10 Apps Every Parent Needs to Know About Right Now

Recently I overheard my fourteen-year-old son chatting it up with a girl on Facetime. I remembered that he doesn't have an iPhone, so he must be using something other than Facetime to talk with her. As I started looking into all of the different apps that can be used for face-to-face chatting or anonymous messages, I discovered a few that I had never even heard of.

Your kids probably know who they are sending messages to, but it is always good to check their devices. Okay, this is more of a 'Do as I say, Not as I do' statement. As much as I would like to be that drone (Hovering closer than a helicopter) my husband and I trust that he is not sending anything to anyone that he shouldn't.

As soon as he was old enough, my son did set up a Snapchat account. He mentioned one particular girl in his class that wanted to message him. We were driving in the car, so I attempted a casual conversation about not sending any naughty pics or anything. I was met with an eye roll, a 'MOM, I know better than that!' So, I explained that sometimes girls might send something even if you didn't ask for it, and that could lead to big trouble. He assured me that they are just friends. This basically turned into my son lecturing me about all of the things he isn't doing.

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The truth is, there are a lot of bad eggs out there that are doing awful things online. So it really is important to keep the conversation open with your kids about their online activity.