Mercer County Children's Advocacy Center

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Mercer County Children's Advocacy Center
  • Home
  • About Mercer CAC
  • What to Expect
    • Forensic Interview Services
    • Medical Exams
    • Trauma Treatment
  • For Families and Children
    • What is Child Abuse and Neglect?
      • Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect
      • Myths and Facts About Child Abuse and Neglect
      • Recognize the Signs of Abuse and Neglect
    • What is Child Neglect?
      • Preventing Neglect
      • Recognize the Signs of Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment
      • Reporting Neglect
      • Responding to Neglect
    • What is Child Physical Abuse?
      • Preventing Physical Abuse
      • Recognize the Signs of Physical Abuse
      • Reporting Physical Abuse
      • Responding to Physical Abuse
    • What is Child Sexual Abuse?
      • Preventing Sexual Abuse
      • Recognize the Signs of Sexual Abuse
      • Reporting Sexual Abuse
      • Responding to Sexual Abuse
    • Keeping your Child Safe
      • Domestic Violence and Kids
  • Resources
    • Reading Resources
    • Resource Guide for Working with Adolescents
    • Talking To Your Children About Sexuality
    • What is Age-Appropriate?
    • What to DO if you Suspect a Child is Being Abused
  • Internet Safety
    • Abbreviations and Text Terms
    • Cyberbullying & Sextortion
    • Facebook- How to Keep My Child Safe
    • Instagram- How to Keep My Child Safe
    • Snapchat- How to Keep My Child Safe
    • Social Media Safety

Snapchat- How to Keep My Child Safe

Snapchat Statistics

Snapchat is a photo and video messaging app that has seen a huge snapchatsurge in popularity since it was launched September of 2011.  It is the largest and most used app of this type currently.

  • 100 million daily active users
  • 2 billion photos uploaded per day
  • 9,000 photos shared every second
  • 8 billion videos viewed per day
  • 18% of social media users in the US are on Snapchat
  • 30% of young adults (19 to 26) are regular users

What is Snapchat?

This mobile app allows users to take and send photos and videos that disappear after just a few seconds.  When a user is preparing to send a message to someone, they decide if it will be available for viewing for between 1 and 10 seconds.  Other fun features include filters, adding text and graphics to an image, and more.

The attraction to this app is that it allows kids to send to friends what is happening in the moment without the permanency that comes with traditional social media sites.  Unfortunately, nothing digital is truly gone.

Snapchat and Kids

Like other social media sites, Snapchat users must be aged 13 or older to have an account.  Following a hacking, Snapchat user’s information was leaked to the Internet and included such identifying information as usernames and phone numbers.  In an effort to improve security, Snapchat has introduced a two step verification process to help boost the app’s security.  Regardless, this is not a full proof system and kids under 13 can become users.

What can I do as a parent?

To begin, review your child’s privacy settings, or better yet, go thru them with your child to make sure that strangers can not send your child or even contact them at all.  (tap the ghost icon on the top of the screen to access your child’s profile, then tap the gear cog icon in the upper-right corner, under the Settings menu go to “Receive Snaps from…” and ensure that it says “My Friends.”

snap-chatTalk to your child over what content to send.  Even though your child may think that they are sending the picture or video to a friend, remind them that this app has been hacked in the past and it could happen again.  That means any image they send could be made public and not to send something they would not want the whole world to see.

Finally, talk to your child and remind them that pictures can be saved.  Even though the app is intended to only allow viewing of the pictures for a brief time, there are many ways to get around this.  Screenshots (an ability on most smartphones to capture the current screen similar to the print screen option on a computer) can be taken and there are many software programs you can download to a phone to save images permanently.

Additional resources can be accessed with this helpful guide.

Snapchat Parent’s Guide

Cyber-Safety Tips for Parents

Resources

  • What to DO if you Suspect a Child is Being Abused
  • Keeping your Child Safe
    • Domestic Violence and Kids
  • Resource Guide for Working with Adolescents
  • Reading Resources
  • Internet Safety
    • Social Media Safety
    • Facebook- How to Keep My Child Safe
    • Instagram- How to Keep My Child Safe
    • Snapchat- How to Keep My Child Safe
    • Abbreviations and Text Terms
    • Cyberbullying & Sextortion

Mercer County CAC

  • Abbreviations and Text Terms
  • About Mercer CAC
  • Awareness Month Blog
  • Behaviors to Watch Out for When Adults are with Children
  • Contact Us
  • Cyberbullying & Sextortion
  • Domestic Violence and Kids
  • Donation Confirmation
  • Donation Failed
  • Donation History
  • Effects of Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Facebook- How to Keep My Child Safe
  • Family Safety Plan
  • FAQ about Forensic Interview Services
  • For Families and Children
  • Instagram- How to Keep My Child Safe
  • Internet Safety
  • Keeping your Child Safe
  • Medical Exams
  • Mercer County Behavioral Health Commission
  • Mission Statement
  • Myths and Facts About Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Origins of the CAC
  • Preventing Neglect
  • Preventing Physical Abuse
  • Preventing Sexual Abuse
  • Reading Resources
  • Recognize the Signs of Abuse and Neglect
  • Recognize the Signs of Neglect and Emotional Maltreatment
  • Recognize the Signs of Physical Abuse
  • Recognize the Signs of Sexual Abuse
  • Reporting Neglect
  • Reporting Physical Abuse
  • Reporting Sexual Abuse
  • Resource Guide for Working with Adolescents
  • Resources
  • Responding to Neglect
  • Responding to Physical Abuse
  • Responding to Sexual Abuse
  • Snapchat- How to Keep My Child Safe
  • Social Media Safety
  • Talking To Your Children About Sexuality
  • Tip Sheet: How To Protect Your Child From Sexual Abuse In Program Settings*
  • Trauma Treatment
  • Welcome to the Mercer County Children’s Advocacy Center
  • What is Age-Appropriate?
  • What is Child Abuse and Neglect?
  • What is Child Neglect?
  • What is Child Physical Abuse?
  • What is Child Sexual Abuse?
  • What to DO if you Suspect a Child is Being Abused
  • What to Expect at the CAC
  • What to expect when calling ChildLine
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  • Home
  • About Mercer CAC
  • What to Expect
  • For Families and Children
  • Resources
  • Internet Safety