Have you taken a look at the apps on your child’s phone lately? Some can be downright dangerous.
Sexual predators can target your children even when you’re just a room away. Many do it through phone apps.
Crosswalk dot com recently identified several that are the most dangerous.
One is called Whisper. This app allows you to post secrets anonymously and also allows you to chat with other users in your geographic area.
Many children are drawn to communicating with strangers, feeling that their secrets are safer with them than with their friends. This app is a perfect tool for ill-intentioned strangers looking to connect with young people because it allows you to exchange messages with people nearest to you – so anonymity can be easily lost.
Another is Yik Yak. All Yik Yak users are anonymous. They don’t create a profile or account, but they can post comments that are accessible to the nearest 500 people (within a 1-5 mile radius). A psychiatrist called this the most dangerous app he’d ever seen because it “can turn a school into a virtual chat room where everyone can post his or her comments, anonymously.
And then there’s Kik. Kik is a A free app-based alternative texting service that allows texts/pictures to be sent without being logged in the phone history.
That makes it easier for your child to talk to strangers without your knowledge since it bypasses the wireless providers’ sms list. Children also think they can “sext” without parents finding out. In addition, strangers can send your child a “friend request.”