However, one of the social media safety tips kids need to know that sending an image to all your followers even for just a second doesn’t mean some of those connections will take a screen shot of that image before it disappears.

One the attractive things to teens about Snapchat in the early days of the app was that kids were always told that “anything they upload online will be there forever, even after you delete”. We also use apps as much as kids do, just not the same ones.īefore we speak to possible solutions to either block a Snapchat app download or restrict it’s use, let’s look at the current status of Snapchat dangers and pitfalls. Today, parents and guardians are more in the loop and aware of the due diligence needed to stay on top of evolving technologies. Facebook was king and other social media platforms were not in the forefront people’s minds when it came to protecting kids online. When Snapchat first came on the scene it mainly went unnoticed by parents because let’s face it, a few years ago we were not as savvy at keeping up on the latest craze in social media networking apps. The problem is the short time limits that an image is available on the app for all to see can also give kids a false sense of security. It garners instant attention with friends and also has a chat feature for instant communication. This feature is what first attracted youngsters. The user decides how long their followers will be able to view the content.

Snapchat is based on the ability for users to send pictures and videos instantly to friends with the added twist that those pics and vids will only be seen from 1 to 10 seconds, then disappear. Whatever the case, parental interaction is advised. This is the case even though the signup age restriction is 13 and it questionable if anyone under 16 should even be using the app.

Snapchat is currently one of the most popular apps used among teens but it’s even higher up the list of popularity when it comes to usage by tweens, kids aged 9 to 12.

Is snapchat dangerous