The development of technology has brought many challenges for us. Addiction of teenagers on social media is one among them, but it needs control and proper check and balance. Teenagers are exposed to sexually explicit content, girls are forced to sext, and many are murdered as well. This is a very pathetic situation and a moment of great concern for the nontech-savvy parents especially. There are many apps parents should know about.
Stats on Dangerous Apps for Kids
Research shows that the average age of a teenager involved in sharing or viewing sexually explicit content on social media is about 11 years, and 70% of these kids are not older than 18 years. The abrupt use and lack of parental control are the major causes of such statistics. Out of the total girls surveyed, 12% said that they’re pressured for sexting, and 38% of girls and 39% of boys confessed to sharing sexually explicit material on their social media accounts.
30 Apps Parents Should Know About
Following are the apps parents should know about –
Social Media Apps
- TikTok
- Snapchat
- Instagram & Hoop
Messaging Apps
- Kik Messanger
- MeetMe
- Ask.fm
- Discord
Video Apps
- YouTube
Blogging Apps
- Tumblr
Anonymous Apps
- Tellonym
Live Streaming Apps
- Yubo
- Bigo Live
- Monkey (Omegle Alternatives)
- LiveMe
- Yik Yak
- Yarn
Dating Apps
- Tinder
- Skout
- Badoo
- Bumble
Walkie-talkie Apps
- Voxer – Walkie-talkie app for team communication
Multimedia Hiding Apps
- Audio Manager
- Calculator Hide
- Calculator Vault
- Calculator#
Gaming Apps
- Roblox
Other Apps
- Jailbreak program
- Icon-hiding apps
There are many others.
Dangers of These Apps
The negative effects of social media are increasing alarmingly. The US National Center for Children revealed an alarming increase in social media crimes. When a teen creates an account on these inappropriate apps to contact anonymous users, who exploit kids’ accounts and use them for their purposes. Most teenagers are called on a date, spiked, and rapped later. Few cases have appeared in the form of the deaths of teenagers.
Advice to Parents
Parents should be strict and only allow their kids to use digital devices when they are in the family. Moreover, the best preventive steps are enhancing privacy settings and never sharing personal information publicly on social media. Employing monitoring applications would strengthen the defensive mechanism as well.