How bad is Snapchat and why?

[Anonymous]

My 13 year olds friends really all do have Snapchat and we've been resisting. But is it really any worse than regular texting, which they already do?

[Anonymous]

My teen was able to buy weed from some guy on Snapchat. It's like inviting strangers into your home but you don't know anything about it.

[Anonymous]

I had not thought so til I went to a presentation and yes. First of all, it feeds content just like TikTok, and within moments of signing up as an 8th grade boy, you will get literal pornography and very suggestive videos. You can scroll by them and they will eventually leave your feed, but do you want to have to do that?

Second, the designers create it to lure people into habitual behavior that they don't even like. This whole business of building lots of streaks is a competitive way to demonstrate that you have lots of friends. Only not everyone has anything to text someone else every day, so they just end up sending pics of the hallway, all for the sake of appearances. I guess that isn't the worst thing in the world, but many teens report feeling burdened by it, and aren't there enough burdens already in the world?

As a mom, I would guess that my kids get it at some point, but I would want them to put it off. Even my kid who's almost 13 doesn't seem ready to see porn. Porn is obviously something many people are into at different stages in life, but it can give unrealistic and extreme ideas about sex, and again, who really needs that, especially at a young age?

[Anonymous]

Oh jeez, I didn’t know about the porn.

I think kids feel extra removed from supervision on snap and are more likely to use that app for bullying, sending suggestive photos, etc.

[Anonymous]

I put it off because I didn’t like how it is deleted. So DC got it at 16. They don’t seem to use it excessively.

You know your kid & what they can handle.

[Anonymous]

Girls used it to bully 1 girl. The nasty messages popped up to antagonize her and then they disappear. It was hard to prove bullying in this manner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My teen was able to buy weed from some guy on Snapchat. It's like inviting strangers into your home but you don't know anything about it.

+1 A 15 year old girl died from a Fent OD from Percocet she purchased on Snapchat.

[Anonymous]

I volunteer at a place that has HS interns. They all tell me Tik Tok is toxic but they're fans of Snapchat - apparently you can send DMs on there that go through faster than texts.

[Anonymous]

If I could go back in time, I wouldn’t allow it. The bullying, the boys, it’s just too much for them at that age. Unless you have a very mature kid, with amazing impulse control, I wouldn’t do it or at a minimum allow like 15 actual friends and that is it and monitor it daily.

[Anonymous]

Hard pass.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I volunteer at a place that has HS interns. They all tell me Tik Tok is toxic but they're fans of Snapchat - apparently you can send DMs on there that go through faster than texts.

Lol as if texts were like raising for the pony Express

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I put it off because I didn’t like how it is deleted. So DC got it at 16. They don’t seem to use it excessively.

You know your kid & what they can handle.

It automatically deletes things (mostly).

Snap is perfectly-designed to hide bad things from parents.

But the police are able to get warrants to retrieve deleted items from Snap. Parents only find out about this when the authorities are trying to prosecute your son or daughter for child porn (which is frequently trafficked on Snap).

Avoid Snap at all costs.

[Anonymous]

Just another perspective and keep in mind I have a boy.

We allowed and it was a big nothing burger. Over time my son uses it less and less. He messages with people but doesn’t spend much time on it. According to him stories are “boring”. (I can see via his screen how much time is spent. 10 minutes or less per day and often far less.)

I’ve always found tik tok to be more toxic and more of a time suck and leads to bullying and shaming in a much more potentially prolonged and public way that’s more common as the posts stay up.

Girls are probably different. Some of them need to learn they don’t need to post every thought that’s in their head or everything that happens to them to all their “friends”. (I have stood behind my son and watched him click through stories.)

[Anonymous]

Also we should mention the private stories for a select audience that show the drinking , etc and the kids screenshot that and save forever.

[Anonymous]

Aaaand, there's also the "Snap Map," which allows your child to see EXACTLY where their friends are, making it crystal clear when they're being excluded.