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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Focus on Safety – Do your kids Kik?

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smith_julieImagine a pedophile being in your house, even in your child’s bedroom- not physically, but via their computers or cell phones. Facebook and Twitter are old news and the social media application Kik is one of the fastest growing “apps” that kids are using to engage in private conversations. This application has now become a sexual predator’s highway. Here is what parents need to know:

Kik is a free texting application which now has over 200 million users from around the world that enables users to connect with strangers. Although rated for people age 17 and older, tweens and teens are their main users. The site has no age verification and no parental controls. Users can search for other Kik users by age, sex, city, chat interests and much more.

Kids are moving away from Facebook and Twitter because they know their parents are watching them. They have their parents as “friends” and let them follow their “tweets” but Kik is where they can go to for privacy.

Instead of using phone numbers or real names to contact each other, each Kik member has a user name. Conversations and images can’t be viewed publicly, which makes it much harder for parents to monitor than Facebook or Twitter.

The problem is that kids could be running into the virtual arms of an online predator. It’s a rising concern among parents and law enforcement. Kik and the application Instagram are a dangerous combination for teenagers who post pictures and invite viewers to “Kik me” privately to chat. Members can randomly chat with strangers and send images.

What can you do? I encourage every parent to be proactive when it comes to educating themselves about the social media sites their children are using. They should have a discussion with their children about technology and set boundaries.

Make it a priority to discuss appropriate online behavior and the dangers of sexting.

Our children think they are safe when they are at home. However, if they have the Kik application, it is a false sense of security. One of the biggest mistakes our Police Investigators observe is when parents allow their children to charge their devices in their rooms at night. Keep that device on the kitchen counter during the night. In order to be “Sex-torted” all you have to do is go on Kik, close the bedroom door, type and perform. Parents are usually the last to know when a child is black mailed by a predator on Kik.

Until next month… Stay Aware & Stay Safe.

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Julie Smith
Julie Smith
Julie Smith is Crime Prevention Specialist at the Naperville Police Department. Contact her at SmithJu@naperville.il.us or (630) 305-5450.

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