers old phone that I use as an mp3 player, but it has no phoning capabilities unless over wifi (sort of like a ipod) I think parents should be informed that unless you are really tech savvy their child can- and will find a way to hide what they don't want you to see from you. If I was doing something that I didn't want my parents to see on the computer I could make password protected partition off my hard drive then make a hidden password protected folder inside that, and they wouldn't know where to find it. Even if I just buried it in some folders on my computer or put it on a flash drive they wouldn't be able to find it. But I don't do those things because I don't have anything to hide. I am left alone with my computer (That I bought myself.) 2 hours a day and I can say with 100% honesty that I have never looked at anything pornographic or even thought about it. You have to monitor you kids a little, yes but it is no substitute for teaching your children to be trustworthy and discerning.
All you parents need to tell your children about the real dangers of these apps, because telling them "you just can't have it because it's dangerous" isn't going to convince them. And making them delete it without giving any specific reasoning, is going to make them rebel against you. TELL YOUR KIDS THE TRUTH. Don't sugar coat it, because they'll find the truth one way or another. Might as well tell them straight up.
I have a tracker on both my kids phones. It is 2 dollars a month
What is the app that allows you to make a call using someone else's phone number?? The person can call, pin point a location or determine if the recipient is alone. The recipient is so thrown off, they divulge information to the person asking questions.
Snapchat users can actually decide how many seconds pic is viewable. And videos are also optional on this. It should limited to those over 18. It's a very dangerous
Thanks for the information
Can Autumn get any of these on her phone? How do we stop stuff like this in future
Kristin , Do you know of a user friendly program I can use to monitor activity on my sons iPhone , kindle
Please read
I think these apps r weird I have kik messager and two others and I am 13 thanks for letting me know thanks very much
Yeah epecrates to manage access that some apps have. Also educate your children, my daughter has her phone location set up as a city 400miles away from where she's actually located. So people she talks to can't see where she is, her fb reads the same way. But I can locate her on her location app where ever did is, she doesn't know that app is on her phone. Rile is her phone is an open book, if I can't get in and see anything anytime, it's gone. All her texts and app activity is sent to my email.
The only exception to your last comment is Instagram. It posts a location for every pic, even when location services are turned off. My tech savvy kids didn't believe me until I clicked on the location tab of their account. If that pic is posted anywhere else (Facebook, etc) it will also post the location on their maps. It can be turned off for Facebook with a little work.
unless you raise your kids to be appropriate. don't always assume the worst and have a little faith in the youth of today. thank you Dale Kendall
Parents,These first off this list is semi accurate. Snapchat? Have i used it for the purpose of "sexting?" Yes. But its more of a app used to show people what you are doing, a facebook but with picture statuses. I use KiK because i dont want to clog up my phone with text messages(excessive text message build up can clog your phoneS processor while trying to open messenger) But these app are all based on the up bringing of your child. Kids these days are having everything giving to them. Spoiled. Going out F*ckn and suckn anything that walks. And its not their fault. See i grew up having to earn my dues. And if i didnt want to do it the i got a belt and was told to do it for free now. People want to blame technology or social media for the way their kids are acting and dressing. When its you, the parent(s), buying them item on top of item. And then "ground" them whenever they do/wear something you approved at cashier... Grounding a kid doesnt work. Neither does time out. Your Puppy pees on the floor right in front of you.
Why do teens even need smartphones? How about saying no to the smartphone and getting them a regular cell if you must.
I wasn't given the privilege of a phone until this year (I'm 17,and I babysit). I do have a Snapchat, but I
I'm not a parent, so maybe I would feel differently if I had experience raising kids. But I don't understand why parents just don't teach their kids the importance of being safe online and how to do that rather constantly research apps and digging through their phones to find them. All of these apps listed can be used safely if kids are taught the importance of not sharing too much personal information, not meeting an internet friend in real life (unless done in a very safe and chaperoned way), and not putting pictures out into the internet that could be used to hurt them later on.
Para qué chequees el celular de Mauricio Alejandro que no tenga ninguna de las arriba mencionadas aplicaciones, me mandó la info que dice que hay muchos jóvenes en Nic. que la están usando.
Ask.fmAn anonymous person can ask your kid any question they want. Your kid is identifiable but the person asking isn't. I have seen some very sexually explicit questions filled with profanity. It's ridiculous.
She uses kik Facebook and text now but I want to find away to block all those on tablets and phones well any electronic she can get a hold to pleased help
What about vine?
My apple ID is used for all our devices. My daughter has an ipod but I found out she was using a friends apple ID to download apps from the app store so that is how she was putting things on her ipod without my concent. Her ipod is now blocked on my wifi, but that wont keep them from connecting to someone elses wifi. Were there is a will there is a way so the only real protection it seems is to not give to them until they are responsible or old enough, etc...
Another app I noticed was not on here is Talking Angela. Sexual predators use this app by virtually talking thru "Angela", a cat, which talks to your child. They are able to see your child from the front facing cameras on their phones. Parents, please be aware!
StephGood to know to avoid these apps. Rosie
You people that say going through your child's device is invading their privacy are crazy! There is no such thing! Ok taking a shower, and going to the bathroom, getting dressed, sure they get privacy. The phone or other device they given to use is a privelage not a right. Just like having a radio, or nice furniture in their room. Nope not a right! They can loose those too and have a mattress on the floor in a bare room. It's a matter of following through. Children are not perfect and need to know their are consiwuences to their mistakes. If their phone is never monitored then they have free reign. Sure if it's monitored constantly they will know when to delete etc, but to say you should never monitor it, you should trust them, is naive and rediculous. It is also not equivalent to someone going through my phone. I am an adult who is responsible for my own actions and the consiquences thereof. As the parent you are responsible for the actions and consiquences of your child. If your kid has a naked picture of boyfriend/girlfriend (child porn) the cops are not going to say "oh you didn't want to invade their privacy? Ok you aren't responsible". Nope they take every electronic device in the house and confiscate it to look into. Get real people.
My daughter just turned 13. She does not have a smart phone. While she does have a tablet at her dad's house on the weekends, we monitor her very closely. She and I have a lot of open conversations about the use of apps, and as of right now, she isn't really interested in hiding anything, and she worries for her friends who spend the bulk of their time disappearing into the apps on their electronics. I think she sees the dangers in becoming reclusive and secretive and wisely feels there is a better life waiting in real connections and the great outdoors.
My 12 granddaughter is on Pic Collage...what do you know about this site?
My daughter is 5. My roommate (despite my asking him not to) allows her to watch youtube. He was an IT guy for a major company so he thinks technology is the "bees knees." Anyhow, after realizing how quickly my daughter adaptedto using an ipad (again, his... we dont own one) I got very nervous. It point is, no matter how amazing your parenting skills may be, kids will be kids and will always be sneaky until they age. So the best way to teach our children is to simply not allow them to have technology until they can understand the repercussions.
These apps are not the only scary thing on these phones. Our children have access to porn webstites. Just like it can be watched on a computer it can be watched on a smartphone. And now with the new incognito option for private browsing it is much harder to beaware of the phones bbrowsing history. The only way you could tell if they have been there is if they were ignorant enough to download videos or pictures to the device and not delete them. Kids know about porn. It's ridiculous what circulates around schools. The only reason I even found out about this is because I caught my kid looking up a website out of curiosity. Courtesy of "junior" from school recommendations. My child was supposed to be playing angry birds. Needless to say phones are a definite no go right now considering my child is under 10 and I don't want any more gruesome images ingrained in my kids brain...... just wanted to make other parents aware of that so they don't go through that similar nightmare. ..
ASK.FM is a horrible app that allows people to ask anonymous questions in which they bully others tell people to kill themselves I can not believe this app is still out there kids have committed suicide because of the bullying they received from this app
Hey here's some parenting advice for all you moms and dads, instead of "banning" something from your kids educate them to make better decisions!!!!
This is very interesting. I think we should speak with Chris about these. I know he at least is aware of Snapchat.See others:MeltAsk.fmHot or Not (GPS location based)BadooTouchLineVine (video Snapchat)
Don't buy your kid a smart phone or a phone that can text or has a camera. Just a flip phone for talking saves everyone a lot of trouble.
My 9 year old likes to video chat with his buddies on an app called ooVoo? I think that's how you spell it. Is this safe ?
Experience Project/EP...do not allow your kids on this site. It may look harmless...but it is NOT FOR KIDS. Not for teens either..this site should be 18 and above ..it also has an app for iphone and android.
TUMBLR, ask.fm, KIK, Instagram, snapchat
Thank you for posting!
Good information.
Good Info
Good Info
All parent need to learn about this and make sure u not only talk to ur kids but make them share what they have n don't have on their devices.If this doesn't scare u then u probably need to know Jesus!
Hi Kristen, I just got through reading your thoughtful message in regards to "The 7 Dangerous Apps". I find a lot of interest in all of these apps, because my 11 year old daughter had been using Kiki for a little while on her tablet. And my husband was the person who found that this typical app wasn't safe, because my daughter had my husband old boss on her page; which she didn't know him. But the scary part was, our home information was listed and I immediately told her she needed to remove this app and so did my husband. But I have another concerned I had to asked a IT person about which is "how do you keep your phone(s), computer(s), and table(s) safe from anyone now a days? He mentioned "do you have a FACEBOOK account"? And if you do, all your information is hardly ever private, because wherever your located or whoever your kin to; FB can hack into any personal information you have on your phone or whatever device you are using. So it's best to not have a FB account, because they give you a example on how they know your information by asking or listing different cities/states you've stayed in or visited. And this has been on my mind lately to close my FB account due to this typical privacy issue (knowing your where abouts). I don't mine FB, but it does concerns me about social media sites period. I don't have any other social site I'm on besides FB, and I have MySpace. But who ever goes onto MS anymore, I haven't in a while. But the entire Internet is becoming scary period because there's so much hacking going on period. If you know anything about this concern I have with FB, will you please contact me please? Because I need to know due to my safety/privacy for self and my daughters (2). Thanks so kindly in advance for your time and consideration, have a bless day!
