Parents of older teens, what age for Snapchat?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

Incorrect on all counts lol

You can save messages, and messages stay for 24hrs unsaved unless your child chooses delete immediately.
Snap has records of everything and I have proof of that as my husband work in special victims unit. You can also request under settings.

If you son can’t figure out who a friend is or isn’t in about 1min of texting on snap, yes he doesn’t sound mature or smart enough for the app. And if he is an older teen, that gullibility would far be my concern more than the app.

There is nothing scary about the app. Teens make poor choices in all apps and in real life if that is the life they are choosing at ages 16-18yrs old.

Some of you parents gotta cut the umbilical cord

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

The adults should NOT know what’s happening with older teens for the most part. Teach your kid common sense and boundaries. You’re not protecting him by raising a snowflake

No

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teens-death-small-michigan-town-led-fbi-police-online-sexual-extortion-rcna120556


This is Instagram but can happen on any social media

These teens need our help. I wouldn't expect my teen to go toe to toe with another adult whi is trying to mislead with out standing behind them.

Omg you people are nuts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

Incorrect on all counts lol

You can save messages, and messages stay for 24hrs unsaved unless your child chooses delete immediately.
Snap has records of everything and I have proof of that as my husband work in special victims unit. You can also request under settings.

If you son can’t figure out who a friend is or isn’t in about 1min of texting on snap, yes he doesn’t sound mature or smart enough for the app. And if he is an older teen, that gullibility would far be my concern more than the app.

There is nothing scary about the app. Teens make poor choices in all apps and in real life if that is the life they are choosing at ages 16-18yrs old.

Some of you parents gotta cut the umbilical cord

Thank you. I swear, I think 95 percent of the parents on this teen thread are discussing kindergartens by the way they discuss their dc, and I have to double check that we are in the teen section. These are not babies. We have to let them grow up and make mistakes. We can help and guide and encourage good boundaries but saying ‘my older teen can’t be on snap because I read an article about something bad happening on social media!’ is bad parenting

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

The adults should NOT know what’s happening with older teens for the most part. Teach your kid common sense and boundaries. You’re not protecting him by raising a snowflake

No

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teens-death-small-michigan-town-led-fbi-police-online-sexual-extortion-rcna120556


This is Instagram but can happen on any social media

These teens need our help. I wouldn't expect my teen to go toe to toe with another adult whi is trying to mislead with out standing behind them.

Omg you people are nuts.

Are you a teen that you can't make a complete argument

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:[google]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read any good reasons to allow Snapchat for minors in this thread. All just bad outcomes and parents afraid of parenting.

Sums it up.
But kids will use it regardless, as parents cannot control their online behavior. Kids always find out how to get around any restrictions.

Best to just make it something undesirable. Like "video games are for geeks and nerds" and they will never want to play video games.

Not true. You can easily block Snapchat on your kids phone and/or on your home router. Sure they could get a burner phone but most kids don’t have the ability or motivation to do that for Snapchat, it’s not that big of a deal.

Kids all have varying access to apps so in my experience most kids just text because that’s what everyone has.

You could not be more wrong. All you need is an old phone and wifi access. Even if they don't have one lying around the house, kids give them to friends at school or rent/sell them for like $10-20. And your home router can not block an app. There is so many work arounds. And at least in my kid's public school, the wifi is free and it allows snapchat. And if they can't do that, they just create their own account on a friend's phone and then use it and log on thru friends phones multiple times a day. It is very very easy for one person to have 3-4 log ins of friends on snap on their phone.

Listen, I get it. You try your best, but the fact is once teens get to an age where 90% of them are communicating only thru Snap, they don't want to be the one left out. I understand avoiding it in middle school, but it's better to come up with guidelines together, at least by high school. For my 15yr old, I have the app on my phone with her log ins and only I know the password and the account is under my cell and email, so I get notifications of changing passwords or adding anything. She gets 60min a day on app limits also run thru my phone thru family sharing. She has to keep on 24hrs to delete, not delete immediately. I can technically log in any time and check and she won't know when I do. At this point, I barely check. She and her friends like changing their bit moji and tracking where they are and send stupid things thru their private stories. A lot of moms are on snap too. It's a way to keep in touch and keep a snap streak going. I can totally see how much fun it is. For the way I have set up, it is much safer than iMessages that can be deleted quickly and can only be checked by accessing their phone directly. Snap keeps a log if I request it and I can check her snap even if she is not home or away on vacation with a friend etc....

