Kik Parental Control: Hidden Dangers that Parents Often Ignore

What are the Hidden Dangers of Kik?

Besides users remaining anonymous, videos, photos, and games can be shared effortlessly via Kik. It is compatible with mainstream devices, i.e., iPhones, Windows, and Android gadgets. In addition to that, the app is filled with adverts and in-store purchases.

Now, wondering what the hidden danger of Kik is? Find out below:

1. Allows chatting with random strangers

It is a window for sexual predators to reach out to your kid and exploit them. The fact that it enables users to send texts anonymously, as well as videos and pics, these perpetrators will ask for sexually explicit material from your child. Once the messages get deleted, they are irretrievable. Thus, it is challenging to monitor your kid’s phone activity or catch these predators and have them prosecuted.

2. It is a paradise for predators

Once a sex offender told CBS News that Kik is a haven for predators. Many crimes got facilitated via this platform. There was an instance when a predator confessed to having taken sexually explicit pics of himself with a two-year-old and shared them with other users on Kik. Some of whom he chatted with about what to do to the infant. There are similar cases recorded relating to this app.

3. Sexual Grooming

An investigation done by Forbes and Point Report revealed that young teens, about 14 years of age, are being hunted for grooming via this app. Furthermore, Kik has not put any effort into having the profiles of those sexual predators delated.

Stats show that 57% of the Kik chat app users are aged 13-24 years old, and their parents have no clue about the existence of the app.

4. No security measures set up

With the anonymity in conversations, you’d think there is some form of privacy policy in place. But there is none.

Kik is well aware of the problems and the dangers the app poses and encourages its users to report any hint of inappropriate Kik messages, pictures, and videos circulating. But this is not good enough to help protect children. The amount of sexually explicit content on this platform is pretty significant and needs deletion.

Next, we look at how we can help prevent harm from getting to teens through Kik sex chats, videos, and pics. If your child is already using the Kik chat app, we give a guideline on how to handle the issue.

How Can Parents Handle Such a Problem?

Communication is key. It is very vital that you establish good communication with your children and teenagers. Once you create it, then employ one of the two ways below, or both of them to help protect your kid Kik digital dangers.

Method 1: Handle the danger of Kik in normal ways

1. Educating your kids

Inform your kids about how unsafe Kik is and why it is not okay for them to share personal information on it. You can use videos to show them the dangers of the Kik messaging app and how predators use it to exploit and harm young people. It will serve as an eye-opener to your teens if they are in the dark about such issues.

Share with them what you have heard, read, and seen the dangers of inappropriate online and offline activities. Allow them also to speak their mind concerning the matter, discuss, and find a better way to stay safe and informed on the Internet. It is essential that they also know that you are in the loop about the latest tech trends and understand what they are experiencing.

The point is to create a haven for them to open up and share what they know about the app. Build trust in your kids, and stay connected.

2. Embracing an open phone policy

It is a way you can keep track of what your kid is up to, who they are communicating with, and what they talk about amongst themselves. It is most effective if there are trust and understanding between you and your kid. Your kid will be sincere and will not have hidden app accounts. Consistent communication and setting boundaries with the types of apps kids can access and let them know why the limits are a way to help protect kids from predators.

Sometimes the kids are unwilling to share login and password information to their social media accounts. You may well suspect that they have multiple accounts on a particular app and are reluctant to share their online activity with you. In such cases, you can use parental control apps to save them from themselves. FamiSafe is one such app.

Method 2: Apply Parental Control App like FamiSafe

Do you remember when you were a kid, you would not let your parents check your diary or enter your room without knocking on the doors? That's the same thing with today's children's phones. It may cause parents a lot of trouble to get their phones and check their Kik.

Luckily, also thanks to the development of modern technology, parents can also seek help from the parental control app. Among all the parental control apps in the market, we would like to recommend FamiSafe to you. FamiSafe is a trusted and reliable application that assists parents in achieving the below goals.

• Protect their children from cyberbullying.
• Monitoring their whereabouts.
• Blocking suspicious and malicious apps.
• Filtering website content.
• Controlling the amount of time spent on their devices.

Let's see how FamiSafe is going to help parents with the above tasks.

- Explicit content detection

The application enables parents to create their own suspicious words list and receive alerts when these words are sent or received on kid's devices. Parents will be able to monitor kid's messages, Facebook, Kik, Twitter, WhatsApp, and other supported social apps.

- Suspicious Photos

Whenever someone sends suspicious content to the kid’s phone and is stored in the album of your kid's phone, FamiSafe's Suspicious Photo will find out and notify parents so that parents can take necessary action like talking to their kids about the danger of sending nude photos.

- Web Filter & Browser History

Except for social apps, kids can get access to inappropriate content by browsing randomly online. FamiSafe's Web Filter will automatically filter any websites that are not for our kids. You can also look up their browser history record to check if they visit websites containing information like violence, sex, or gambling.

- App Blocker & Screen Time

If your kids are spending too much time chatting with strangers or staying up late at night, you can easily block the Kik app or the screen with FamiSafe's features.

These are the significant features of the FamiSafe parental control app. It is simple to use. All you are required to do is install the app on your kid’s device. Then set up everything else on your phone, and you can remotely control the target phone.

Inventions and technological advancements are inevitable. Technology is here with us, and our kids seem to be more tech-savvy than us, which is a good thing. But when their safety, sanity, and lives are on the line, it is your responsibility to keep them safe. As much as they are meant to make life simpler and enjoyable for us, there is a downside to becoming a digital world. Kik chat app is one such major downside of tech.

We have addressed how Kik isn’t safe at all for our children. Also, there’s a guide on how to handle digital dangers posed by Kik messaging app. Don’t ever doubt your effort in protecting your kid from sexual predators. Feel free to utilize parental control apps like FamiSafe and take all the necessary precautions to save your children.

Remember, you can never be overprotective when it comes to saving your kids from perpetrators on the internet like Kik Messenger. Ensure you stay informed about the latest tech matters at all times to help protect your child from online and offline dangers.