Lol. This is completely stupid. You realize people can put passwords on their phones or download apps that lock and encrypt apps photos texts etc so no one can view them. Also even more if you pay the phone bill if your going through anyone's text messages etc you clearly don't have faith or trust that person. The way I see if if you have to invade your child's privacy you either have and obsession over your kid or you are a control freak and need possession over everything in your child's life.
Thanks for all the "ideas" guys
This is why my daughter's phone is on my itunes account. She has to have my password to download anything. Which means I have to do it for her.
I have also heard about tinder(sp?). It is used to find people near your gps location and you decide if you think they are hot or not and makes a match.
Here are a few others based on gps: grindr, growlr, scruff, BoyAhoy,and adam4adam radar. Technically you are supposed to be 18. But other than saying you are 18 there is no verification.
I recently learned from my boyfriends children of the app Tinder! This app to my horror allows you to post pics and initiate hookups with ppl in your immediate area. 16 yr olds are on there mingling w/ 30-40 something's w the intent to hookup. Girls even advertise that they're down to lie about where they met you. One pic n ppl can see where you are. I'm 30 and the stories I heard were absolutely terrifying!!!
Well, I know which apps I'm downloading tonight. ~
I have a younger sister who hears about these types of apps all the time through various other apps! Although younger kids think it's harmless but there's a lot of predators as well as bullies out there looking to take advantage. Look out for: Badoo, Hot or Not, Snapchat, Kik and Ask.fm. My sister was bullied through most of these apps and they all completely broke her spirit.
If you think about it many apps besides these are dangerous. I like to download those game apps where you can play with people on your Facebook or other people you don't know that have the app. What parents may not realize is these apps have in app messenging. You can talk to the people you are playing against. Now granted it may be a little safer because you cant send pictures but the risk is there non the less. And if you see apps such as skout, badoo or meet me, have your children delete them asap. They are dating, hook up apps that could cause your children harm. you don't just view people your own age and anyone in the app can see the profile. They are not safe if your children or teens want to make friends they cab do it the normal way. Sometimes kids need to learn by mistake. My mom (I'm 21 now) bought me a bask flip phone in highschool. As much as she was against it she found it necessary because I participated in a lot of school sports and many times was out late at practice or was out of town at compatitions. I was 16 and she had guide lines. My phone went up at curfew on school days that was 9 on weekends that was 11. I wasn't allowed to get it until I either left for school or 10 on weekends. Seems reasonable right? Well at the time I didn't think so. She never reminded me to put my phone away. That was my own responsibility if I forgot or just didn't do it I got it taken away for a week. If I got it taken away at school (they usually took it for 3 days) I'd lose it for a week. I learned quickly. My mom always knew the passwords (its not a smart phone so why did I need one anyway.) My mom was allowed to go through it and just because I didn't have all those apps doesn't mean I didn't get myself into trouble. I sent my fair share of pictures that to this day I wish I hadn't sent. But I made mistakes. My mom found some of those texts and lost my phone for a whole month. It sucked but I learned my Mon is in control and we had a long discussion about sex. Give kids a chance not all of them are bad kids. A lot of them can think logically. Set guidelines and listen to what your kids want from you. If they say they want more trust and haven't shown a reason not to have that trust give it to them. If they break that trust they break it, deal with consequences and start over. You can't just keep your kids from learning
I, personally, don't see why any kid under 18 needs a smart phone. If parents want to give their kids a cell phone for the purposes of keeping contact when needed, a simple, "bare bones" phone that can pretty much only make phone calls ought to be good enough.
as an adult who has had kik for I cant even tell you how many years now I can personally say I find nothing dangerous about it. ive never gotten messages from random users, the only people that message me are people who know my kik user name. even if someone was to randomly kik me I have people I dont know ignored and they go into a seperate area of your messages. not to mention its a lot more safer than giving your phone number out to people you meet seeing a lot of people use kik. I think before deeming something dangerous you should actually use it and not just use it for a little bit to write your story, use it a long time like some of us have before you judge it.
Recently had a situation with my 9 year old regarding her kik account on her tablet that I didn't allow her to have. She found out about it while playing School of Chaos. Two guys played like they were kids and asked for naked pics which she provided. :(. I found out the same day but I'm disappointed because I've talked to her about the dangers of social networks. I tried to have the sex talk with her and she shyed away yet she went online seeking answers and pictures. I guess this ia one of those times that she had to make her own mistake. Smh
Years ago I got my 12 year old an i touch. She had lots of games. One was called tap tap. Kinda like rock band with fingers. Harmless right?!? Except for the chat function where men were sexually preying on the kids. By time I caught it, she was super deep in sex chatting. :(
All of you are being ridiculous. You can't just go on your teenagers phone and start blocking things. That will make the teenager go around your back and get the apps that hide things on their phone just to spite you. You're all saying that all teenagers are unable to responsibly have these games. You have to have trust in your teenager because you tell them to act like an adult but treat them like a child. You should sit your teenager down and talk with them about the right and wrongs of social media don't just straight up start banning things because although the apps such as kik or snapchat or vine can be used as a easy way to sext without their parents knowing most teens don't use it that way. Now calm down and talk to them instead of just out of the blue taking their phone and blocking things left and right.
What about ASKfM?
Okay my point of view: (Not every situation is alike, however..)First of all, I hope every teenager is always close to a landline phone for every parent who argues that they don't need one (even though there are bonfires, school games, trips to amusement parks, kids who sneak out, etc.). Second, apps can be dangerous, but what happens to the over sheltered child?? They try harder and harder to get away with sneaking behind your backs. Yes you should monitor them, but don't expect them to have real conversations with you about their lives if you're monitoring their every move because they will think "Oh you don't know? I'm pretty sure you read all my texts, watched my every like, comment, post, move, etc. Why do I need to tell you anything? You've already invaded everything." It's not wrong to try to protect them, but it's not right to pretend you can keep them straight with your tight leash. And honesty is key. Show lots of examples of results from bad choices and show them your concern. From talking to a lot of teenagers, I have found that they try to break rules, not their parent's hearts.'
The apps aren't bad unless kids use them in the ways that are bad.. The stuff you do on the apps you can do in Facebook texting and etc.. If you go through your kids phones get ready for them to start delete text messages so you can't see them and get ready for them to not like you anymore. For example you were teenagers once did you like it when your parents were being like annoying and wouldn't let you do things.. This is what I am saying this apps aren't dangerous or bad this is because you can block people you don't know and just talk to your friends on them.. And this is well as teenagers have them I know many adults with them as well so, talk to your kids and have trust in them with this apps. You have to make mistakes as a kid to learn from. Like you guys did want you guys were little
Hey Debe.. FYI if you are tracking Alyx's phone.
This is a response to the person who asked about the downloading of iPhone apps: I actually have it set up to where any app that gets downloaded, gets downloaded automatically to my phone also. This had been helpful to see what my kids are doing. I was able to see a couple of apps that were not appropriate, therefore able to 'nip it in the bud'. Hope this helps.
Snap chat and Kik
this post is all well and good, very informative. but heres a wild idea, instead of caving into your childs demands for the latest ipod touch/phone, at stupidly young ages. get them a bog standard, mobile phone for emergencies only, only calls, texts, etc no cameras. if they want music, get them a cheap ass mp3/mp4 player, theyre 8-16, theyre not gonna fill 16gb for a few years. Parents! APPSTORES HAVE PARENTAL CONTROLS, USE THEM! when setting up your childs, itunes/googleplay account, set parental controls, review what they're downloading, ALL APPS HAVE AN AGE RATING. it helps. let them explore the internet a bit, it not all bad like these typical posts dictate to you blindly like some ignorant preacher. Remember any technology can be dangerous, teach your kids to respect and know how it works, teach them the dangers, dont act like a dicktator (spelling intended) be fair but strict, assess their maturity. dont act like a nazi about it, they lack our experiences with technology. just teach them to be safe online and identify threats.in short:identify threatsdon't restrict them foreverdont be a dictator about itlet them have some freedomdont be closed minded.Dan Scott, 19
Good article.
not really any of these apps are dangerous because of the safety flaws.
Snapchat is not as bad as you think. It allows people to send and receive pictures and videos only if they have friended that person and that person as done the same. Kids can easily take a screenshot and show their parents. THe user can also block other users so that person can't send anything to them, or see anything of theirs. By the way, kids are growing more responsible. YOu might have a few accidents with your child, but that doesn't mean you have to take away their privileges. You should just put on some safety settings or kid safe settings on the app with them. :)KIK Messenger is not bad at all. It is a safe texting app to use for all ages. My daughter, sons, and husband all use it with me. There is no danger at all. :)
As long as your teen is normally responsible it shouldn't be a problem if they have one of these apps on their phone. I've had a phone since I was 13, and my parents never had to go through my phone. As a parent I would never invade my child's privacy unless I had very strong suspicions about something. Also, I have snapchat on my phone with over 30 'friends', and sexting is not the way any of us use this app. Kik can be harmless as well. Learn more about these apps yourselves instead of banning them from your kid's phone because they're "potentially dangerous". Everything is potentially dangerous now-a-days. If you bring up your kid the right way and put trust in them, you shouldn't feel the need to monitor their internet activity 24/7
I am very interested in publishing this in my newspaper with full credit of course. Please let me know if this is OK. ~Tom Duggan, PublisherThe Valley Patriot
You really might want to add "Chat Roulette" to the list. Webcam based anonymous program. Kids would be suddenly presented with a webcam picture of whatever a person was wanting display .. including nude body parts.
in you article you said this "The good news about this App is it is no longer available, which isn't uncommon for these types of Apps. But, if it was downloaded before it was deleted from the App store, your child may still have it." and I'm telling you that means nothing that it's not in the app store. Trust me I used to be a tech for several major phone carriers. many apps not on the app store are downloadable directly to the phone from the web with very little tech knowledge that just about any teenager has already. Parents you are behind the times handing your children these devices. My recommendation would be give them the basic flip phone or become tech savvy enough to easily and remotely know EVERYTHING that is being said or done on that smart phone.
Great advice - thank you. I would love to hear your thoughts/findings on Instagram. My 13 year old is constantly hounding me about getting this app
I am not so shure about Instagram is that dangers
I'm 14
Good article. Thank you. Had two litters of kids, and what I did with the second litter worked best for those looking for ideas. The idea I tried was even uncomfortable for me at first, but worked beautifully. In the end, kids have a lot more common sense than I thought. What The young are missing, are the facts and information we adults have? I started when they were about 7 and 8. I exposed them to the real life reports of what happened to young people who's parents did not teach them about the dangers of certain apps (trust me, there are plenty of news reports, graphic photos of victims) Now, I thought maybe it would be a bit much, but had learned that the young brain understands concrete information (photos, real experience) better than words (abstract warning.) Would I ruin the kids? I wondered. But showing them the consequences might be worth a few nightmares? The kids at that age had an interesting reaction. The idea that someone would stalk and harm anyone using a cell phone was both a surprise and scary. (But it was the truth, and they would have to deal with it as adults. I also told them not to take candy from strangers etc.. the usual) As they grew, on occasion I would share these stalking horror stories as I found them. By the time my kids got their first cell phones, they had enough real life understanding of what they were holding in their hands, that they literally refused to download apps unless those apps could not GPS their location, could not save photos, and did not get them into "socially harmful dialog of the cruel kind". And... they would even come to me to show me an app that "I" should never download, if they had accidentally downloaded one that disgusted them in particular. Today, my 19 year old son and 20 year old daughter keep me up to date on the app nasties, of both the internet and mobile phone variety. (It just occurred to me that they are also "internet parenting ready... a lot more than I was) So, I guess the early "reality show" I gave them was worth it.
I think parents have freaked out a little too much over snapchat. I mean yeah it can be used for sexting, but the same can be said over regular text messaging. Just because it can be doesn't mean that's what everyone is doing. I don't use it for that!
My daughter uses Kik, but I downloaded it on my phone, so I see everything she does. Kik is the best out of all of them. Better than Instagram, but I still check it on my phone too.
How dangerous is MEOW
Yes it is true that all of these apps can be proven dangerous if you can be a responsible parent you can always keep in touch of who your kids are talking to
Holy crap people, y'all are crazy. I've had a phone since I was 8 and I'm almost 18 now. Most of these apps are harmless and are just for pure fun like snapchat and vine. When I've used the apps there weren't any explicit content on it. Anywho, my mom used to check my phone every hour to every day. I hated her for it cause I didn't do anything wrong and it was over bearing. She quit doing that two years ago, thank God, but if you want your child to hate you, by all means block these apps and check their devices like nazi's. They'll REALLY love you.
Thank you so much for this info. I am a psychotherapist working primarily with adolescents. I need to be able to "speak" their language with applicable info. All parents need to be more aware of what our kids are doing. It is not that our kids will do something wrong it's the other people they come in contact with.
Media Class
My son was recently sexually assaulted by two men who used snapshot. It should be banned.
Tame compared to ziplion (hitchhiking)
I'm a middle school teacher and my students are continually talking, and crying over, ask.fm. Even though it ruins friendships and hurts their feelings, they continue to use it.
Thank you for this information I have a 13 yr old do this helps so much.
Ok I am a legit teenager and i see how you guys ಠ_ಠ go behind our backs..... You need to see that at least we are sending pictures and not knocking up our girlfriend/boyfriend... We could be doing weed, cociane, meth or something but no we are doing something that just fuels our imaginations, if we dont get rid of the hormones that arouse us at that time what may they lead to? A baby maybe. You know at least we keep it in secret and not wanna be noticed, we go unnoticed so we dot bother people, i hate the fact that you guys can sit here and talk so much crap but im sure you did the same crap but with magazines like PlayBoy or something. I got caught doing this already but i admited it unwillingly of course (I lied). But dont invade our privacy!!!!!!
Thanks so much for this info! If you find more of these can you let us know. I hate ask.com!! It's a horrible app.
Almost all the parents on here need to learn how to properly parent their children. Cutting off the use to an app just because it CAN be used for doing something you don't agree with is not a reason to ban it and say end of story. Talk to your kids and tell them that they are not allowed to use the app a certain way without major consequences. And don't constantly monitor your childs phone or their location. You're just showing them that you have no trust in them. Lets be real, how many of you would have done the same if you had this technology when you were a teen? When you were younger, did your parents monitor you by gps? Educate your kids and treat them how you wish you were treated when you were a teen. Parenting shouldn't be a straight up dictatorship
Great article
Hot or not. And say hi apps seem alittle concerning
Sorry but this is just crazy I'm a kid that has almost all those apps and so far nothing bad I have had my iPod for 2 years now and I have never gotten something inappropriate. I'm sorry to say this but all those apps where created to have fun and have a good time. This is just my opinion but stop trying to ruin kids games
What about Vine?
All of y'all are dumb. Teenagers are supposed to have phone I mean c'mon people its 2014. I'm 13 and got my first phone at age 11 . And by the way snapchat isn't a bad app every teen has it. It's only bad if you're stupid enough to send nudes but hey that's your fault for not teaching your teen the bad things that could happen to him/her if they did. Kik isn't bad, again, every teen has it. It's only bad if they post their username on websites and give it out to strangers. And hello there's something called the block button . Ask.FM is stupid really but I've never seen nudes on there ....omegle is bad my friend and I were video chatting and there are boys and men masterbating. Mocospace is alright but not really my cup of tea. And parents, don't go through your teens phone. It DOES invade privacy and it PROVES you don't trust them . Bye c:
Thanks for this information I am not sure what app they are on but I do know they are on facebook and instagram and they are onoly 12 years old, and I want to see how do you get information on new apps that come out for the kids, it iscary. Facebook say they are to be 13 but I know kids who are on there are 11 and 12 years old, they should make it where they need to speak to an adult before allowing the kids to jump on the various apps.
Seriously people. I'm a kid(so accorrding to adults i dont know anything?),I mean come on most of these apps arent bad it is the people that use them that make them bad and inapropriate. You all should rethink the whole bad-app thing. It is just like weapons, the weapons themselves don't do anything, but the people who use them do. The apps by themselves don't really do anything bad, the people that use them do.
Thought this is a good article to keep us informed on unsafe apps for the kids.
Hi everyone, I'm 16 and after reading through your comments I've come to the conclusion that many of you are a bit too overprotective. Yes, it is important to have some restrictions, and of course make sure that your child isn't talking to sexual predators, but trust is also a very important aspect as well. I think teaching your child from the start goes a long way. I use many of those apps (kik, snapchat, whisper) but never have I attempted to meet up with someone, or sent a dirty picture. Taking phones away or deleting their apps only creates more of an urge to do those things I would think. I probably don't understand these comments completely being that I don't have a child, but if my mom did the things that have been done in the comments section, I would be furious! Overall I just think it is better to teach instead of instantly punishing and taking away their things. :)
First of all u guys are helicopter parents and snapchat and kik and yik yak "could" be used for this but so could any other site but if you miss use this it is your fault and not the apps and "Rik" and "Kim Johnson" vine and ask fm. Those are some of the least dangerous sites out there no one use those and if your child does than they are pitiful
Being a teenager during these times are tough because now you CANNOT get away with anyhting you do on a mobile device. Every text you send, picture you post, or comment you make is a digital footprint. I learned this the hard way by having a bad experience with Kik Messaging. Now my phone is checked regularly and I am not allowed to use social media. This change though is for the better. This experience showed me that these things don't disappear and the what you post or comment has an effect on something somewhere. Any picture or message you send can never be taken back. It is through this experience that I learned the severity of my actions. Not through the BANNING of apps but through the mistakes I made with them.
ooVoo is one my kids use i just found Out about it tonight because a grown man is stalking my13 year old daughter
This post is ridiculous, im sorry but you should trust your kids. Not check their phone every few days. What kid wants that? Like seriously, you all are sheltering your kids so much that when they grow up and actually experience what you were hidding from them it will be way worse in the future. if my mother was going to check my phone ever week I would go insane. Its privacy and its part of growing up to have trust.
I also found out the App "Lookout" via Samsung can take photos and locate your phone by another user that knows your mobile
in my opinion,kids shouldn't have phones,ipods,ipads,nothing except a computer and a PARENTS laptop.until they can buy one with their own money.
Wow u got 2 be kiddin all of u r just settin ur selfs up for trouble. Im 16 n dont have a iphone but i have an ipod touch 4g i dont use instagram or fb cuz it always crashes on my ipod. Anyways if u be overprotectave ur child is goin to sneek behind ur back so good luck!!
I haven't read all the comments but I would like to make all parents aware of an AWESOME website called "teensafe".. It's cheap, reliable, and awesome! I've been a member for almost a year and am able to see EVERYTHING right from my very own phone!
The simple answer is get your kids a tracfone for emergencies. No apps or anything like that. This is a great article for people who aren't in tune with the app world. There are a lot of potentially dangerous apps for children. As a parent though you should always be monitoring your child's activity on not only their phone, but the computer as well. Get familiar with the computer or phones if you aren't already. If you don't know what an app is on their phone, google it! Any sharing app has the potential to endanger kids to share things that should not be shared. Talk with them, and monitor what they do. Don't be afraid to be the "bad guy." You are their parent before you're their friend. They'll love you for it in the long run.
Look, all you parents that freak out over these apps. I'm 18, and use every single one of these apps. If you think looking through your kids devices will help, it won't. Things can be deleted and if a kid really wanted too, they can create a new iTunes account. It doesn't make a difference. Locking up wont work as well as you think.
Read this. Mw
My 15 year old daughter uses hangouts to video chat. I have not looked into this app but after reading this I will. I can not believe all I just read right now. Thank you for sharing this information with all of us.
safety isn't equal to restriction
Tinder is a GPS based app that lets you choose if someone is attractive or not. If you both find each other attractive then you 'match' and can start talking. Beware, this app is supposed to be for 18 but lots of younger teens lie about their age. Dangerous.
Or how about stop being an irresponsible parent? Young children don't need smartphones. There are plenty of phones available that are just for making phone calls and that's all they can do. If you're going to be the irresponsible parent that spoils their children, then learn how to use the parental controls smartphones come with. It's easy to set up and prevent your children from doing these so-called "dangerous" things. I've used most of these apps and you have the option of not sharing your location. It's a setting. Just turn it off instead of whining about technology.
Important Information for parents of children who have access to cell phones!!
Can't believe how delusional you parents are. I'm 15 yrs old and have had a smart phone since 6th grade and a iPod since 3rd grade. Most of the apps on the article and the ones you parents are suggesting aren't even bad. You just hear the bad rep about them. Snapchat is to send silly pics to my friends. Instagram is just like facebook but with just photos and you have friends following you, seeing your posts. Vine is to watch silly 6 second videos celebrity's make. Stop saying, "Teens shouldn't even have phones" because I bet if they were around when you were young you would want to interact with your friends and celebrity's. Maybe a check every once in a while but don't be a helicopter parent. It just makes me angry that you guys think were all curious and do bad things. Let me tell you that I'm sure most of them aren't. If you don't trust them get an account on instagram or Facebook. But please stop saying I want to put in blockers and not let them install any apps because they could get hurt. And stop using the excuse,"I didn't have one as a kid so you can survive until your 16". Because that is crazy and you wouldnt know what its like. If you don't trust your kid remember they might want to be in touch with you while they're out with friends or wanting to have social media or video games. Know that this is coming from a girl probably roughly around your child's age and I am speaking for them because I know how they would feel cause I'm in their generation and they don't mean much harm. They just want a phone. Give your child a chance to prove themselves!
Can't believe how delusional you parents are. I'm 15 yrs old and have had a smart phone since 6th grade and a iPod since 3rd grade. Most of the apps on the article and the ones you parents are suggesting aren't even bad. You just hear the bad rep about them. Snapchat is to send silly pics to my friends. Instagram is just like facebook but with just photos and you have friends following you, seeing your posts. Vine is to watch silly 6 second videos celebrity's make. Stop saying, "Teens shouldn't even have phones" because I bet if they were around when you were young you would want to interact with your friends and celebrity's. Maybe a check every once in a while but don't be a helicopter parent. It just makes me angry that you guys think were all curious and do bad things. Let me tell you that I'm sure most of them aren't. If you don't trust them get an account on instagram or Facebook. But please stop saying I want to put in blockers and not let them install any apps because they could get hurt. And stop using the excuse,"I didn't have one as a kid so you can survive until your 16". Because that is crazy and you wouldnt know what its like. If you don't trust your kid remember they might want to be in touch with you while they're out with friends or wanting to have social media or video games. Know that this is coming from a girl probably roughly around your child's age and I am speaking for them because I know how they would feel cause I'm in their generation and they don't mean much harm. They just want a phone. Give your child a chance to prove themselves!
Good info
As I read thru the comments you can almost tell the ones that come from a teen or a parent that has no concept of technology. The parents that blame it on parents letting their kids have phones are not educated enough to know that most of these kids are just using ipods and other network devices, not phones. Parents buy them so their kids can play music and games, but kids are not dumb and they know more about the devices then the parents so they start out with great intentions and learn from their friends about these apps that can get them in trouble. Anybody who thinks a parent looking at a kids electronic device is an invasion of their privacy is a person in denial that their kid would never do anything wrong. When I have talked to kids about this topic they dont see any harm in it. When I asked about the "Friends" on their list, they didn't even know who the people were. The only solutions come from parents monitoring the device or companies who develop apps or sell apps to take develop better control solutions. Don't think your teen is not doing it, because the ones I have worked with tell me their parents have no idea they are using these apps.
Tinder is a free dating up that allows please to decide if they like your picture then if you like each other's picture you start talking. My friends that are of age to use this app have had some gross and creepy people talk to them.
Or maybe you can just give your child the necessary tools and judgment lessons to make good decisions and it won't be an issue. Alarmist parents are a huge threat to the development of children into functioning adults. I am 20 years old, and attend a top ten university. I can tell you that Yik Yak, Snapchat, and Instagram are absolutely not harmless. Who cares if you get offended? Get over yourself. I and all of my friends have used apps like this for years and we are some of the top-performing young adults in the nation. You people are just scared of these programs because you don't understand them. Your comments disgust me.
I gave my 15 year old a smart phone. We've talked about the dangers of the Internet and apps. I look through her phone often and see what she's up to. I also set up the phone under my Google account so that if she wants to download anything, I have to put in the password. That way I see what's going on. I know there are prolly ways around my form of security, but she'd have to do a lot of work to hide it. At that point if I can't trust her, it's not worth it.
how do you block apps?
Hi,Thank u for such a good information. Do you know how to check....how many times and what time do you login to IPhone. basically I have iphone with password protected. I told my son to use only at specific time while his vacation time but I don't know what-what time he used it. Please let me know if there is a app for finding out that OR any other way.Please guide me.Thanks a lot in advance.Patel
Great article, kids need to be guided. I also use this fantastic app to limit their screentime on the devices - super helpful and also teaches them math: Screentime Ninja - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=screentime.ninja
Has anyone heard of Chatter? My daughter was using it and talking to men/boys. We found pictures of men's "privates" sent to her. This was in February and she still hasn't gotten her IPod back. She was asking to meet these "friends" and when I asked her how she knew this person she would make up a story that she met them at the mall or church youth group. Luckily she never met them face to face and we were very fortunate we found this on her IPod before it was too late. I'm going to speK to my husband about the "Covenant Eyes" app that was suggested.
About KiK...I don't see the problem. It is literally just another iMessage.
The meow app is also bad and it connects with facebook through your phone. Sexual predators use this app to talk to young kids and lure them to other places.
I have a KiK account and there are a lot for strangers texting me saying that i am pretty and it os creeping me out so if this happens to u delete your account and if u want make a new account with a different use name
Apps aren't the problem; the entire bugaboo is about sex, so talk with them about it. Not just sex and abstinence, talk with them about digital anonymity, the consequences of bullying, the psychology of sex and how it can affect your decision making process, about peer pressure, coercion and enthusiastic consent, predators, rape, pregnancy, abortion... Talk with them about what relationships mean to you and find out what relationships mean to them, without judgement or accusations and without having to train them to become more adept at lying and keeping secrets. Be a safe harbor they can come to regardless of what storm life has brought... or be the rocks they desperately try to avoid.
I found out the hard way about Omegle
If you don't trust your kid enough not to feel the need to monitor their phone then don't get them one, or at least not a smart phone if they're incapable of restraint. If they do have a smart phone then they need to be smarter than it and know about internet safety.
I don't understand why parents feel the need to hide their kids from the world. I can see if the child is under the age of 14, but if your child is 15 or older I feel they can handle these things. My children both have iphones and i do not monitor their activity. The way I see it, as long as my child is happy, then there is no need. I think all of you are being a bit ridiculous. Don't you want your child to experience things? They can not experience anything if you keep these training wheels on them forever. Let kids be kids...
Kristin, thanks for the post! Parents are fighting a war they were not trained to fight. Every bit helps. I agree with several other comments that parents need to not only monitor apps, but engage in conversations about what healthy sexuality is all about so they don't get pulled into the hook up craziness. Even young kids need to be warned early about Internet pornography. One tool parents can use is the read-aloud book Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today's Young Kids. www.goodpicturesbadpictures.com
Okay. I'm 14 and I'm on this bc I want to know the "bad" apps so I know not to download them. Not all teens are completely lacking common sense. In fact, a lot of us know how to handle ourselves. My mom goes through my phone and my dad constantly asks me who I'm texting and it makes me feel like they don't trust me. Yes, I have snapchat, but I only use it to send silly selfies to close friends, I would NEVER send a nude or talk to a stranger. Some teens would, which is why it's good to be cautious, but the root of the problem here, is that parents don't trust their kids. You say you do, but if you really did, you wouldn't feel the need to check your kids phone every night, because you'd know they know how to handle the responsibility and be safe. It IS easy to get sucked into bad stuff, that's why we have to be careful, my friend got sucked into it, but I made her stop talking to the guy and she realized it was bad and she's careful now. My parents know my password to my phone, and my iPod touch and they know my iTunes password, but it's just because I willingly tell them, bc there's nothing for me to hide. Yet they still search every night and question every text between me and my friends when none of it is bad, it's all just teenage inside jokes that parents wouldn't understand. And about KIK being on there, I use it to talk to friends who only have iPods, therefore don't have a phone number, or people who's phone is broken or something, I don't use it for sextin and I don't know anyone who does. If parents trust their kids and want to get them a smartphone, don't make them feel like they're not trusted. If you feel they're going to get in trouble, or make bad decisions, don't get them a smartphone, get them a phone that is a little bit less dangerous. I know how the smart teens who know how to behave online feel. We feel betrayed because our parents don't feel we can always make smart decisions without them looking over our shoulders. Hope this insight helps the parents understand how your kids feel a little better (: hope everyone has a good night.
I was wondering if you could tell me how to block the apps from Wi-Fi? Also, do you know of a program where you can set time limits on Wi-Fi use, and blocks unwanted material from popping up (even junk on You-Tube) that you can use on Apple products?
The app SECRET is a problem, too.