You can block burner phones or whatever devices you want on your home router.

So we’re left with snap-determined kid buys an old phone off a school buddy and only uses it on school wifi, where our school does not allow phone use during school hours? Or creates an account they check on other kids’ phones when they are alone? I’d prefer that risk over allowing it everyday.

DP. Okay, be that parent. Your kid has a burner phone. There are more and more every year and the kids with the strictest parents or the ones that get their phones taken for punishment all have them. They also have VPNs installed and if they are even a little tech savvy, you don’t know when they are connecting to your home device and they can get around any of your controls or the school controls. -J’s teacher

Please explain to me how a device could connect to my wifi network without the admin (me) seeing it. I doubt he has a burner phone because I know most of his friends and they text together.

These kids who are so obsessed with Snapchat that they get burner phones they secretly use only at school when teachers aren’t looking sound like real losers. Sorry lots of kids just aren’t that into it.

You sit hourly and check your router’s device history. Be real lady.

My daughter has a friend like you and they used a neighbors wifi or a hotspot. It’s rly not as hard as you think. And kids unfortunately are on their phones during school, but if my mom was this much of a stickler, I can see where a kid would prioritize a burner phone during school to socialize.

No, I have an app for my router and get an alert anytime a new device tries to connect. I can then choose to allow or block. They can’t connect to a neighbor’s WiFi without knowing the password. They can’t use a hotspot unless they are literally right next to their friends. Sounds like you could really stand to invest a little more time in learning the basics to better protect your kids. Or are you always going to be one of those old ladies who needs their kids’ help logging onto AOL?

No, you can’t be 100% sure they aren’t moving heaven and earth to get Snapchat but why just give them the keys to the car? And who on earth are these kids so obsessed with Snapchat? No one in my family is big on social media, we tend to make fun of it. Maybe this is a bigger problem for MLM lifestyle coach moms who post fashion advice and family vacation photos on insta all day.

You sit around with your kids making fun of social media but you seem to post an awful lot on here. Is that much better because it’s anonymous?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

The adults should NOT know what’s happening with older teens for the most part. Teach your kid common sense and boundaries. You’re not protecting him by raising a snowflake

No

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teens-death-small-michigan-town-led-fbi-police-online-sexual-extortion-rcna120556


This is Instagram but can happen on any social media

These teens need our help. I wouldn't expect my teen to go toe to toe with another adult whi is trying to mislead with out standing behind them.

I know a boy who this happened to. So it’s not rare. He told his mom and the situation went away and he willingly deleted social media. Honestly though - I know this family and kid and this is only the symptom of a bigger issue. He’s socially awkward, depressed and barely used social media. His mom was strict about it actually and only allowed insta, which may have contributed to his naivety. Your normal savvy 15/16 yo is not stupid/naive enough to send nudes to a stranger. All the terrible stories about Snapchat I’ve heard involved middle schoolers who do lack the maturity.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

The adults should NOT know what’s happening with older teens for the most part. Teach your kid common sense and boundaries. You’re not protecting him by raising a snowflake

No

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teens-death-small-michigan-town-led-fbi-police-online-sexual-extortion-rcna120556


This is Instagram but can happen on any social media

These teens need our help. I wouldn't expect my teen to go toe to toe with another adult whi is trying to mislead with out standing behind them.

Exactly. This is horrific. Insane how some posters want to believe this can NEVER happen to THEIR kid.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

The adults should NOT know what’s happening with older teens for the most part. Teach your kid common sense and boundaries. You’re not protecting him by raising a snowflake

No

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teens-death-small-michigan-town-led-fbi-police-online-sexual-extortion-rcna120556


This is Instagram but can happen on any social media

These teens need our help. I wouldn't expect my teen to go toe to toe with another adult whi is trying to mislead with out standing behind them.

Exactly. This is horrific. Insane how some posters want to believe this can NEVER happen to THEIR kid.

DP I didn't see anyone say this could NEVER happen to their kid. But good, stable parents who seek to raise good, stable, healthy kids assess risk and appreciate that you have to let kids grow, even if there is risk. Every year many children drown- probably more than are harmed by social media- but that doesn't mean I'm going to say my kids can never swim. In fact, I want them to learn to be strong swimmers, learn about not diving in shallow water, learn about rip tides, learn to heed warnings on beaches, learn to use life jackets on boats, etc. The answer is not to keep them locked up.

I hope you're just a troll and not a real parent, because if you are a real parent, you are going to raise anxiety filled children. I know adults who are the product of overbearing parents like you, and it has taken some of them years to outgrow the compulsion to catastrophize everything, and most are on medication. Is this what you want for your child?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

Incorrect on all counts lol

You can save messages, and messages stay for 24hrs unsaved unless your child chooses delete immediately.
Snap has records of everything and I have proof of that as my husband work in special victims unit. You can also request under settings.

If you son can’t figure out who a friend is or isn’t in about 1min of texting on snap, yes he doesn’t sound mature or smart enough for the app. And if he is an older teen, that gullibility would far be my concern more than the app.

There is nothing scary about the app. Teens make poor choices in all apps and in real life if that is the life they are choosing at ages 16-18yrs old.

Some of you parents gotta cut the umbilical cord

You are completely wrong about being able to recover messages without maybe paying thousands to do a forensic imaging of the phone. Don’t care what you say your husband thinks. And yeah a troublemaking teen is going to delete messages.

We chose to live in a safe community, why would I go out of my way to expose my kids to drug dealers, weird sexual stalkers, bullies etc they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to? Just have them stick with texting like a normal person.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[google]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read any good reasons to allow Snapchat for minors in this thread. All just bad outcomes and parents afraid of parenting.

Sums it up.
But kids will use it regardless, as parents cannot control their online behavior. Kids always find out how to get around any restrictions.

Best to just make it something undesirable. Like "video games are for geeks and nerds" and they will never want to play video games.

Not true. You can easily block Snapchat on your kids phone and/or on your home router. Sure they could get a burner phone but most kids don’t have the ability or motivation to do that for Snapchat, it’s not that big of a deal.

Kids all have varying access to apps so in my experience most kids just text because that’s what everyone has.

You could not be more wrong. All you need is an old phone and wifi access. Even if they don't have one lying around the house, kids give them to friends at school or rent/sell them for like $10-20. And your home router can not block an app. There is so many work arounds. And at least in my kid's public school, the wifi is free and it allows snapchat. And if they can't do that, they just create their own account on a friend's phone and then use it and log on thru friends phones multiple times a day. It is very very easy for one person to have 3-4 log ins of friends on snap on their phone.

Listen, I get it. You try your best, but the fact is once teens get to an age where 90% of them are communicating only thru Snap, they don't want to be the one left out. I understand avoiding it in middle school, but it's better to come up with guidelines together, at least by high school. For my 15yr old, I have the app on my phone with her log ins and only I know the password and the account is under my cell and email, so I get notifications of changing passwords or adding anything. She gets 60min a day on app limits also run thru my phone thru family sharing. She has to keep on 24hrs to delete, not delete immediately. I can technically log in any time and check and she won't know when I do. At this point, I barely check. She and her friends like changing their bit moji and tracking where they are and send stupid things thru their private stories. A lot of moms are on snap too. It's a way to keep in touch and keep a snap streak going. I can totally see how much fun it is. For the way I have set up, it is much safer than iMessages that can be deleted quickly and can only be checked by accessing their phone directly. Snap keeps a log if I request it and I can check her snap even if she is not home or away on vacation with a friend etc....

You can block burner phones or whatever devices you want on your home router.

So we’re left with snap-determined kid buys an old phone off a school buddy and only uses it on school wifi, where our school does not allow phone use during school hours? Or creates an account they check on other kids’ phones when they are alone? I’d prefer that risk over allowing it everyday.

DP. Okay, be that parent. Your kid has a burner phone. There are more and more every year and the kids with the strictest parents or the ones that get their phones taken for punishment all have them. They also have VPNs installed and if they are even a little tech savvy, you don’t know when they are connecting to your home device and they can get around any of your controls or the school controls. -J’s teacher

Please explain to me how a device could connect to my wifi network without the admin (me) seeing it. I doubt he has a burner phone because I know most of his friends and they text together.

These kids who are so obsessed with Snapchat that they get burner phones they secretly use only at school when teachers aren’t looking sound like real losers. Sorry lots of kids just aren’t that into it.

You sit hourly and check your router’s device history. Be real lady.

My daughter has a friend like you and they used a neighbors wifi or a hotspot. It’s rly not as hard as you think. And kids unfortunately are on their phones during school, but if my mom was this much of a stickler, I can see where a kid would prioritize a burner phone during school to socialize.

No, I have an app for my router and get an alert anytime a new device tries to connect. I can then choose to allow or block. They can’t connect to a neighbor’s WiFi without knowing the password. They can’t use a hotspot unless they are literally right next to their friends. Sounds like you could really stand to invest a little more time in learning the basics to better protect your kids. Or are you always going to be one of those old ladies who needs their kids’ help logging onto AOL?

No, you can’t be 100% sure they aren’t moving heaven and earth to get Snapchat but why just give them the keys to the car? And who on earth are these kids so obsessed with Snapchat? No one in my family is big on social media, we tend to make fun of it. Maybe this is a bigger problem for MLM lifestyle coach moms who post fashion advice and family vacation photos on insta all day.

Yes, you have teens who sit around with Mommy and Daddy and laugh and make fun of social media. So they don't even want it, right? Perfect. So you don't need all of your blocks and hacks and walls then. But you have them? Make it make sense

Yeah, they do. We have parental control settings for many reasons including limiting screen time, blocking explicit sexual content, etc. It’s called parenting, try it. No one thinks you’re cool for letting your kids do damaging stuff.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

The adults should NOT know what’s happening with older teens for the most part. Teach your kid common sense and boundaries. You’re not protecting him by raising a snowflake

No

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teens-death-small-michigan-town-led-fbi-police-online-sexual-extortion-rcna120556


This is Instagram but can happen on any social media

These teens need our help. I wouldn't expect my teen to go toe to toe with another adult whi is trying to mislead with out standing behind them.

Exactly. This is horrific. Insane how some posters want to believe this can NEVER happen to THEIR kid.

DP I didn't see anyone say this could NEVER happen to their kid. But good, stable parents who seek to raise good, stable, healthy kids assess risk and appreciate that you have to let kids grow, even if there is risk. Every year many children drown- probably more than are harmed by social media- but that doesn't mean I'm going to say my kids can never swim. In fact, I want them to learn to be strong swimmers, learn about not diving in shallow water, learn about rip tides, learn to heed warnings on beaches, learn to use life jackets on boats, etc. The answer is not to keep them locked up.

I hope you're just a troll and not a real parent, because if you are a real parent, you are going to raise anxiety filled children. I know adults who are the product of overbearing parents like you, and it has taken some of them years to outgrow the compulsion to catastrophize everything, and most are on medication. Is this what you want for your child?

Except there’s really no upside to Snapchat. It’s like when gun nuts argue against gun regulations because what about all the car accidents?!? Well, cars serve a an important purpose.

Just because many parents say no to Snapchat doesn’t mean they’re overbearing in other ways. This one is just a no brainer. Sounds like you’re the one catastrophizing. And given all the studies on the effects of social media on kids, it’s the Snapchat kids who are much more likely to be depressed and on medication.

[Anonymous]

I’m surprised some parents here think Snapchat is so necessary to their kid’s social well-being that they slam parents who think otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:[google]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I haven’t read any good reasons to allow Snapchat for minors in this thread. All just bad outcomes and parents afraid of parenting.

