Technology remains to be one of mankind’s greatest achievements. However, in the same breath, this strength can also be our weakness. While tech has been such a big help in helping us achieve great things that were unthinkable and unspeakable in centuries past, it has also shown how depraved we are as human beings.
We have turned to technology and delegated our tasks to it, and unfortunately, including parenting. Instead of parents getting more involved in their children’s lives, they use technology as a substitute nanny and playmate.
Tech is a great tool to educate kids, acquire information, pass the time, and stay connected with loved ones. However, it also poses certain risks that may be inappropriate for young kids and can lead to potential harm and danger.
Take smartphones and gadgets for instance. Downloading all sorts of apps and files can cause them to malfunction. When that happens. It’s easy to take your iPhone or Samsung to a phone repair center and get it fixed. But what about when the threat goes beyond just software or hardware?
Parents need to know about apps that may not be okay for kids to download. Here are some of them and the reasons why we believe they aren’t child-friendly.
- Game Pigeon
This app is a relatively safe gaming app for iOS devices. The games available on this platform are wholesome and entertaining such as Word Hunt, 8-Ball, and Four-in-a-Row. The danger here is not really on the child but the parent’s credit card. Kids might avail themselves of some in-app purchases that could get their parents in trouble with their credit cards.
- Zoomerang
Although Zoomerang may seem like a harmless video creation app, one of its features is a location tracker. This tracker allows predators to pinpoint where a child is located. This is on top of the app allowing minors to create and share video content. Anytime a child shares a video of themselves, there will always be risks involved.
- Among Us
One of the main concerns about Among Us is this game was hacked in 2020 by a YouTuber. This YouTuber messaged the gamers to check out his channel and videos which contain foul language, blatant racism, graphic gore, nudity, and extreme political views.
Parents should be warier of platforms that allow multiplayer games with strangers as they don’t know the true identities and intentions of the people their children are playing with online.
- Bigo Live
For those unfamiliar with this live streaming app, the age requirement to have a Bigo Live account is 17. Users utilize this platform to showcase their lives, host shows, and live stream video-game-playing. However, this platform has also been known to involve lots of bullying, violence, profanity, and nudity - Tinder
We’re all familiar with Tinder and its reputation. Although it was originally designed to be an app that allows people to connect with new and interesting people, it has become the top dating app lonely folks use. Due to its anonymity and geo-location features, teens that have access to this app (via Facebook) can become victims of stalking, catfishing, sexual harassment, and other worse things.
- Tellonzm
Tellonym calls itself the most honest place online. A lot of middle- and high-schoolers use this app to anonymously ask and answer questions. However, all the “honesty” going about it has made it quite notorious for cyberbullying, sexual content, and violence. The age requirement for the app is inconsistent, ranging from 12 to 16 but it is best to leave older and more responsible teens to use this app.
- Kik Messenger
Despite the app’s 17+ rating, it has no safeguards that prevent kids below 17 years to sign up. The messaging app allows a teenager to contact and connect with people — even strangers — using only a username. It has been used to bully people online and even for sexting.
- Snapchat
Snapchat may seem fun and harmless for the most part since it’s a messaging app that lets users share cutesy pictures and videos. These files sent disappear once they have been received. The app, however, has been used to send racy and explicit pictures. Users believe that the images can’t be saved anyway which gives them the courage to do foolish things forgetting that screenshots can be easily taken.
- Instagram
Instagram does not need any introductions since it’s more popular than Facebook now. The photo-sharing app has millions of users worldwide and while the app has a 13+ age requirement to create an account, there’s still plenty of inappropriate and mature content on the platform that parents wouldn’t want their kids exposed to.
- TikTok
TikTok is a very popular app among young people and content creators nowadays. As much as it might seem like just an innocent video content creator app, the platform contains numerous videos that may not be age-appropriate for your child. Thirteen is the minimum age requirement but younger children could still get access to the app through other people.
Not all mobile apps that kids have access to are safe. Some of them may not be appropriate for their age while others can be downright harmful. Parents need to be aware of how dangerous some apps are for their kids.