So often I thank my lucky stars to have grown up before social media and cell phones. Quickly, I remember that I am raising kids in a world where social media rules. This is scary! The teenage years are tough, some of the best in life, but full of pressure and important decision making. For today’s teens, social media and a growing dependence on mobile devices add a whole different dimension to the stresses of being a teen. This social media world that we live in also adds fear to parents and often opens doors to dangerous situations. There are several apps that hide what is really going on in your teens life. Yes, your teen. We all think “not our kid”, but even “the good kids” have a life on social media that you may not know about.
We sat down with a few teenagers who agreed to give us the scoop on these “secret apps” as long as they remain anonymous. They said they wanted to do this to help parents protect their kids, even if it reveals some secrets they use themselves. Pretty noble of them I must say.
Q: What are the “in apps” these days? I hear Facebook is not cool anymore.
AT: Yeah- no one looks at Facebook anymore. Instagram and Snapchat is what everyone does now. Facebook is for old people. Most people have a “f-instsa” that their parents don’t know about.
Q: What exactly is a “f-insta”?
AT: A fake Instagram. We all have two different Instagram accounts- One that our parents can see. We keep this one parent friendly. Then we have an Instagram for our friends. These accounts always have fake names so that parents can’t search for us, but our friends know who we are. This is where we post pics we don’t want our parents to see.
Q: Are there any other secret aps that parents don’t know about?
AT: Yes, there are lots. The Calculator Vault is one. It looks like a calculator icon on your phone and even when you click on it a calculator pulls up. When you put in your code it will let you load all the photos that you want to hide from your mom and dad. There is another new app called VSCO. A lot of people are starting to use VSCO. It is kind of like Instagram.
Q: What about parents being able to track you by tracking your phone? Do all your parents use phone tracker?
AT: Well that’s easy. You can just go to your settings and turn off your location setting. We tell our parents that we were in a bad service area and we don’t know why they could not track us.
Q: What is the one thing that you would not want your kids to use if you were a parent?
AT: Snapchat! Snapchat for sure is the worst. They now have an app where someone can screen shot your snap and you are not notified about it. We have had a lot of friends get into some bad situations with Snapchat. You think the picture goes away after a few seconds but they never go away. My kids would not have Snapchat if I were a mom or dad.