Why parents worry: 10 bad things about Snapchat for teens

Have you heard about ‘snaps’? If so, then you are most probably familiar with Snapchat. For youngsters, it is an EMOTION. Being on Snapchat, they feel a sense of belonging as their buddies live there to follow trends and carry on their wild challenges. By chance, if a guy skips Snapchat, it feels like he or she is left alone or has no meaning to friendship. You can now imagine Snapchat’s craze. The worst thing is that Snapchat is utterly addictive. For parents, it is a huge concern as their 13-year-old wants to be on Snapchat. The article explains 10 bad things about Snapchat. As a bonus, at the end, we have pointed out a solution how you can prevent them all.

Why does my kid want Snapchat?

There are various reasons why your kid wants to join Snapchat such as:

• Social connection: Snapchat is a great platform to connect with peers and seniors, allowing them to share content in the form of snaps, stories, etc.
• Under peer pressure: Mainly kids are urged to be on Snapchat under peer pressure so they don’t miss anything on the platform or be left alone from the trends and fun.
• Boredom: Many kids prefer using Snapchat to escape from boredom, and distract from academic activities or other responsibilities.
• Amazing features: Because Snapchat holds lots of amazing features, it allow users to show their personality, interest and humour.
• Out of curiosity: Apparently, kids are too curious and might want to explore its features- basically, it’s fun filters and lenses where they can creatively express themselves.
• Keep updated: Some kids want to utilize Snapchat’s Discovery tab or follow their favorite celebrities or influencers because they can get updated about their daily lives and stay informed about current events, trends, and pop culture.
• Disappearing mode: They falsely believe that Snapchat’s ‘Disappearing messages’ can give them the space or privacy to share things they wouldn’t share on other platforms.

10 bad things about Snapchat for teens

Snapchat is great for interacting with friends, family and like-minded individuals. Teens or youngsters are teeming around it mainly for tools and features that promote creativity and self-expression. On the other hand, it employs various augmented reality features that make the app highly entertaining and engaging.

Unfortunately, it has some downsides too. For example, ‘Disappearing Messages’ is so tempting for teens as it enables them to share explicit content and get involved in cyberbullying. However, SnapMap (which allows users to share physical locations in real-time) looks scary for concerned parents who want to protect their children from predators.

Screen time

Too much screen time is one of 10 bad things about Snapchat. With Excess screen time, as its built-in parental control function can’t manage screen time well, can lead to sleep deprivation or adversely impact sleep patterns and cause fatigue- primarily causes for late-night snapping.

Online predators:

The reality is teens are urged to get snaps from strangers if they don’t tweak privacy settings as per their preference. It may lead to danger or end up getting their accounts hacked by ill-intent users. It is then their data gets compromised and become the prey of online predators.

FOMO:

Snapchat creates FOMO (Fear of missing out) among teens- a kind of pressure to stay connected. It can lead to stress and anxiety.

Lowered attention span:

It is seen that the short and fleeting nature of snaps has resulted in decreased attention span and focus among teenagers, preventing them from engaging in academic or physical activities.

Spreading fake news:

Snapchat’s Discover tab promotes fake news due to a lack of adequate moderation. It is a huge concern as the majority of their users are under 18 or teenagers. It can influence their perceptions, and behaviour and lead to potential harm.

Addiction

Snapchat is designed so that anyone can easily get addicted to it-even adults. It offers special emojis and statistics displayed next to the user with whom the teen streaks with each other per day. If they fail or the streak goes silent for 24 hours, the icon will be removed from the app. It is related to instant gratification. So, you can imagine how scary this is. Yet, its constant notification can easily lead someone to addiction.

Body image issues:

Snapchat holds various AR filters and offers different editing tools. Certainly, they can create body image issues. Thus teens are compelled to create unrealistic beauty standards or unable to embrace themselves well as how they are.

Inappropriate content:

Teens may certainly be exposed to inappropriate content (e.g. harmful content like sexting or violence) though Snapchat filters out some of them by default. It can negatively impact their mentality.

Cyberbullying

Due to its “Disappearing message” feature, cyberbullying becomes effortless. Ill-intent users can freely express hateful thoughts and harass them on their terms as it leaves no paper trail.

Privacy concern

Snapchat’s data collection and privacy policies can put teens’ personal data at risk. It allows 13 years or more to use it. Those under 13 years use this app by giving fake data and it does not hold an efficient system to verify users’ age.

