Putting Snapchat in your children’s hands could be dangerous [ARTICLE]

Snapchat is a new app that is quickly becoming a favorite among teens. On the surface, Snapchat is a new and fun way for teens to communicate with one another. But keep in mind that features can be deceiving and this new favorite among teens is no exception.

Snapchat allows users to take pictures and videos and send them directly to their friends. Nothing new here but there’s a twist. With Snapchat, the sender can control how long the receiver can see the image or video. When time runs out, the media is deleted from the receiver’s device and from the Snapchat database.

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Unfortunately, teens may see this timed-delete method as a safe way to send inappropriate pictures (i.e., “sexting”). Does that mean this type of behavior is safe with Snapchat? Not at all.

Ask any Internet expert and they will tell you that something placed on the Internet is there forever. And while pictures and videos transmitted via Snapchat aren’t technically stored on the Internet once the time expires, the app still has a few serious flaws that could lead to some embarrassing situations.

For starters, the recipient can use their device to take a screenshot of a photo before it is deleted. Yes, the sender will be alerted that a screenshot has been taken, but there’s not much you can do about it. There’s no way to recover the captured screenshot.

Worse yet, it’s fairly easy to use another phone or camera to take a picture of the screen in which case the sender wouldn’t know the better of it.

Despite the potential dangers of using the app, Snapchat isn’t all bad. Many people use it to send fun and silly photos to each other. But there’s no substitute for good parenting and it’s better to be up-front with your expectations to your children rather than regret it later.