Teenage is the most colorful era for every person. The new energies drive teens to try making new relationships. That’s why teen chat apps are quite popular. Meanwhile, many parents may often worry about the chat app addiction and the content of teens’ discussions.
For the same reason, some parents want to know more about teen chat apps and their children’s friend circles. In addition to the explicit nature of talks, parents may also be worried about their teenage child getting involved in dangerous situations.
In this article, we’ll have an overview of the popular chat apps. At the end of this article, you’ll also get tips and enough knowledge to monitor your child’s phone activities and involvement.
What chat apps do kids use? Parents should know
Parents must know which chat apps are commonly available for teens. This will help them identify the vulnerability of their children. They can also gauge the frequency of their children’s chatting activities.
Here are some of the popular and most commonly used chatting apps among teenagers:
WhatsApp: You must know about WhatsApp. It is one of the most widely used chatting apps. However, users need to have their phone numbers to start chatting on this app. So, this app is not suitable for a random chat.
Facebook and Instagram: Facebook and Instagram have messaging facilities. You can search for any random profiles on these platforms. Then send them messages and start chatting.
IMO: IMO is a chatting and calling app. People who have their IMO IDs can talk to each other. Its calling feature supports both audio and video.
Snapchat: Snapchat is a social interaction app that enables users to interact with nearby people. Users share their pictures or snaps on the platform. If someone likes the snap, they start talking. This app should require a parent’s attention because unknown people are involved.
Tinder: Tinder is widely regarded as a dating app. Users with Tinder IDs chat with each other on the same app. You are free to talk to anyone using Tinder. That’s why it may be included in the list of chatting apps that parents would like to monitor.
Which app has secret chat?
Many regular chatting apps have secret chat options. It depends on a certain app how a chat can be made hidden.
For example, you can lock your chats or a specific conversation on WhatsApp. In that case, all of your chats will be password-protected. Only the mobile owner will have access to those chats. The phone owner will get a notification whenever a message is received in those secret chats. But the content of the message will be hidden. It will only be revealed when the phone owner opens that chat using the password or the biometric unlocking procedure.
Similarly, you can also have secret chats on IMO. This feature is called Privacy chat. The pictures and media shared during the privacy chat will not be saved to your mobile gallery. You cannot also take a screenshot of the conversation.
Why should parents spy on teen chat apps?
As teenagers are vulnerable, curious, impulsive, and may make wrong decisions, parents should pay more attention to their safety, security, and well-being. Trying to monitor children’s phone chats the right way is one of the safeguards.
Following are some of the reasons why parents should spy on teen chat apps:
The online world is full of predators. Predators work tirelessly to trap children and teenagers to have their illegal gains. Parents need to be sure that their children have a safe chatting environment free from online predators.
- Fraud
Teenagers are the soft targets for online fraud. The chatting may lead to the development of a strong relationship that may also involve sharing personal and financial information with other persons. This may result in serious fraudulent activities that parents need to be careful about.
- Emotional distress
Teenagers may develop serious relationships via chatting. They may get seriously involved with strangers. This may result in developing unrealistic expectations. If those relationships don’t work out well, teenagers may experience serious emotional distress.
- Blackmailing
If a teen child gets trapped in an organized criminal activity, it will not be a one-time agenda. That child may also get blackmailed time and again to get involved in repeated criminal activities. This may lead to getting your teen child to lead a dangerous path.
- Chat-life balance
Chatting becomes addictive sometimes. Some unusual chatting activities may disturb a healthy life balance. Teenagers may spend a long time online while ignoring other daily life activities or tasks.
- Neglect of study
Teenagers are usually in the middle of their academic careers. Chatting may appear so appealing to some teenagers that they would rather skip educational activities. Parents who want their children to grow educationally should guide kids in a good way.
What is the most secure messaging app for teens?
WhatsApp is widely regarded as the most secure app for teens and adults alike. Many reasons contribute to making WhatsApp the most secure messaging app. Let’s discuss a few of them below.
End-to-end encryption: WhatsApp conversations are encrypted end-to-end. In simple words, no other third-party element can have access to your chats. Even the WhatsApp team cannot view your conversation.
View once option: For teens who want to share their private pictures or other messages, they have the option of sharing it once only. The receiver of such messages can only view the sender’s message only once. There will be no option of saving that message or taking a screenshot.
