ORLANDO, Fla. (Ivanhoe Newswire) — Parents should think twice before approving certain apps for their teen. One in five teens who regularly log onto the internet say they’ve received an unwanted sexual solicitation. Yet only 25% of them told a parent. Cell phones make it so easy for your teen to connect with strangers. How can you keep your child safe in a digital world? We have some apps to watch out for.
Today, 95% of teens in the U.S. own a cell phone or tablet. These devices make communication a cinch, but they also make it easier for sexual predators to target kids. Experts say criminals are taking advantage of online apps. Kik allows anyone to contact and directly message your child. Whisper is an anonymous social networking app that promotes sharing secrets with strangers. Hot or Not lets users rate others’ profiles, check out people in their area, and chat with strangers. Ask.fm encourages users to allow anonymous people to ask them questions. Calculator is a secret app that allows your teen to hide photos, videos, files, and browser history.
To protect your child, make sure you approve every app on their phone before they download it. Also tell them never to post their address, phone number, or location – or respond to numbers they don’t know. And be aware…Tik Tok and Snapchat are very popular in this digital world, but more and more often, predators are posing as teens on these sites. For a complete list of possible dangerous apps, go to www.familyeducation.com/
Sources:
https://www.puresight.com/Pedophiles/Online-Predators/online-predators-statistics.html
https://www.ahaparenting.com/Ages-stages/tweens/Cell-Phone-Rules-Safe-Responsible-Kids
Contributor(s) to this news report include: Julie Marks, Producer; Bob Walko, Videographer and Editor.
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