A pandemic in 2020 is a gift in the sense of technology and how it still allows us face-to-face time with our friends and family; but with all of the spare time spent on our phones, teens are turning to a few apps that one should be aware of and caution. Review the apps below and be aware of what apps and games might put our youth in danger.

ItsMe:

Students create an avatar and can talk with whoever on the app. If they have conversations, they are automatically added to each other’s snapchats.

Hook & Wink:

These are essentially like Tinder but for middle and high school students. If they swipe right, they are automatically added to each other’s snapchats for more pictures and texting.

Roulette Apps:

There are a lot of different apps that all have the same basics (ShowMe, Photo/Video Roulette, PartyLive etc.). Within the app, it will pull up a random stranger’s photo app or live video. We are seeing this mostly used for strangers to slip into a student’s live video nude or for students to do the same to others as a prank.

TikTok:

It is not an exaggeration to say that we are seeing students spend 6+ hours straight on this app each day. Truly, overall this app can be pretty harmless if monitored. However, be cautious that most of the sounds include vulgar language and many of the dances are created to be sexy. Students often don’t make their accounts private because everyone’s goal right now is to be TikTok famous. Also know that even when accounts are private, they can still be hacked by the bad guys very easily.

Instagram:

This app isn’t necessarily harmful but it is growing to be the top app (along with Snapchat) that we are seeing where nudes and pornography become issues with students. Many students don’t make their accounts private (and even private accounts get spam) and often within a few minutes of creating an account, they are getting either random spam group messages featuring porn or messages from strangers asking for/sending nudes. Check out this video: