The New Stranger Danger

Antoine Dobson famously told us to:

And while his lesson in stranger danger wasn't quite ready for Sesame Street.  The recent awful story of 13 year old Nicole Lovell's abduction and murder in Virgina, brings to the forefront the reality that kids hiding in their room on the cell phone may be just the recipe for some predators.

My Duckie is only 6 years old.  But I was happy to get her the new Kindle Fire which, unlike her old one, allows me to monitor her activity and set limits on the times of day and amount of time she can use the device.  In addition, I must approve every app before she can use it.    Although I'd love for her to Skype freely with her relatives, I'm not giving her access to that app, because I know how many weirdos have reacheed out to me via Skype.  But she's not a teenager, so its a lot easier for me to stay on top of things.

Nicole Lovell was in a Facebook Group called teens dating and flirting.  And before we are too quick to say, I would never let my kid do that, check out the Today Show segment that reveals just some of the apps that allow predators and bullies to pray on our kids.  

The segment focuses on a few of the popular apps about which we parents should be concerned:

Kik - kids/teens don't need a phone number or email address to use this app.  They just create a user name.  This means anyone can contact them and don't need to know their phone number or email address to do so. In other words this app is a no no.

Yik Yak - everyone posts anonymously and the phones GPS makes the post available to anyone within a certain radius.  (I fail to see how this is a helpful tool, for anyone but predators.) So that's a heck no.

AskFM- this is a Q&A forum has been cited as a playground for bullying.  If you kid/teen uses this app they can adjsut settings to block anonymous users. But teens asking teens for advice is a dangerous prospect to begin with (think back to the great advice you received in high school)

Whisper - this is a confessional app (aka a bad idea).  Its supposed to be for users 17 and older (sure, right!)  It exposes the location of the user.

And just when you think you have figured it all out, made sure none of these apps are on your kids phone, Silicon Valley introduces the Best Secret Folder app.  Its sole purpose is to hide content from parents.  Ok fine, maybe its sole purpose is to hide content.  But only teens and cheating spouses need to hide content so .... Anyway, if there is an app, a password or files your kid does not want you to see, he/she can hide it by using the Best Secret Folder.

So the big advice:  When I grew up it was all about stranger danger.  I remember candlelight vigils for missing kids and constant reminders not to talk to strangers; not to get into a car with a stranger; passwords to know if someone was really a friend of the family.  It was all very scary, but in comparison very low-tech.  Nicole Lovell snuck out of her window and into the arms of her predator thanks to technology.

Ay Caramba!  You parents need to figure this crap out.  Because, the clock is ticking and my Duckie is growing fast.  I'll be looking to you for advice when my time comes.

BMK's got things to do ... I gotta go... thanks for reading ... talk soon

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