Is Snapchat safer than TikTok?

To some extent, both TikTok and Snapchat are addictive and require you to use them responsibly.

Glimpse into TikTok

• The TikTok algorithm is designed to keep you engaged and you’ll discover an endless stream of videos that enables auto-play.
• TikTok is a short video-sharing platform. The truth is short videos are easy to consume and one cannot just stop at just one.
• TikTok offers a personalised feed. It means TikTok’s algorithm curates content based on the user’s interest, making it harder to resist.
• TikTok employs Mobile-first design. It is truly optimised for easy use, enabling users to mindlessly scroll.
• TikTok users tend to seek social validation in the forms of likes, comments, followers and social acceptance.

Glimpse into Snapchat

• As per term, the minimum age to use Snapchat is 13 (users have to put their birthday). But it doesn’t verify the input data which implies that below 13 years can use it by providing fake data.
• Features like Snapstreak are too addictive as they require users to make at least one interaction per day. If one fails or the streak goes silent for 24 hours, the icon will be removed from the app. In some cases, we have encountered kids giving access to their Snapchat accounts to friends while camping or travelling to continue their streaks.
• Parental control features on Snapchat are too limited. They don’t include screen management tools. It means you can’t control how much time your child is spending on the app Besides, you are unable to see the content of the sending and receiving messages, Stories and Spotlight tab.

If you talk about its security features, Snapchat offers the following:

• Two-factor authentication
• Enables blocking of unwanted accounts
• Report inappropriate behaviour
• End-to-end encryption for messages and shared media.

Now, after all the above facts, it is fair to say that TikTok is much safer than Snapchat as TikTok hardly provokes the user to use it daily and lacks Instant gratification.

Should I let my 13-year-old have Snapchat?

Being parents, it is advised for your 13-year-old to avoid using Snapchat. Special measures should be performed if you allow your kids to use Snapchat such as:

• Keep yourself updated about the latest digital trends and potential dangers. It can help you to guide your child on safe and responsible usage.
• Be aware of Snapchat and its features.
• Check your child’s Snapchat usage regularly to glimpse into whom they are communicating with as well as the content of text or posts.
• Make sure you set up Snapchat’s Family Centers and parental controls. And it can help you to create a safer environment to ensure who can send them snaps or view their stories.
• Embrace open conversations with your children about Snapchat’s use and its potential threats.

Extra tips: You can allow kids to use the Snapkidz app, allowing them to take pictures, draw on the captured pictures and be unable to send those pictures to anyone.

Can parents monitor Snapchat?

Yes, parents can monitor Snapchat. This app has decent built-in parental control features. Unfortunately, children can easily bypass them. It is available in the Family Center tab. Enabling it, parents can see their child’s Snapchat friends, who they chat with. Yet you can report suspicious activities and limit content in the Stories and Spotlight tab.

How to set Snapchat’s built-in parental controls?

• As a parent, create an account to monitor or control your kid’s activities on Snapchat.
• Add your child’s Snapchat account to the Family Center. Go to Settings > Family Center and add your child’s Snapchat account.
• Start monitoring your child’s Snapchat account.

Get FlashGet Kids to monitor kid’s Snapchat activities

Parental control apps like FlashGet Kids are handy in terms of monitoring or controlling your kid’s Snapchat activities. The best it can offer is reducing screen time and blocking Snapchat at your preference (schedule how much time they can spend on the app).

Alternatively, you can utilise its notification tracker, enabling you to monitor the kid’s daily behaviour and phone usage. It notifies you super-fast. Enabling it, you’re always connected with your kids.

How to download FlashGet Kids?

Download FlashGet Kids for parents on your phone on App store or Play Store
And then download FlashGet Kids for child on your kid’s device by watching the video.

How to use:

• Register the account
• Bind the devices and give necessary permissions.
• Open FlashGet Kids for parents on the parent’s device to set up features.
• Go to ‘Notice’.
• Tap on ‘Notification’ to check your kid’s phone messages.
• Scroll down to the bottom to check if your child is accessing inappropriate content.

To keep your child away from inappropriate content or vulnerable incidents, it includes ”keyword detection’. It allows you to flag certain phrases and instantly notifies you if your child inputs these keywords.

FAQs