Parents should know if their under 18 child has these apps on their smartphone – No underage child should use these apps.
Apart from being a great invention, smartphones are also taken as a most apt tool for killing time. Kids between the age of 11-19 spend 90 percent of their times on their cell phones. They are much occupied with apps or by playing games on it day long.
This consequently lands them into disastrous and never-thought-before or never-intended-to-be-into situations. The apps which were downloaded by the kids themselves, out of innocence, can lead them into serious and damned scary circumstances.
See: Most & least radiation emitting smartphones in 2019
Although, the app helps them to be in easy contact with their pals, it is suggestible that you as a parent essentially requires to know what kind of apps, your innocent kids are using. This is because technology tends to deceit you, when you don’t walk with it shoulder to shoulder. Have a check with the top 10 applications listed down to know which one amuses your kids the most.
Kik Messenger: This app lets its installer to create their own online network and enable them to have a connection with multiple contacts in just one click. Youngster’s favorite application is likely to encourage sharing and exchanging of the vulgar and obscene picture which could further stimulate acts like sexting and flirting. You cannot authenticate the other user’s individuality through Kik Messenger. This can lead the possibilities of your kids getting indulged into the trap of the online hunters.
Ask.fm: It is another famous name in social media. It’s a website exclusive for Question & Answer. The reason why the kids are attracted towards it, is It lets them answer to the asked questions anonymously. Kids feel it free to check and reply to all the offensive questions aiming one single person. A person can speak up anything by remaining behind the bush, therefore, it accelerates the chances of cyber-bullying followed by suicidal cases, etc.
Blendr: Blendr is an internet dating application that enables clients to message, trade photographs and recordings, and rate the “hotness” of different clients, in view of the client’s GPS area. This represents an undeniable issue for youngsters and tweens who are basing their character and confidence on the input they get from their friends.
Despite the fact that Blendr is appraised for grown-ups, there is no age confirmation, so your youngsters can conceivably have traded with grown-ups through this application. Similarly, as with some other dating application, guardians ought to guarantee their children are not on Blendr.
GroupMe: GroupMe is a prevalent gathering informing the application that numerous children and teenagers are utilizing. While it’s more uncertain that this application will put your children in contact with outsiders outside of their companion circles, the gathering informing highlights make it hard to stay aware of who your children are in contact with.
Talking with an enormous number of individuals at one time additionally makes it hard to guarantee that discussions are suitable. Children will probably be reminded that they should be careful about what they state and how they take an interest in gathering talks as they can without much of a stretch become a member or unfortunate casualty in cyberbullying.
Snapchat: This platform is mostly used by the teenagers where they can share and exchange their pictures, videos and audio files which exist on the recipient’s inbox for 10 seconds. This feature of the application increases the speed of things like sexting, cyber-bullying, etc. The app comes as a potential danger to the kids. Thinking the media that s/he is sending will not stay on their friend’s phone for a longer time, The teenager does not fear to circulate their seductive selfies, videos, etc.
See: 60 Android apps for kids found infected with Pornographic malware
Chatous: Chatous is a messaging app that randomly matches users with others from all over the world which makes it unsafe for children and teens. This app is specifically designed to put users in contact with strangers and allows them to send disappearing messages meaning that parents would have no way of overseeing the use of this app.
Many users on Chatous are there to be flirty with strangers and there is no content moderation outside of the block and report features available to users. Popular complaints include the fact there have been users that pretend to be a member of the opposite gender and that many users have received lewd photos and videos from other chatters.
“This would be a good app if it wasn’t full of pedophiles that literally have child porn as their profile pic and the app creators don’t do anything about it I’ve emailed them multiple times with the account names and all they say is to report them but that does nothing as their profile remains on the app and I can keep encountering them,” said one of the app users CJ.
Omegle: Started in the year 2008, Omegle added a feature of video chat a year later. This app is actually not meant for the children section but despite the fact, They use this the most. You needn’t have to get yourself registered on the app, All you require is just connect to Facebook and search a chat partner from therein. Here the chat participants are recognized as “You” and “Stranger”. Sex predators, pedophile successfully search their prey over here. Children love talking to the unidentified people; hence share their personal information with them.
iFunny: This one is specially rated for the age of 17 and above. The application helps in designing and sharing comic strips using personal pictures while adding caption into it. It does sound like a harmless and inoffensive app but it is certainly not. Your child, Who is innocent enough, uses and run the apps and openly get him/herself ready for the cheap humor when the strip makes it ways to public platforms. The child can either get bullied by the fellow pals or itself starts bullying around them.
Whisper: Another meeting and greeting app which allows the user to post anonymously. The dangerous part here is, When you post anything secretly but it ultimately showcases your location. It can be seen by all the people of your nearby location. It accelerates the formation of a quick relationship.
A person can keep his/her identity secret while conversing with you. Therefore, It is not a very good place for a child to be. For the record, a twelve-year-old girl met a person through this app in Washington when the same person was being detained for raping her.
See: Thousands of Android apps for kids are secretly tracking their activities
Conclusion
It feels pretty good too see a child becoming tech savvy but as a parent, your responsibility is to be in close touch with their cell phone. Keeping a constant check of their cell phone is a good and healthy practice.
Be a step ahead of them with the aid of spy software at Spyengage and also let them know the adverse effect of over-using such applications and get ensured of the fact that if they understood the piece of advice given by you or not.
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