Phone number verification: Unlike other random chatting apps, WhatsApp requires users to verify their phone numbers before they can start using WhatsApp. This feature shows the phone number of the other person for added security. Phone numbers are also visible in the group chats.
Chat locks: Teens who are worried about the privacy of their chats can lock their conversations using chat locks. Their chats will be protected with a password. Those chats will only be accessible to them.
Privacy features: Teens who don’t want to show themselves online may use the privacy settings to do so. Users can also hide their profile image, status, and other details from unknown persons. They can also block unwanted WhatsApp users.
Spam reporting: Teens or other WhatsApp users who get suspicious messages from other users can report the WhatsApp accounts for spamming and other activities. WhatsApp can take appropriate actions based on this reporting.
All of these features combined with many other useful options make WhatsApp one of the most secure messaging apps for teens and adults.
Tips: How to monitor teen chat apps on kids’ phones?
In this section, we will discuss four useful tips on how to monitor teen chat apps on your kid’s phone. Let’s discuss them one by one below:
1. FlashGet Kids
The FlashGet Kids is an app designed to monitor the daily online activities of your child. This app is specially designed for responsible parents who worry about the safety and well-being of their children.
You can block certain apps on your kid’s phone. You can also limit screen times and define how long your child will use certain apps. There are more comprehensive parental control features, including tracking kids’ live location, Geo-fence, screen mirroring, and getting notifications of your kid’s activities. When they access inappropriate content, alerts will display on your phone.
You can use FlashGet Kids to monitor teen chat apps by following these steps:
Step 1. Download, install, and launch the FlashGet Kids (Parents) app on your device. You also need to download the FlashGet Kids (Child) app on your kid’s phone.
Step 2. Bind both apps by using the binding codes and grant all necessary permissions.
Step 3. In the screen time settings of the FlashGet Kids app, look for the list of installed apps.
Step 4. Tap on the app that you want to limit for your teen child. You can set the daily or weekly app time limits.
After you save the changes you made, the settings will be applied to your teen child’s device. Your child will only be able to use that app during the time limits you defined.
2. Digital Wellbeing
Digital Wellbeing is a by-default app of Android. You can download it from the Play Store if it is not already there on your Android phone. This is also one of the widely used apps to control the digital activities of your child. You can use this app to monitor teen chat apps on your kid’s phone.
Here are the steps to use this app for monitoring teen chat without intruding into your child’s privacy:
1. Open the Digital Wellbeing app on your device and access the dashboard.
2. You will find the list of apps there. Click on the app that you want to limit.
3. You can define the time limits of that app. Save the changes. That app will now be accessed in those defined time slots.
3. Google Family Link
Google also offers a good tool, Google Family Link, for parents who want to keep a check on their children’s activities. You can also install this app on your devices. It works in the same way as we discussed above. You can limit the usage of teen chats using this app.
Here are the steps to monitor teen chat using the Google Family Link app:
1. Install the Google Family Link app on your device (parents) and your teen child’s device.
2. Bind both applications using the email IDs and give all the confirmations.
3. Go to the “Apps” option in the Google Family Link app and select the app you want to limit for your child.
4. Set the daily time limits for those apps.
4. Establish trust and transparency
The fourth tip doesn’t involve the usage of any app. It is best to win your teen child’s trust. You should educate them, communicate with them openly, and let them know the potential risks of the online world.
Here are the suggestions you can take in this regard:
- Discuss fraud and predator examples to educate them.
- Tell them about the importance of the balance between online and offline chatting.
- Discuss the vulnerability of online chatting with strangers.
- Spend more time with them to create a strong physical and emotional bond.
- Give them enough time and resources to use the internet without directly monitoring them. This will give them the confidence that you trust them and also respect their privacy
Final Words
Today’s digital landscape is full of challenges. So, parents need to accept such realities. You need to understand that online chatting is a usual business with most teens. At the same time, parents must also be aware of the harms of these apps. Excessive usage of such apps may lead to unwanted circumstances. So, it is best to use precautionary measures beforehand.
Out of all the options we discussed in this article to monitor your child for a chatting app, the FlashGet Kids app appears to be the best solution for parents. That’s because you need extended protection for your children. In addition to effective monitoring, you can use this app to be sure of your child’s safety and security in many ways.