Read this
Good reference
Chat Roulette. Bad, bad, bad. My son had really bad experiences with several of these. Really hard time for our family. Bad. Did I mention these are bad? Sadly, the TEACH method is really the only solution. Smart kids will find work-arounds. My son found so many that his engineer father was surprised with. One kid tells another who tells another. They have ways that would boggle your minds.
ifunny is also not very good, it has good qualities just make sure your kids know what is good to look at and what's not
Ok, so I am a 14 year old girl and this is the dumbest thing ever, ok?! Parents need to realize that not all of us kids are up to no good. I have both a kik and a snapchat and I don't use either of them for sexting. Did it ever occur to you that, maybe, just maybe, we use these apps JUST to keep in touch with our friends and NOT to send explicit photos to one another? Ok, yeah,sure, sometimes a random person will kik me with something like, "hey you doing anything tonight ;P" or something similar clearly implying they are looking for "fun". But I'm not stupid. I know how to handle these situations. I'm not going to respond or kik them back or send them pictures or anything like that. All of you parents need to understand that we are living in a different generation now. A generation where it is IMPOSSIBLE to "protect" your child from snapchat, Instagram, kik, etc. Frankly, if your kid is 14, they should have a phone. You're scared of all the things that could happen to them on the internet, but think of all the things that could happen to them on the streets. I feel much safer walking through the mall with my phone, then I would without it.
Holy crap. Okay, allow me to start off by saying I'm 15 years old and I actually like to learn, and I take a specific liking into technology considering I go to a technical high school (going into 10th grade).Before I continue, I did not just search up parenting forums and sites just so I could rant and start an "Internet fight" (hah). I simply wanted to see the light D and dark D (delivered) symbols in a bit more light, have it explained more thoroughly.That being said, allow me to move on.No app is dangerous by itself, it's the person who makes it dangerous. You have access to the Internet, which, access alone, is not dangerous. Your purpose for the access decides whether or not it's dangerous. I'm currently running my Android 4.4.2 on my Galaxy S5. My parents aren't rich, but my S4 broke from internal problems (manufacturer, Samsung) which I had gotten from an upgrade from the S3 (broke by my sister's previous damage to it since it was hers and she got and upgrade (She's in mid 20s) so she gave me that. It was slowly killing the OLED), this landing me at the S5. I have Kik, Facebook, Snapchat (don't use) and Twitter (signed up so I could get a reward for something else, never used it, don't know how, don't want to know how, seems silly). All the apps you mention here, other than Poof (which still isn't quite dangerous, more malicious), are not scary. The sole idea of Kik is to chat via instant messaging firstly. That very idea is not dangerous if you are sick of waiting 2 minutes for your text to completely send via SMS. Snapchat? I think the entire teen world has come to know that screenshots are possible, considering the makers of Snapchat tell you it too. It's the idea that people decide to send bad things is where it gets bad. And for the record, it's not truely deleted, neither is the history on your computer even when you press the "Clear Browsing Data..." button. It just marks the area on the disk as free, allowing it to be overwritten, in which case, it's going to be like the very faded letters you see on paper after you erase them. Hard to see, but still there, no matter how hard you try. Another thing, I went through all of these comments and to the people who say that going through their children's phones breaks trust and builds a wall, I commend you. My dad has only done that once and realized for one there was nothing explicit, and two, the emotional consequences afterwards. I realized he had no sense of trust in me, and we had to rebuild that form of trust again. It's not easy to grow up with parents that don't take a second to think about the backlash they can get from their child. "He's a child and I have nothing to be scared of" is ever so slightly ignorant. I mean, sure, what could your child do, be mad at you? Yeah, but your child could also be mad at you years later. Then when your child is off on their own, and they don't contact you often because of the wall that YOU caused, it'll be like you never had a child. Sure you can be like "Oh well I tried and look now" but remember you're the ones putting time and effort into raising a child (or children). At the end of the day, trust is important.And just to clarify one thing, sure I said that things can't be deleted, but is there anything a factory reset can't fix on a phone? Return it back to stock state, all your monitoring apps are gone, and if they did it via jailbreak/root with the right commands, they could have not tripped a single alarm. My phone is currently rooted (Thanks George Hotz. (: ) so I have complete control over the device. And even if you have a lock on the factory reset, again, jailbroken/root can break through that, or on Android just boot into recovery and reset the phone from there. Honestly, looking at these apps you download to monitor and restrict, none completely restrict everything and there's always a backdoor somewhere. Any coder leaves a backdoor open.TL;DR?- The apps aren't dangerous, you're all overprotective and need to learn it's not the app, it's the child. - Trust is keysophomore. Building a strong relationship in the long run for your child, and at the present time. Realize the backlash that there's a difference between "mad" and "distrust."- Your monitoring apps are hopeless. They can be bypassed. And even if your child isn't technology savvy, Google makes life simpler (Oh and XDA forums!).- Didn't mention it, but I broke free one of my friend's phones. Her mom had a monitor app and restriction app on her phone. Factory reset. Bam. Never saw it again. She said it felt like pulling your arms in opposite directions while handcuffed and breaking the handcuffs.- I'm a 15 year old, youngest son of 2 (4 if you count two older step-sisters) and I attend a technical high school. I am currently a rising sophomore.P.S. For a comment concerning how to block a specific app on wifi, you can Google up how to access your router and configure settings to allow control of what IP addresses are not allowed in and out of your network. In which case, Google the master servers of the apps, and add those IPs to the block list (blacklist).
Tango is one that scares me. . You can video chat instantly with any one that adds you as a "friend". Which mainly consists of creepy looking men
All the talking apps are very dangerous as well look up why is talking apps except Siri bad
thanks for sharing this information....this is the great information and we could just stop giving children cell phones....
Sounds cool i like those apps
Is there anything out there you can get to block or lock apps?
Thank you for your help, we dont know how dangerous can be the smart phones
My 10 year old has found a app. that is also very dangerous. It is new and easy for kids to get into. The name of the app. is Meow. She was involved in very sexually explicit chat w/pics. It is now under investigation.
How do you block tango and face time to keep kids from talking to men old enought to be there daddy and grandpaw
I wonder about my filter with Covenant Eyes. If it would catch any of these. I am going to check. It has been great showing us what our kids are looking at. Silly to think our kids just can't have a phone. Wise would be talking with them and showing them dangers and talking about accountability. If you don't have a relationship like that with your child, maybe there that's the first priority, and yes, phones are a privilege they could lose.
Beware of sites that tell kids what over the counter drugs to mix together to get high. It's not just apps that are dangerous.
"Freedom" to smart phones is... well, not smart. i never had a smart phone (im nearly 20) (you can hardly even purchase a new phone without it being a smartphone) until I started college and even then my phone isnt an iphone. luckily, my parents were good in teaching my siblings and i right and wrong and the consequences of our actions. not only that..they taught us that there is real hurt in harm that can be done against because someone else that ignores whats right and wrong.apps like kik, twitter, facebook, meetme, and even "naughty" games from the app store were on an old boyfriends phone. i wasnt the type to go through his things but he had left apps up and i found out the horrifying things he was doing behind my back. if youre concerned about your kids, partner, etc. and there seems to be no visible evidence of something wrong... go to there app store and go to purchases and itll show all apps theyve ever had even if theyve deleted them. and to see what theyve searched in safari go to advanced setting for safari and you can see all searched sites and what not.if your suspicious enough to have to do thing kinda thing..brace yourself because the shock, hurt, and horror are terrifying.
Here is my opinion on this. Kids should be limited, but taking their phone away is not an option. Why? Some reasons are: if your kid is in and around the age of 12, he/she probably hangs out with her/his friends. If he/she texts or calls you to tell you whats going on where she is, taking the phone away can cause him/her to not be able to contact you if something bad happens. A lot of parents are more concerned about the online world than the real world and I know that the online world can be dangerous, but the outside world can be the same if not more dangerous! You should limit the use of app stores and apps, but do not ever come to the conclusion that you should take their phones away!
Ask.fm = anonymous bullying (TERRIBLE APP)Hot or Not = ways to meet people that are close by (SCARRY APP)Badoo = ways to meet people that are close by (SCARRY APP)Personally, Ask.fm has been a nightmare in my life because of the things posted to my daughter. But even worse is that you really can never cancel the app because if you do, you can reactivate it just by putting your password again. What I would like to know is HOW TO BLOCK THIS APPS FROM OUR CHILDREN'S PHONE FOREVER??? Can that be done? Please help!!!!
Or... we could all calm the hell down and just teach our children respect for themselves and to make intelligent choices.People generally live up to how you treat them.If you treat them like idiots who can't handle any responsibility or trust and need to be "monitored" 24/7, then that's about how they will act.You keep someone on a short leash all the time, and OF COURSE any little chance at freedom they get, they're going to take. You are going to MAKE them sneaky, by constantly making them HAVE to learn to sneak around your invasive ways.Chill out, teach your child to have respect for themselves so their self-worth won't be based on sexual attention from some random boy, or approval from their peers, and this kind of thing won't happen.Instead, you make them feel worthless and untrustworthy and trapped under your ever-present judgmental thumb, and they turn into kids seeking approval elsewhere, who feel like nothing but disappointments to you.Well rounded people have to learn to take care of themselves, WITHOUT your constant intervention.Teenagers are NOT CHILDREN - they are YOUNG ADULTS who need to be getting ready to take care of themselves completely in only a few years time. You can't always hold their hand and treat them like they are 2 anymore by "child proofing" everything, including the big bad world, even *gasp* seeeexxxx~... Oh no! Not THAT scary topic! I have no idea why people are so terrified to tell teens about sex or acknowledge that sex is part of the human existence to them.It's just sex. It's not dirty, it's not shameful, it's not wrong. Without it, none of us would be here. It's a beautiful, natural expression of the love felt between two people. Just teach your teenager that sex is to be respected and their bodies are sacred spaces to be pleasured only by themselves and those who are truly worthy of them. My son is now 11 and still naturally modest about nudity and sex, but natural curiosity has always been met with a big *shrug* in my house.This whole "Concerned Mothers" and "THINK OF THE CHILDRENNNN~!" attitude that is so pervasive confounds me, over such a simple, natural act that we could not survive as a species without. In other words, ladies... CHILL OUT!
