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top 10 unsafe apps for kids

Top 10 Unsafe Apps for Kids

by Suzanne Badger


Software and apps change daily, making it difficult for parents to keep track of what is safe and what is not. While many of these apps have positive aspects to them, this article highlights the top 10 unsafe apps for kids and why they are unsafe.

The following list of top 10 unsafe apps for kids is not comprehensive but summarizes what makes them dangerous.

Calculator Plus

The app looks like a calculator, but with the right passcode, it is a “backdoor” to a private folder of files that can include pictures and other documents.

TikTok

This is a social media platform used to make and share very short videos, and many of them contain inappropriate content. Also, this app is NOT American owned or overseen by any U.S. guidelines. Instead, it is owned and operated by Chinese businessmen who have different views of free speech, values, and standards. It is the fastest-growing non-American social app in the U.S. There are some very real concerns regarding privacy for this app.  You don’t follow a person. Instead, you follow a topic and the algorithm picks the videos for your feed.

Snapchat

This social media app has always been alarming to me. The user can post something and it deletes within a certain time. This is how many kids are sending porn to each other. They can even use the app to talk live on camera. This can be dangerous if you allow your kid to have their phone behind closed doors or upstairs at night. I hear many parents say, “my kid wouldn’t do that.” I beg you to not be overconfident in this area. Porn is like a drug at any age. And because Snapchat deletes after a certain amount of time there’s very little you can do to monitor it, so don’t let your kids have it at all!!

Instagram

This platform boasts 500M members, most of them girls. Much of the content on Instagram can be harmless, but there are exceptions. Make sure you are following your kids’ accounts.

Tinder

It may be the 2nd most popular dating app, but it is a sex hookup app. No kid needs this!

Messaging Apps

Messaging apps like Kik, Messenger, GroupMe, and WhatsApp allow kids to chat and not use their cellphone data. These are also used heavily by online predators and to send pornography.

After School

An app only for teens, After School, sounds harmless but teens use it for pictures to ask “Which girl would you do?” Everyone is anonymous and there are often posts for parties, or answers for cheating on tests.

Whisper

Allows you to post your secrets and get advice. You can set a radius to GPS to find these people and a list of things they will do. If you see one of your kids with either of these apps, delete them! It creates new opportunities for deviance and glamorizes it.

Confide & CyberDust

The user can text someone and leave no history. CyberDust works like Snapchat in text messages. Confide is fairly new in the private messaging world. When someone receives a text, there’s a series of blocks where the words should be. As the receiver swipes their finger over the blocks to reveal the words which prevent screenshots of messages.

Jott

If you think Snapchat is bad, this app is worse. It has only been out for about 6 months, and it already has 2 million users ages 13-18. There’s a feature on the app that allows your child to send messages while they are at school without using their cell phone data, so monitoring this one doesn’t work. If they are hooked into the school’s internet they can text away during school. Users can set a timer to allow messages to disappear after a certain time, just like Snapchat but nothing is truly private, even if it disappears.


Suzanne Badger is a native Texan and has worked in radio, television, and the music business.

She is a Christ-follower, autism advocate, songwriter, skincare consultant, and a classic radio enthusiast. Suzanne is happily married (for 27 years) with two children and two dogs (Brittanys).


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2 Comments
  • Ckatte Barnes
    Posted at 18:42h, 06 February Reply

    I have had calculater plus for many years and had no idea. I use it almost daily for budgeting of our finances, on both my phone and tablet. Is this the same app? I have the free version.

    • Tina Marie Griffin
      Posted at 09:12h, 03 April Reply

      This is NOT the same app. It’s a replica of it that people download to primarily throw parents off and use to store porn.

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