10 Apps To Delete From Your Teenager’s Phone

Are your teens secure on the digital platform? Are you aware of child phone monitoring?

Smartphones have turned the parenting world on its head. Androids and iPhones have cured the boredom of children by providing an unlimited source of fun and entertainment. But are all sorts of apps that teens use safe? 

The answer is a definite ‘No’.Kid’s safety is important when they are exposed to the online world. Content teens view can be inappropriate and objectionable; thus, the teenager’s phone monitoring is inevitable. And the best way to keep a check is by using the parental control app.

However, here, we will share the list of a few applications that are ought to avoid apps for teenage girls and boys. Check out here:

• Tinder

Tinder is more of a dating app that matches people’s profiles with each other by providing an option to swipe left or right.

There is no age verification, so anyone can easily access the app and make a profile. It requires a phone number to sign up and can enter any age. It allows users to broadcast general location data, post photos, browse other users to engage them in conversations.

The biggest issue with this application is it tracks the location of the user. It has 400 million profiles every day. It also attracts sexual predators easily.

• Tellonym:

This is an anonymous chat application. It is extremely popular in middle school and high school that allows kids to ask questions and find the answers. 

It offers unmonitored access to the internet. It can attract cyberbullies and sexual predators. The age restriction is 12-16, yet anyone can enter a fake age and use this app. Hence parental control is necessary.

• Ask.fm

With this application, teens can interact in question and answer format with peers, friends or anonymous. It allows children whose age is above 13 years. 

While using Ask.fm, some children in the US were victims of cyberbullying and are linked to suicides which also death of a 12-year-old Rebecca Sedwick (Florida). 

Moreover, British schools have sent letters to students to stop using Ask.fm because cyberbullies incidents were raising due to a lack of monitoring and lose regulations. Thus, kids’ safety is important by deleting this app from their device.

• Kik:

Kik gives a user face to face feel than normal texting. Teens can text-photos, sketches and also pre-designed greeting cards to group or individual.

The minimum age is 17+, although there is no age authentication. Kik allows children to connect with just a username. Here they can encounter strangers for sexting. 

This application has also been used for cyberbullying. It’s no surprise that many parents reviewed this app as the ‘worst app’.

• Whisper:

Users who are 17 or above can access this application. Whisper’s motto is to express yourself, share secrets and meet new people.

Whisper allows the user to set an anonymous account to make their confessions and messages overlap with a graphic or image. Such posts can be liked, shared and commented on by another user.

As this app permits creative expression, it can also viral personal content. It also displays a user’s location. 

• Tumblr: 

This is a photo-sharing application for users above 17 years. It is also used for chatting and sharing videos.

Users can quickly and unrestrictedly access pornography, violent and gambling and other objectionable content. 

According to mental health experts, Tumblr can also damage adolescent’s mental growth as it tends to glorify eating disorders and self-harm.

Keeping in mind the perils of these applications, teenagers’ phone monitoring seems inevitable.

• Instant Messaging Virtual Universe (IMVU):

This app is a virtual world game, just like SIMS. Here users interact as avatars.

All profiles are public, and it attracts pedophiles and bullies and asks users to send bare pictures and share contact information. Its Chat Now features pairs users randomly to other people and leads to unsuitable pairings and conversations.

Although this application is for adults who are 18 years and above, it attracts teens and tweens to share inappropriate content.

• Houseparty:

Houseparty is another video chatting application. Anyone can communicate with one another through live video and texts in chat groups.

There is no screening, and it’s a live video chat app so kids can encounter any harmful content easily. It allows anyone to take screenshots. Friends of friends can check out each other’s profiles and contact them anytime.

Thus avoid apps for teenagers that have no or least restriction on online material.

• Voxer:

This is a walkie talkie PPT (push to talk) application that allows users to exchange short voice messages. Children can chat with multiple people simultaneously by tapping the play button and can hear any received messages.

It is popular among teens and tweens for its hybrid style of talking and texting. Messages from cyberbullies can be biting if spoken, and it can be played repeatedly to mistreat the victim.

• Vsco:

It is a photo creation app that offers tools to shoot, edit and post photos to a profile like Instagram.

Users have to manually turn on privacy settings and restrict the location sharing feature. It also offers in-app purchases for extra photo editing tools. If your child likes photography and downloads it, this app proves a costly affair.

Kid’s safety is a parent’s priority, thus make sure that none of the above applications your younger one uses or if they are using delete it immediately.

To keep your teens safe and secure on the digital platforms, use a parental control app that allows you to keep tabs on kids’ online content, the time they spend virtually, places they visit and much more.

It’s better late than never. Download one of the most trustworthy child monitoring apps- Bit Guardian Parental Control and ensure their safety.