Información sobre aplicaciones usadas por adolescentes que los ponen en riesgo
My child uses Kik and SnapChat, I will sit down with my child and discuss this......thank you!!!!!
Talking angela is a very scary app
Mother of 4, middle school teacher. THANKS!!! Anything in print/sent is NEVER fully gone. My oldest got into anorexic behaviour with tumbler. Many "Ana" sites there as well. As for you preaching trust, enjoy raising your grandchildren early. Teens are supposed to push limits. Parents are SUPPOSED to set and ENFORCE them. Monitor everything. The junk they are exposed to now at young ages is unbelievable.
Hot or Not is one that is very scary. It allows others rate pictures of you and ruins others self-image. I have had to listen to many younger friends cry to me or boast about what other people rated them. It is very sad, and a dangerous hook up app. Watch out
I'm laughing at all the dumb housewives that don't even know how to delete apps on their children's phones. If your child has the audacity to do something behind your back, it's probably because the trust isn't mutual. So look at yourself before you look at your child, and recognize you're the root problem. Anything in the world can be abused, regardless of whether it's an app, or a hammer that can maul someone to death. Teach safety, don't censor.
Maybe it would be better to just take the phone away from your kid. And parental lock the internet at home, because honestly trying to just block these apps won't do anything to help. If they have access to Internet they have access to all sorts of bad stuff, attempts to half way shelter them will not work. A better option would also be teach them how to use some of those apps the right way and raise your kid with integrity. (snap chat can actually be very entertaining)
I have done omegle and kids asked for snapchat or kik and that was leeding to sexual pics and thats bad so dont use or go or see them hope i helped -Susan
A teen has no business with a smartphone. No business with 24/7 access to the internet. A basic phone will do just fine.
since these apps are proving to be dangerous to youth, how about they be shut down. another to add to the list is Instagram. there is a lot of pics and bullying on that site.
Thank you very much, we parents need so much this kind of advise to take care of our kids specially because some of us are not really part of thi digital eragreat job
Great post very useful thank you Best Way To Hack WiFi Password Easily
LINE concerns me
Okay their is a REASON for these to have an age restriction snapchat is 13 kik is 17 omegle is 18 and the rest idk vine is 17
Poof is still downloadable from jail broken devices
I'm sorry but vine? Its just as good (or bad depending on your point of view) as YouTube and other cites on the internet. Maybe if parents learned to teach their kids the dangers of things and the basic "don't talk to strangers rule" we wouldn't have so many oblivious children. Sheltering your child is nice and all but we don't live in the safe period of time so many of us were raised in. There are always going to be dangers your kid could get sexually abused just walking outside. So the solution isn't to turn your family Into a bunch of cave men its to teach them. That's all you can do . :/
I'm getting my daughter a phone and I am totally not gonna let her use these apps we used to have kik for our 12 year old daughter not anymore!
Easy, don't allow them to know the password and can only download what you deem appropriate after reviewing it.
Hi, Im 16 and I have a small sister she is 11. Our parents live in Canada which is very very very far from us. We live with the rest of the family which includes our grandparents,uncles,aunts and cousins. Im the eldest kid in the family. Now I have an ipod touch, a tablet and other gadgets and there is 24x7 wifi. I won't lie but I have been very very very bad and my parents know it. When we used to live with our parents I made mistakes a lot of mistakes..I misused the web and etc. and my parents caught me..almost everytime. And yes they were mad at me..but then they always gave me second chances..and I kinda learned..from my mistakes..plus since I was a kid, I never really got a lot of freedom. I mean my parents never really allowed ..me to go out with friends,,and I wasn't allowed to make any boyfriends..and it turned out to be good..because I could've done something really stupid..which I didn't thanks to them. The problem with a lot of parents is that they give their child a lot of things at once,,first you let your kid learn how to drive and then you give them a phone! I mean really. Do you think that's okay. ?! They can go out by themselves and have sex with whoever they want. They have a phone, they can drive,,what's stopping them . ?! I never had a phone..still don't,.,not even when my parents are away and I can't even drive anything just a bicycle . But look Im fine. No one in my family cares what Im doing or why Im doing..and I have a little sister,,so if I do anything bad , she learns from me,, I have to teach her things..My parents,,always just you know let me learn by my self, They know I do bad things on the internet..I misuse..they get mad at me they don't talk to me but later they just tell me it's wrong..and I feel sorry...but then I do it again.!So eventually..I realized that all this time my parents were just helping me..and they were right,,there are bad people on the web and it's up to the kid if he/she wants to get involved..so parents you just let your kids discover,,let them know , they will realize..and if it get's too extreme you stop them,,,don't let them go out..don't let them touch the phone..don't let them lock their room..be a detective,,like you can tell if your kid is lying..just get to the roots..no privacy at all. So I hope this was helpful ...just don't let your kid cross the limit,...Parents you make the limit!And lastly every kid should get a phone but only when they're 18.
If you don't put age restrictions on your kids phone they can even watch porn on YouTube. And they will wander into that innocently by seeing one video that looks funny and it links to another with a higher rating etc. Soon your 11 year old innocence is gone. I learned that the hard way. Not knowing I didn't set up the age restrictions correctly. And this goes for every device. Including computers and kindles.
What about ask.fm?
You need to read this and forward on to friends
Problem with you helicopter parents is you think you've got a handle on your kids, yet they're smoking you with the technology you gave them! Why every ten yr old needs a smart phone with full internet access is beyond me....like...duh! You thought you were smarter than your parents, guess what, these kids are smarter at screwing their parents around than you can ever imagine!
my child she is 15 and she was using the sex master app after 2 years of having the same boyfriend! di u think she had sex with him?
Glenda Rippeto ; dumb ways to die is just a little game, you cant contact anyone from it, its pretty fun. Vine isnt even bad unless you go looking for it, it also depends on who you follow, or what hashtags you look up. My little brother (12) gets on omegle, and talks to ' little girls' or so they say. One time an '11 year old girl' was asking my brother if hes ' done anything' with a girl, when i told my mother she didn't do anything. -.- Im constantly telling her not to give him so much privacy. Me, as a 15 year old know not to be getting into inapropriate things, and i dont, I've seen too many bad things happen to other children my age, and rather not risk anything!
What should i do
My daughter has problems with the song from the app dump ways to die, she's 9 years old and turning ten in a few weeks, she says the tune scares her. I think it has to do with the death part.. She is also bothered by the idea of creepypasta. She's never seen it and wishes not to.. But she can't get rid of her fear of dumb ways to die,.. It's a horrible app that's probably why it's rated 12 But it honestly should be on AppStore.. She also freaks out about if others like her sister more.. Anyone know what's with this horrid app?
How would you tell if your partner h these apps
As a person in their early 20s, this article is of little practical help to parents. If your child is abusing these apps and viewing unsuitable content, they are capable of deceiving you. By the time you see this list of apps, literally a million more will be released on the App Store. Children nowadays are so radically more tech savvy than their parents, it's literally impossible to forcibly prevent kids from downloading such apps. You set a password to download apps? Create a dummy Apple account with a free email address, log out, log back in with the new account, and you're in. Total access. Want to hide messages or pictures from a parent? You don't even need an app if you know where to store your data. Blocked WiFi? Log into one of the dozens of other connections in the area. Need to obtain a password? Set up a free key logger and your parents will have no idea what happened. Censored internet? Use a proxy and you won't even have to install a program to make it happen. The possibilities for deception are easy and endless. (I'm familiar with most of these because of my programming background)Parents are much better off teaching their children why some apps can be dangerous and what to watch out for. Nor can you reasonably deny your child a smartphone or internet access for long. I'm shocked to see parents who say they check their child's phone regularly. I mean, it's one thing to make sure they're not accidentally doing something harmful, but if you really can't trust your child, you have bigger issues than what apps they have.
These aren't dangerous if monitored properly. They aren't meant to be dangerous either they are suppose to be enjoyable and a cheaper option rather than paying for texts. Also viber s the same as them except u can call as well
Ok I get it I know that you guys are just trying to look after your kids but sheltering them is not the way to go make them wanna do it even more
talking angela is a dangerous game its a man asking really rude questions
It is best app for kids to learn maths while playing. Parents has full access to kids play time. Ninja apps gives hints how to solve maths problem. Just check out https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=screentime.ninja
How about this, Why don't parents sit down and have a conversation about this. Implement a 3 strikes and your phones gone policy. Have the chat with them about what can happen if they aren't safe, then if they violate it, take their phone. Blocking apps from the appstore wont do anything. When I was a 14 year old my parents deleted my myspace, but I created a facebook. They deleted FFM, but I installed new apps that allowed me to do the same thing. They can create their own apple ID and change passwords on you. they can block you from everything.
Oh come on, kids are kids, let them get on with it, it's the only way they will learn! Obviously I will protect my son from anything, but I'm not going to go and check his computer and his phone, that's rude and intrusive. My son tell's me if something is up or not right, he uses some of these apps and is smart enough to not divulge into the sexual region... I think it's so stupid that these kind of articles tell us to check our child's electronic devices and spoon feed them forever, the only way they will learn is if they find it out themselves with your help, not if you just completely stop them from doing it, because they will always find a way around it.
fs its called privacy leave them to do what they want. its an app and has to pass certain standards and cant do anything you dont want to do.
Maybe you shouldn't be so controlling over your children. Seriously, what are you protecting them from? If you have GPS disabled, all thats really left is porn. Porn. Yes, evil porn. The thing you are scared of is something you can't stop. Oh no, your 12 year old is gonna a vagina a couple years early. Maybe you should look at what kids are who don't have restrictions on their apps. Are they "corrupted" to you? No they are normal children. If you're trying to help they stay out of trouble, then talk to them. Not be the equivalent of a dictator to your household. Talk to your kids and left them make their decisions. Talk to them about everything you're scared about them for. Not prevent them from being able to do anything without you seeing. Jesus Christ they are people too, all be it they are children, you still shouldn't suffocate them. How would you like if you were restricted from what you could use on your phone. God damn it, this is America. Not North Korea.Your kids deserve freedom.
