Is Snapchat Safe for Kids and How to Make It Safer
According to statistics in 2024, Snapchat is most popular among teenagers and young adults, as they make up over 50% of its users.
Is your child eager to set up a Snapchat account, and you're wondering – is Snapchat safe? Before allowing your child to open an account, it's best to consider the potential dangers on this platform and how to mitigate them. By the way, the age requirement for using this app is 13.
Six Risks of Using Snapchat
An understanding of the potential risks of Snapchat is crucial to maintaining a safe space for your child on the app. After taking a deep dive into Snapchat, I found 6 risks younger users may be exposed to while active on Snapchat.
1Addiction
FOMO (fear of missing out) can turn Snapchat into an addiction. The constant stream of Spotlights and the need to maintain Snapstreaks can keep kids and teenagers glued to the Snapchat app. This can even make them neglect their studies, sleep, and real-life interactions.
2Sexting
Disappearing messages on Snapchat have the possibility to provide a haven for sending suggestive or nude pictures or content. And this can cause destructive consequences!
"Youth's brains are not equipped to process the adult experiences depicted. Early exposure to pornography also increases the likelihood that depression and relationship problems develop," says the Institute for Family Studies (IFS).
3Strangers and Predators
It's also worth mentioning that Snapchat always pushes friend suggestion notifications to users, making it easy for young users to add strangers who can become predators. Some predators use fake accounts to connect with kids and teens, and the disappearing messages feature makes it difficult to track their interactions.
Also, since teenagers can share their location on Snap Map, strangers can easily find their location.
4Privacy Concerns
Even with the disappearing messages feature, privacy concerns are still a possibility on Snapchat. Screenshots can capture the content before they disappear, which can resurface in the future. Also, location sharing through Snap Map can expose the whereabouts of your teenagers to all contacts containing some unwanted viewers.
5Cyberbullying Risks
The self-destruct nature of snaps and messages may seem to reduce the potential of cyberbullying, but the emotional effect can last. Cruel messages, even though they vanish one day after viewing, can leave long-lasting scars on a kid's self-esteem.
Also, the anonymity provided by usernames and pseudos can encourage bullies, and disappearing messages make it difficult to collect evidence if your little ones get bullied.
6Mental Health
The constant bombardment of perfectly displayed Snapshots can negatively affect the self-image of a teenager. Seeing the seemingly flawless lives of friends can lead to feelings of inadequacy, social anxiety, and jealousy.
Also, according to a parent from Common Sense Media, Snapstreaks are similar to the "best friend" rating system, which negatively impacts teens' mental health by urging them to chat every day to strengthen "virtual friendships."
Making Snapchat Safer for Kids and Teens
So, we think the dangers highlighted above have given the perfect answers to the question - is Snapchat safe for kids and teens? Hold on! Before you reject your child's request to sign up for an account on Snapchat, let's share the good news with you. It's possible to make Snapchat safer for your 13-year-old kids! Keep reading to check how to do this:
# Join Snapchat Family Center
Snapchat has parental controls called Family Center. This feature gives parents some insight into the activity and settings of their children on the Snapchat app. By joining Snapchat Family Center, you can apply these restrictions:
- Control who can contact and find your teens
- Restrict sensitive content from Stories and Spotlight
- Limit the usage of My AI on Snapchat
- See who your kids messaged in the past 7 days
- Show the live location of your teens only to friends
However, you are not able to see the content of their chat. And there's nothing you can do about the excessive time on Snapchat with your child.
Another good news is that AirDroid Parental Control makes up for the lack of Snapchat's built-in parental controls.
# Educate Your Kid about Snapchat
Open communication is crucial and helpful, rather than a complete ban and control. We recommend taking time to sit with your little ones and discuss the pros and cons of Snapchat. Aside from that, it's important to lead them to apply the following privacy and safety settings to use Snapchat safely.
- Turn on Ghost Mode
- This feature hides your teen's location from other Snapchat users, which makes it difficult for strangers to see their whereabouts.
- Change Privacy Settings
- Encourage your kids to change Snapchat settings to customize who can send them snaps, direct messages, and see their stories.
- Disable Quick Add
- Snapchat allows users to turn off "Show me in Quick Add," which makes your teen's account more private and prevents them from being recommended to strangers.
- Block and Report Offensive Users
- There's always a possibility of encountering inappropriate content, even with friend lists. So, we recommend encouraging your child to block and report users who engage in bullying behavior or send them offensive snaps.
# Monitor Your Child's Snapchat
While open communication and guidance are important, there may be a need to take a safer approach - monitoring how your child uses Snapchat through AirDroid Parental Control.
This app offers impressive features like social content detection, which triggers warnings when content you don't wish to access by your kids appears in your child's Snapchat conversation.
Plus, it allows you to know if your child is addicted to this social app and take action, like setting a time limit for it, to help them manage screen time better. Now, try it free for 3 days:
Why Is Snapchat Popular Among Kids
Now, let's look at some unique features that make this social app popular among kids and teenagers.
With these exciting features, it's no wonder the popularity of this app among teenagers. However, the fun and dangers of Snapchat often go together. As a parent, what you can do is use the above tips to make Snapchat more kid-friendly.
Verdict: Should Teens Use Snapchat?
Probably yes. But please make sure your child is 13 years old. Moreover, you need to consider if they can manage their digital device well. This can largely reduce the addiction to Snapchat.
Given the key 6 potential risks on Snapchat, such as cyberbullying and sexting, educating your child about these risks and teaching and monitoring them how to use Snapchat can also not be neglected for creating a safer Snapchat environment.
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