Sums it up.
But kids will use it regardless, as parents cannot control their online behavior. Kids always find out how to get around any restrictions.

Best to just make it something undesirable. Like "video games are for geeks and nerds" and they will never want to play video games.

Not true. You can easily block Snapchat on your kids phone and/or on your home router. Sure they could get a burner phone but most kids don’t have the ability or motivation to do that for Snapchat, it’s not that big of a deal.

Kids all have varying access to apps so in my experience most kids just text because that’s what everyone has.

You could not be more wrong. All you need is an old phone and wifi access. Even if they don't have one lying around the house, kids give them to friends at school or rent/sell them for like $10-20. And your home router can not block an app. There is so many work arounds. And at least in my kid's public school, the wifi is free and it allows snapchat. And if they can't do that, they just create their own account on a friend's phone and then use it and log on thru friends phones multiple times a day. It is very very easy for one person to have 3-4 log ins of friends on snap on their phone.

Listen, I get it. You try your best, but the fact is once teens get to an age where 90% of them are communicating only thru Snap, they don't want to be the one left out. I understand avoiding it in middle school, but it's better to come up with guidelines together, at least by high school. For my 15yr old, I have the app on my phone with her log ins and only I know the password and the account is under my cell and email, so I get notifications of changing passwords or adding anything. She gets 60min a day on app limits also run thru my phone thru family sharing. She has to keep on 24hrs to delete, not delete immediately. I can technically log in any time and check and she won't know when I do. At this point, I barely check. She and her friends like changing their bit moji and tracking where they are and send stupid things thru their private stories. A lot of moms are on snap too. It's a way to keep in touch and keep a snap streak going. I can totally see how much fun it is. For the way I have set up, it is much safer than iMessages that can be deleted quickly and can only be checked by accessing their phone directly. Snap keeps a log if I request it and I can check her snap even if she is not home or away on vacation with a friend etc....

You can block burner phones or whatever devices you want on your home router.

So we’re left with snap-determined kid buys an old phone off a school buddy and only uses it on school wifi, where our school does not allow phone use during school hours? Or creates an account they check on other kids’ phones when they are alone? I’d prefer that risk over allowing it everyday.

DP. Okay, be that parent. Your kid has a burner phone. There are more and more every year and the kids with the strictest parents or the ones that get their phones taken for punishment all have them. They also have VPNs installed and if they are even a little tech savvy, you don’t know when they are connecting to your home device and they can get around any of your controls or the school controls. -J’s teacher

Please explain to me how a device could connect to my wifi network without the admin (me) seeing it. I doubt he has a burner phone because I know most of his friends and they text together.

These kids who are so obsessed with Snapchat that they get burner phones they secretly use only at school when teachers aren’t looking sound like real losers. Sorry lots of kids just aren’t that into it.

You sit hourly and check your router’s device history. Be real lady.

My daughter has a friend like you and they used a neighbors wifi or a hotspot. It’s rly not as hard as you think. And kids unfortunately are on their phones during school, but if my mom was this much of a stickler, I can see where a kid would prioritize a burner phone during school to socialize.

No, I have an app for my router and get an alert anytime a new device tries to connect. I can then choose to allow or block. They can’t connect to a neighbor’s WiFi without knowing the password. They can’t use a hotspot unless they are literally right next to their friends. Sounds like you could really stand to invest a little more time in learning the basics to better protect your kids. Or are you always going to be one of those old ladies who needs their kids’ help logging onto AOL?

No, you can’t be 100% sure they aren’t moving heaven and earth to get Snapchat but why just give them the keys to the car? And who on earth are these kids so obsessed with Snapchat? No one in my family is big on social media, we tend to make fun of it. Maybe this is a bigger problem for MLM lifestyle coach moms who post fashion advice and family vacation photos on insta all day.