Ok this is quite stupid kids should be allowed to contact there friends on these apps i preety sure where younger yall would of done the same thing and yall should be able to trust your kids instead of being so up tight unless you want them to sneak around your back and kids need phones to talk to people cause im preety sure if you dont let them have a phone you dont let them go anywhere which is preety fucked up atleast let them talk to there friends andwhat if an emergeency happenen and they cant contact you then what ?
Be aware
Okay I'm a kid and a reason why some of us have phones is for a good reason and some of these apps have a thing were you can block people you have every right to be concern but just check your kids phone like 2 a week and don't tell them when you are and if you find some they don't need to be on take their phone away or like put a lock on bad apps and websites that's what my friend mom do
Talking Angela
I have a fix for all these apps. Don't buy your kid a smart phone. Issue resolved
I strongly disagree with what a lot of you are putting here. You should teach like another user here said, not just go for deleting and blocking. If you teach children about dangers then they won't be as curious about them. If you block and disable, the teenager will find ways to look at it anyways because of their curiosity of what's so dangerous about it. Also if you go through their phone, they will think you don't trust them, and will lead to future issues. Do you really want to give your teen the illusion that you don't trust them? That's a horrible parenting technique.
Forget trying to keep track. Take the phone away, stop giving open access to the Internet and lock down the computers in the house. Why? Cause predators are awaiting your kids or teens to get online. Don't fall a victim or let your loved ones fall a victim. Sure they access the Internet elsewhere, but take your part in expanding on the dangers and why you're doing it. As parents or guardians you need to take action. Don't fall a victim of this!
This is stupid.... What are you parents going to do? Delete the apps... I mean seriously if your kid isn't responsible enough to know that they shouldn't give apps or tell people personal information then they shouldnt even be allowed to go outside.... The worst one of this list is kik, kik is just a texting app, and random people can't add you unless you accept it.... I use kik daily because I can't use my texting app for various reasons, and I know for a fact it's not dangerous.... Just teach your kids how to properly use the internet and there should be no problems with letting them have these happy or a phone
Great article, Kristin. Which phone security packages do you recommend, particularly for monitoring Kik?
Or you could try teaching your kids why things like these are dangerous in the first place, that way you could save yourselves (and them) the trouble. The amount of bad parenting in this article is scary. As someone who grew up with overprotective parents, it might prove useful for you to know that just flat-out telling them not to do these things with little to no explanation won't work. In fact, it's likely to just make them sneakier about hiding things from you. The phrase "They may feel that you're invading their privacy, but let's be honest… You're paying the phone bill, so you can do whatever you want!" was the scariest of all. It IS invading their privacy, and if they catch you looking at their phone, you might permanently lose their trust.Also, keep in mind that making mistakes is how people learn. As long as you've taught them not to tell strangers where they live, they'll probably be fine.
I think the realization of dangers in this article is not caused by the variety of apps that are out there, but rather the phone itself. If parents do not want their children to be downloading these apps and are actually concerned for the child's safety....then DON"T get them the smartphone they've always wanted. If you insist on your child having a phone for communication purposes (talking and texting that is), then purchase a cheap phone with a cheap plan. Simply put, YOU, the parent are responsible for what happens to your child if you give them the ability to get all of this content.
I did not know about this app.need to protect the children from this app
I am a teenager, some vines are bad, some whispers are bad, some people on kik are bad. But everything has good and bad kik saved my little sisters life because a stranger she met (they are the same age) talked her out of suicide. Don't give kids an I device until they are 13 or older honestly, and stop blaming the apps. Do what my parents did use your apple store account on their devices, allow them to have password, so whatever app they download will be available on yours it's way better than search the device our I devices aren't even cellphones! They're iPads. Give your kids a cheap eBay phone on your network that doesn't even connect to the internet if y'all are that worried sheesh.
Yall are stupid
Kik messenger I have moniterd and researched and there is nothing wrong with it
lol you also forgot instagram,safari,twitter,hot or not,chatroulette ETC. you make it sound like every app is awful, if you trust your kids with them
parents some of you need to hop off! Randomly searching your childs PERSONAL devices is not gonna get you anywhere.
As a teenager myself (recently 17), happening to come a cross this i was rather annoyed to read most of the comments here. Yes, there are dangers to all of these things, which there are also with facebook and instagram may i add (as some of those commenting seem to be saying these are exempt). However, us teenagers aren't brain dead! And yes, it is a huge invasion of privacy to snoop on your childs phone notmatter who pays the bills, how would you like it the other way around? Your mother snooping through your phone? Everyone deserves privacy! Talk to your teens by all means and inform them of the danger of private information and responsible ways to act, but then let them live their lives!! Most of those commenting seem to not trust their childs mental capability at all! I use a lot of apps often and i use them responsibly, not because i was told so even, but due to simple common sense! My overall message here is that there is a line between protecting your child by giving them the right information and guidance, and treating them like they don't have a brain and need to be constantly monitored, as this, for me, would really make me feel like i had no independence to speak of if i couldn't even use my phone without it being thoroughly examined. Let them live!!!
Also, to those saying that teens or children do not need phones because you never had one and they are corrupting us, we hsould be outside playing-no! no no no no no, if you had grown up with technology advancing in such a manner infrotn of you then you would want a piece of that too! It is a way to keep in touch with friends easily and the keep entertained! What if we dont want to play outside!! What if wed rather sit inside, it does us no harm? If this technology had been around when you were young im almost certain you would exercise your right to choose whether you wanted to go outside and 'play' or sit inside on apps or games. to use an economical example, since when has the expansion of the variety of consumer goods and the consequent increase in choice ever been a bad thing?! Just because you didn't have it doesn't mean its bad. its just different.
I am not a parent but a kid myself. I use snapchat,kik,omegle, whisper and poof. Now i understand the risk of these apps i will stop using them.
Just a thought for those whose children don't have phones - their friends may or probably do and they may have these apps. (My child's middle school started allowing students to bring phones to school for educational purposes last year.) Good to talk about with your child regardless so they can be aware of what's out there and keep the lines of communication open. And lots of prayer that they will make wise choices.
I am 13 years old, and I believe that parents need to CALM DOWN. All these examples here are rare, one in a thousand. I have about half of these apps. Instagram is for photo sharing, not anything else. Vine is just for sharing funny little 7 second videos. I funny is fine if you just stay in the featured and popular sections. We know not to use phones badly. Another funny thing is that some "adults" on here (notice the "") Are using horrible grammar and spelling. I find that hilarious. Also, the rumor that all these "kids" are getting phones, is fake. I just got my phone, a Samsung brightside that has no access to apps, WiFi, internet, data, etc., last year.
No offense but u turned all these apps around and made them all sound terribly bad. All kids are different and will use these apps differently, I hope you realize that because this is non-sense and very over exaggerated.
good article
if you are so worried about these apps on your kids phones, then an easy solution to that is don't buy them the phones that can have apps on them. buy them a phone that you can text and make calls only on. kids these days are spoiled with phones and other electronics and they are horrible at person to person interaction. i do not look at my childrens phones without asking them first. they have a right to their privacy too. you must have trust with them in order to have them trust them.
You're paying the phone bill, so you can do whatever you want!So now it depends on us paying their bill that give us the right to keep tabs on them? 1st paying in and of itself does not give a body the right to do anything unless that has been agreed to upfront... so you have two choices here; make that business deal with your kids right up front ORrealize that because of age and your parentage it is your duty to check on the stuff your children visit and do.But paying does not give rights in and of itself.Ever
snapchat is not that ad i do it with my friends only so its not that bad for me and omgle that's not that bad if u don't like the person u r seeing on the other end end the chat and go to another one
Yeah, why don't you just block every app instead of teaching your kids how to have fun with those amazing apps in a way that does not put them in harms way. Are you going to be there when they offer them drugs in college too to "block" those drugs?
We need to be aware.
thank you for not only diligently researching, but also for sharing all of your valuable research with the public.
Oh my god, I will never get over how small minded American parents are. I stumpled upon this page whilst googling how to do something on Facebook and i'm honestly baffled by the stupidity. My parents trust me and I have Twitter,Facebook, Instagram, Tumblr, Pinterest, Snapchat, 8Tracks and more. They don't check up on any of these accounts because they trust me and know they don't need to. I'm 14 and I have my own phone, laptop, and ipod and I've never sexted, looked at a porn website or done anything 'inappropriate'. I use my devices for listening to music,chatting to friends, making new friends (which my parents know of) (but they must be sex predators?? RIGHT????!!! lmao), blogging about my favourite things, help with homework, and for helping me understand issues which are important to me. I know a lot more about the world than a lot of stuck up adults because I don't refuse to use these things. YOU may have got along fine without these things just fine but the world has moved on and you're not in the loop if you don't have certain devices. I always know what's going on in the world and the recent news. You're honestly a very sad little human being f you take away or even get rid of your childrens devices, and I hope they all move out the soonest chance they get.
Thanks for the tips. On my moms ipad and quickly learned all about the cool apps. Thanks!
I don't understand what makes Yik Yak or Kik dangerous. If the users on Yik Yak are anonymous, and a kid posts sexual information about themselves, they're still anonymous,so what bad things could happen? Also, with Kik, kids have to give each other their Kik names to text each other so I don't see how a predator could get involved. Please explain.
