Greetings Parents! In this article I would like to bring to your attention two topics that are touching the lives of our Middle Schooler’s more than ever. The first one deals with smartphone messaging apps that give teens lots of opportunities to overshare (or worse). The second one deals with computer safety guidelines.
About Smartphone Messaging Apps
As parents and educators we know that kids are using lots of different apps to share their experiences, express their ideas by texting, post selfies, and videos anywhere. They are doing this by choosing the apps that best fit their needs. Though most teens are only sharing day-to-day moments with an already-tight social group, there can be unintended consequences when they make mean comments under cover of anonymous apps or when teens think temporary messages really disappear forever. Moreover, in recent years we are becoming more worried about how new forms of media are fostering sexual immorality in the young.
As parents it is really important to know what apps are used by teens and how they are used and the risks involved. Here’s a list of some anonymous apps and sites to keep an eye on as well as temporary apps that allow people to send messages and images that self-destruct after a set time window.
Anonymous:
- fm: A social site that lets kids ask questions and answer those posted by other users — sometimes anonymously. Bullying is a concern.
- Kik Messenger: Kik lets you send texts, pictures, and video. But it also offers lots of other mini-apps that let you do everything from exchange virtual greeting cards to chat with strangers. Users don’t have to reveal real names, so there’s a layer of anonymity. There is an article at the bottom that talks about “Tinder and 5 More Adult Dating Apps Teens Are Using, Too”. Check it out as well.
- Omegle: An anonymous chat client through which users discuss anything they’d like. Its conversations are filled with lewd language and references to sexual content, drugs and alcohol, and violence.
- Whisper: A social “confessional” app that allows users to post whatever’s on their minds. Users type a confession, add a background image, and share it with the Whisper community.
- Yik Yak: A geographically based anonymous-chat app that lets users send photos and texts to people near their location.
Temporary:
- Burn Note: A messaging app that erases messages after a set period of time. It’s limited to text; users can’t send pictures or video.
- Line: A multifaceted text, video, and voice-messaging app that also integrates social media elements such as games and group chats.
- Snapchat: A messaging app that lets users put a time limit on the pictures and videos they send before they disappear.
The Calculator App
What else is out there? Have you heard about the hidden calculator app? A parent who regularly checks her son’s phone to make sure he doesn’t have any inappropriate photo was surprised to discover that the calculator on his phone was actually a new secrecy app used for hiding images and videos. Unfortunately, there has been a big increase in apps like Calculator % that are designed to hide pictures and files behind a password protected calculator. Many teens feel they can safely store pornography or sexting messages. There is an article at the bottom about “7 secret apps to hide your sexy photos”. It will give you an insight of the existence of password-protected galleries and photo editing vaults that you may not even imagine exist out there.
So, what is the best way to approach these apps and behaviors with our kids? Just like we spend time talking to students about these cases in school, parents should play a primary role as well. Talk to your kids about their online activities, not in terms of “getting caught” by teachers but as a matter of being true to themselves. Acknowledge that, chances are, they’ll come across extreme, inappropriate, or hurtful content online and that it’s OK for them to ask you about it, especially if it upsets them.
It is every parent’s responsibility to get to know the technology that they put in the hands of their kids and also know exactly which key features are included in the gadgets (smartphones, game consoles, computers, tablets, etc.). You have the right to know who they are communicating with. Just like you have family and social norms in your house that help maintain a peaceful home, the rules for smartphone and computer use should not be an exception. Discuss with them and determine appropriate consequences when things are not done the right way. Taking the smartphone away or limiting screen-time are measures that some parents are considering more and more when all the above has been exhausted. Finally, there are various tools to monitor your child’s text message and see what they are texting and who they are texting with. My Mobile Watchdog is one of them. Learn more about it in the resources section.
Computer Safety Guidelines
In the Middle School, teachers are well aware of the educational benefits of technology. You will be surprised at how much time students spend using the computer during a regular school day. Sometimes students go into a class and they have it on during the entire class, other times they go to another class and they only use it for 15-20 minutes, and other times they don’t use it at all.
A recent article that I have included below, urges schools to create classroom computer safety guidelines. The Middle School has already started working on that from the start of this year. We have been able to create our “Top 12 Classroom Technology Expectations” from student and teacher responses to surveys that included questions about safety, respect, responsibility, and health. Feel free to print it out and post it at home. These signs are posted on every Middle School classroom and serve as a reminder of what students have to do when they are using technology. In some classes, teachers regularly ask students to take “tech breaks” for example. They make them stand, stretch, walk around the room and do other fun activities to relax their minds and eyes as well.
The article goes on to talk about how schools use other technologies like laptops and virtual reality gadgets to prepare kids for the future at the cost of damaging their vision. We are still in the laptop and ipad phase and taking firm steps in making sure that these devices are only used to support student learning and providing safety considerations in their usage. That’s why we also have a clear Home Learning policy that establishes times fixed times for using these devices at home.
If you have any questions about safety online and how you can monitor effectively, please do feel you can contact me at miguelz@isb.ac.th or speak with your grade level counselor
References:
- Top 12 Classroom Technology Expectations: https://bit.ly/techexpectations
- Snapchat, Kik, and 6 More Iffy Messaging Apps Teens Love: https://bit.ly/iffyapps
- Schools can’t stop kids from sexting. More technology can: https://bit.ly/stopsexting1
- Hidden Calculator app: https://bit.ly/hidecalc
- Teens Are Using Fake Calculator Apps To Hide Photos From Their Parents: https://bit.ly/fakeapps1
- 7 Secret Apps to Hide Your Sexy Photos: https://bit.ly/hideapps1
- Tinder and 5 More Adult Dating Apps Teens Are Using, Too: https://bit.ly/datingapps2
- “Send me a nudie? ;)” “Promise not to share?”: https://bit.ly/sendnaked
- How sexting is creating a safe space for curious millennials: https://bit.ly/sextingcurious
- Time to create classroom computer safety guidelines: https://bit.ly/classsafety1
- lux: https://justgetflux.com/
- My Mobile Watchdog: https://www.mymobilewatchdog.com/