Yes, you have teens who sit around with Mommy and Daddy and laugh and make fun of social media. So they don't even want it, right? Perfect. So you don't need all of your blocks and hacks and walls then. But you have them? Make it make sense

Yeah, they do. We have parental control settings for many reasons including limiting screen time, blocking explicit sexual content, etc. It’s called parenting, try it. No one thinks you’re cool for letting your kids do damaging stuff.

The irony went completely over you head with that the PP said

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

Incorrect on all counts lol

You can save messages, and messages stay for 24hrs unsaved unless your child chooses delete immediately.
Snap has records of everything and I have proof of that as my husband work in special victims unit. You can also request under settings.

If you son can’t figure out who a friend is or isn’t in about 1min of texting on snap, yes he doesn’t sound mature or smart enough for the app. And if he is an older teen, that gullibility would far be my concern more than the app.

There is nothing scary about the app. Teens make poor choices in all apps and in real life if that is the life they are choosing at ages 16-18yrs old.

Some of you parents gotta cut the umbilical cord

You are completely wrong about being able to recover messages without maybe paying thousands to do a forensic imaging of the phone. Don’t care what you say your husband thinks. And yeah a troublemaking teen is going to delete messages.

We chose to live in a safe community, why would I go out of my way to expose my kids to drug dealers, weird sexual stalkers, bullies etc they wouldn’t otherwise be exposed to? Just have them stick with texting like a normal person.

But they will on all apps. A lot of teens use what's app for the same thing. Vanish mode on IG DM's, and double delete texts on iMessages. Maybe make secret accounts and fake accounts. Same with tt.

The point is, Snapchat is no different than any other app for deleting texts and pictures and videos, etc... And the reason so many parents are here saying if it's not allowed, they are doing it anyway is because it's true. They know all the work arounds and are all 10x tech savy than we are. And again, we are talking about teens who are in high school, driving, and close enough to vote for a president. So it's just weird that you treat them like toddlers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:These posters who are saying 18, your kids are driving at 16 but you won’t let them have Snapchat? Have you ever been on it? It’s basically just a way to text each other. Instead of banning things, teach them to set controls. You don’t want them getting these things when they first go to college. We all knew the kids who went wild. Our kids all have friends with strict parents who have secret accounts in HS. Don’t be that parent.

It is not just texting. The messages delete themselves so adults really don’t know what is happening. The tracking mechanism can be very hurtful and dangerous. Twice my son was friended by people who said they went to his school but clearly did not. It is scary. Bullying happens because there is no record of it.

The adults should NOT know what’s happening with older teens for the most part. Teach your kid common sense and boundaries. You’re not protecting him by raising a snowflake

No

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teens-death-small-michigan-town-led-fbi-police-online-sexual-extortion-rcna120556


This is Instagram but can happen on any social media

These teens need our help. I wouldn't expect my teen to go toe to toe with another adult whi is trying to mislead with out standing behind them.

Exactly. This is horrific. Insane how some posters want to believe this can NEVER happen to THEIR kid.

DP I didn't see anyone say this could NEVER happen to their kid. But good, stable parents who seek to raise good, stable, healthy kids assess risk and appreciate that you have to let kids grow, even if there is risk. Every year many children drown- probably more than are harmed by social media- but that doesn't mean I'm going to say my kids can never swim. In fact, I want them to learn to be strong swimmers, learn about not diving in shallow water, learn about rip tides, learn to heed warnings on beaches, learn to use life jackets on boats, etc. The answer is not to keep them locked up.

I hope you're just a troll and not a real parent, because if you are a real parent, you are going to raise anxiety filled children. I know adults who are the product of overbearing parents like you, and it has taken some of them years to outgrow the compulsion to catastrophize everything, and most are on medication. Is this what you want for your child?

Except there’s really no upside to Snapchat. It’s like when gun nuts argue against gun regulations because what about all the car accidents?!? Well, cars serve a an important purpose.

Just because many parents say no to Snapchat doesn’t mean they’re overbearing in other ways. This one is just a no brainer. Sounds like you’re the one catastrophizing. And given all the studies on the effects of social media on kids, it’s the Snapchat kids who are much more likely to be depressed and on medication.

Exactly.