I used to have kik than a girl started to send me nasty pics so I had to delete it
All these untrustworthy parents disgust me. If your children are using their phones innaproprietly its because you dont communicate with them and treat them like adults. You dont need to spy on them or "monitor" their devices!!! THE KEY IS TRUST! If youtThink youre child doesnt need a phone until they drive you are CRAZY, OLDFASHIONED, and quite frankly PARANOID
DO NOT TAKE YOUR CHILDS PHONE. My mom learned the hard way that by doing this you are just breaking trust and pushing away someone you love. My mom used to always take my sisters phone away when she was in high school and she would be rude and give the whole family the silent treatment. Before i had a phone ( 6th, 7th grade) all my friends had the iphone 4s ( and tons of cute cases). As a result i felt extremely left out and angry at my mom for some reason. I would always find ways to give my mom panic attacks (i.e. not show up home from school until 5:30 because i had to finish a math test and couldnt tell her, not answer the home phone when i was home alone because it had a very quite buzz and i could say i didnt hear it)
I don't understand why these people are saying things like "Kids shouldn't have phones" They need phones to communicate with their friends. I was about 9 when I had my first phone. It was only a cheap £20 phone but I could still communicate with my friends and store music on it.
Can't the police monitor and trace back via GPS and snare the groomers and predators?
Meow is a bad one. Line is a japanese texting app, and is not as dangerous as the others. Whatsapp is a little bad, although most people use it for contact about buying things. Instagram is bad though.
What about "Vine" app? My 13 year old is using somethingto text incognito. Very frustrating!
No matter what you do there is a way for your kids to view innapropriate material and inappropriate apps. Undoubtedly they know more about it than you, and it is easy to detect and delete spying apps without you knowing about it, even to post false results, for example a simple one is coded browsers. People can use kik on the browser and if you block that they can download another browser, maybe one with a passcode. If you monster the wifi they can go to a Internet cafe or even our loo library has wifi. You have one chance to bust your kid b4 they wise up. Use it wisely.
We had a similar experience with whisper. My son had been chatting with some women and we didn't know it. we didn't understand why he never showed us his phone. after a week or two my daughter did some investigation and saw the app. when he got home we talked about it, but in the middle of talking the door bell rang and guess who showed up.
What about Instagram at 13?
ok really I have a snap chat and a kik and my mom know im 13 I have a b honor roll this world is so crazy phones protect kids STOP ALWAYS THINKING KIDS ARE DOING SOMETHING WRONG all we hear is bad stuff about what kids do can we hear some positive please thank u and now kids might on this website and download those app since there so dangerous
My son is 12 years old. He use mobile. how we are watching the son mobile. Pl Guide me.Thank You.
You parents are insane , mind as we'll just block hormones in your teens life. Kids are gonna have sex, send nudes and do these things, their in high school. Do you want them sitting at home watching sprout or something, there not babies there gonna be exposed to these things . In fact we mind alas well just put chips on them and follow them everywhere they go, definantly don't want them doing anything crazy like having a social life, privacy, or even fun
On the other hand, I'm pretty sure most teenagers posses at least a LITTLE common sense. Apps like Kik and Snapchat are used by the vast majority of teens as ways to share and communicate with friends. I don't deny that teens use these apps in sexual ways, I can actually tell you that this happens rather often, but by blocking and banning and blacklisting these things you're not solving anything, you're actually creating a problem. Teens have sexual desires, they masturbate, they watch pornography, they have sexual interactions with each other, all these things are to be expected of a hormonally driven, developing human. By causing such an uproar about the slightest signs of sexual content in something a teen has access to you make sexuality taboo. By saying there are no sexual norms you throw a wrench in the whole teenage development process. The issue with how teens and technology interact isn't caused by what teens have acess to, it's caused by the authoritative figures who feel they need to LIMIT acess.
Anyone who has a wifi router at home, and is paying for internet service can go to the wifi routers web address(ask your provider) . Once there you can block websites, keywords, etc.. on any or all devices using that wifi. It will come up blocked if anyone tries searching whatever you blocked. No way around it. However if their wifi is off and you are using a cellphones Internet connection it will not work. However it does work for all those who have an ipod and not a smart phone. Even people will use wifi over cell signal internet.
This article is indeed informative. With such kind of apps are useful for business purpose but kinds are using and parents should be stop them for doing bad things with this.
Other Apps similar to KiK include Touch and Line...all run on the exact same premise.
snap chat isnt bad. There is TOS (terms of service.) and if any porn/bad language can be spammed and ban
look im a 13 year old, and dont think im naive or something because im not. not every kid does this uses these apps for sexually enhanced ideas but you just hyave to trust your kid and talkl with your kids. i have had many sex related talks with my parents and we are very open with things like that, and i hav enever had any reason to do that. a lot of kids at my middle school have some of these apps and so do i. snap chat we use to send harmless and funny selfies instagram i just post pictures of me and my dance friends nothing sexual at all. if you are worried about instagram you can but your childs account on privite where they have to have people requst to follow them. kik i use to talk to my friends who have limited messaging. and ask fm you can block annoynemos posts. just be open in your house about certain topics and your kids will trust you and have no reson to do anything like this. sometimes you have to realize that one day they will be out in the big bad world and they wont always have mommy And daddy to protect them. an i got my phone in the fourth grade and it was a flip phone for safty reasons and im now in eighth grade and i just got a smart phone because i proved to my parent that i am trust worthy
Yes, teens and children can get in trouble with these things, but not all of them do. Everyone suspects teens as naive, out of control people, when honestly they're not. You're all grown ADULTS acting this way over a few apps. I'm sorry, but I'm taking the kids side on this one. Come on people! You were all hormonal teens at one time! You should remember what they're all going through. They're still trying to figure out who they are. Big changes are going on in them right now. The only app I see that is potentially "dangerous" would be poof. (Which is practically harmless considering it only HIDES apps your kids don't want you to see.) therefore they MAY be hiding something. Give us a break. And by us I mean teens. You have to remember, we ARENT children anymore!! Do you seriously want your teens sitting in the floor watching Dora the explorer the whole time?! Don't you want to them live their life. Come on! You're only kid for a short period of time!! If you want to keep your children safe, start treating them like young adults and lay down the rules. Explain to them about the dangers out in this world. Because in a few years, your "Child" will be out In that world all by the self. They're are going to have to learn something from their parents.
I would just like to say that if your and overprotective parent and deleting in inacent apps like kik or snapchat just wow... Can I just put something out there? I have never sexted in my life, no one I know has ever sexted. We know better! And kik, your Facebook friends are added automatically on this app. You can text classmates without there number! This makes finding homework help easy! If you see an app like snapchat or kik DONT PANICK!!! Or really any app that makes you unconfortable then ask your kid about it! Okay with some of these I agree but please, give your kids a chance. If you don't trust us we won't trust you.
U guys are all extremely over protective. If u keep it up your kids will NEVER survive in the real world.
stop hating apps and take responsibility to raise your kids right.
the irony is this is an article on the internet. But yes i believe not only monitoring your child on the internet but keeping your child away from it. As a parent I put a password on my daughters access to the app store. I also check the apps she bought every 3 months just in-case there is one i happened to "miss"
instragram snapchat
You guys have to have a little faith in your kids
I have snapchat and kik but NEVER EVER and will not post ANYTHING bad especially since my dad is a cop
Uhhhh. . .I'm 16. I use Snapchat to send pictures to my best friend (usually stupid or of new purchases or of our pets), she uses snapchat when we go out and sends it to me, or to show me her makeup. I use kik to talk to my younger cousin because it's her preferred messenger app and all her friends use it. My best friend goes on Omegle to have random conversations, not sexual ones. It's how people (not just teens) use these apps, I do not use them for sexual purposes, and neither do the people around me. And to the person talking about vine, the creativity that can be expressed through it is amazing, like ultra short movies. Your article worries parents, if my parents read this my rights would be taken away even though I use the apps responsibly.
I have a 14 yr. old daughter who had skyped with some male strangers, (supposedly her age) in Texas, and Florida. When i found out she said she met them in a chat room. I immediately told her to end the relationships, and now carefully monitor her use of the internet, as every child in her school get an ipad for the school year. this scares me to death...Please keep me informed of the best way to monitor where she navigates the internet. It is a very scary place for kids her age who tend to make bad choices due to their young age....
Warning: If your son or daughter sends or accepts a nude photo, they can be prosecuted for distributing child pornography. (no matter what their age) It happened last year to some kid who accepted his girlfriends nude selfie.
Good info --- but how about NOT getting your child a smart phone instead.
Is there anyway you can watch netflix etc but block other websites on your smart tv
I think all of you need to realize that even though, yes these apps have potential to hurt your children, everything does. Every app and any app. Yes, you can constantly check everything your children/teenagers do and have, but be realistic, that's really only going to make your kids want to hide more from you. You have to build a relationship and trust with them. Yes, it's important for them to be safe but if you actually have a relationship with them then they'll talk to you, and tell you things.
Just don't give minor children a smart phone. Problem solved, kids kept safe. A plain old cell phone would allow them to call home and friends.
I am not sure you can justify going through their phone by saying we pay the bills. I pay the mortgage as well but wouldn't read their diary. Educating them in the use of social media rather than spying on them is perhaps a better approach.
I send my 14 year daughter to uk as she was getting in bad trouble from some kids my she is still in contact with them on twitter i would like to know how can i block these people from here
My 13 year old doesn't have a smart phone. That alone keeps 99% of the problems under control. She has a tablet that she turns in each night at bedtime. Her app account is linked to our email, so we can see every app she purchases.We also talk to her about the dangers of "cyber strangers" and have tried to let her know the real dangers associated with chatting with people you don't know. All in all, communication is key. We talk to our daughter daily. The tablet is checked often. Her phone is just a phone. She can text. Guess what, our phone company keeps every text she sends.
Also, TEXT NOW is a HORRIFIC app...someone somehow stole my daughter's cousin's "phone number" they give you to text or call people if you don't have "phone" capabilities like my child does not on her ipod...They posed as her 11 year old girl cousin (now the ONLY people she had on her text now app were me, my mom and her young cousin). This person posed as an 11 year old girl and then started asking my ten year old daughter to send her naked pictures and that if she loved her she would...luckily my kid is smart enough to tell them no way and her mom would be really mad and brought the ipod and convo to me. Police have been notified but nothing came of it.