Just in case you missed it,
have been out of the country, or have been exploring Mars for the past couple
of months (LOL) there has been an influx of what experts call “social media”
apps that have burst onto the AppStore and Google Play scene. As adults
we tend to use these apps for far different (and what we think are
sophisticated) reasons than our children, our children’s friends, our siblings’
kids, or any tween/teen with which we come in contact. Because children are far less responsible,
less worldly in their views and far more naïve than we are, they tend to use
some of the same tools that we use for the plain simple reason that “everyone
else is doing it.”
No, Apple and Google app
creators did not figure out how to transmit illegal substances via tablets and
phones – that would be crazy right?
Instead what they have created are apps like kik – an instant messaging
app that can be used to communicate with one person or multiple people at a
time. Normally I would say, “So what.
The kids use those types of things all of the time.” But here’s the “kik-er”: kik messaging does
not comply with the COPPA (Children's
Online Privacy Protection Act) and therefore
has ZERO parental controls. The kik user
agreement (which prohibits use of anyone under the age of 13) requires parent
approval for anyone between the ages of 14 and 18 to download the app or use
the website (kik.com), however there is no age verification once downloading
the app and creating an account. Kik has
been included on numerous lists of apps that parents should be aware of
including one from Education.com that listed The 8 Worst Apps for Your Kids earlier this year, saying it has "more
to do with young teens flirting and sexting than just keeping in touch with
friends."
Also
included on that same list is SnapChat.
SnapChat is an app that allows the sharing of photos between friends
with the promise that the picture will self-destruct after 10 seconds. Among other issues, this gives adolescents a
false sense of security which then empowers students to share things that they
normally would not. The self-destruct on
SnapChat can be worked around by taking a screen shot of the sent picture and
saving it on the device. By saving the
picture, it can be shared with any number of people via a simple text message
or tweet.
I
know what you’re thinking, “I keep pretty good tabs on what my child does with
their phone. I know that they don’t have
these apps on their phones. I have
taught them to be safe.” I’m glad that
you trust your child (and by association the world in general) however, did you
know that there is an app out there called Poof by Cydia? Poof allows users to hide apps from parents
and therefore keep them in the dark concerning what they are using.
Please
don’t misunderstand me, I am not suggesting that all students are using these
apps inappropriately. Honestly, my guess
is that the vast majority of our students probably are using them responsibly
but it is easy for them to stray into uncharted or dark waters in the ocean
that we call social media. So please,
take some time to familiarize yourself with some of the social media apps and
tools that your children are using and have conversations with them concerning
their habits. Doing so can help them
make the right call when faced with a difficult decision concerning social
media.
Much
of the information found in this article can be found at http://www.chicagonow.com/tween-us/2013/11/what-parents-need-to-know-about-kik/
