As the month of February is approaching us, it would be fair to say that love is in the air. Valentine’s Day is just around the corner. When the adults of the world are looking forward to the 14th of February in order to confess their feelings for their loved ones or to just spend some quality time with their “someone special”, the teenagers aren’t far behind either. Moreover, given the popularity of online dating apps in this era, Valentine’s Day poses to be a day when most parents end up being concerned about the well-being of their children. It does sound counter-intuitive that a day meant to celebrate the all-powerful emotion of love has become a stressful event for parents. But, the justification behind it is quite plausible. Online dating apps enable teenagers to come in contact with total strangers who can be much older than them as well. Children aren’t exactly equipped to deal with the complexities of romance, and given the limitless exposure online dating apps provide, they end up making decisions that put them in jeopardy. One such example is the sharing of explicit/graphic personal images. Moreover, the threat of Cyber Bullies and predators always looms online. Sadly, dating apps don’t filter out such nuisance makers.
Hook-ups and Online Dating Apps
Google defines a hook-up as “a casual sexual encounter”. In this app-driven era, apps facilitating hook-ups also exist. One of the most popular ones is ‘Tinder’. It is true that dating apps like Tinder do seek age-verification and don’t permit people under the age of 18 to use them. However, the process behind the said “age-verification” is lenient to say the very least. They gather the information about age from social media websites like Facebook and Google+. Needless to say, entering a false age in a Facebook profile is as difficult as clapping hands. Therefore, it has become extremely easy for teenagers to meet people for hook-ups. Yet again, needless to say, no parent would want their kid (who’s under 18) to engage in “a casual sexual encounter”. Furthermore, adult dating apps aren’t the only platforms giving breathing room to the hook-up culture in teenagers. Instant Messaging Apps like Whatsapp, Viber, Hike, Messenger, etc. are also abetting the ongoing menace.
How Teens Come in Contact With Dating Apps and Hook-Up Sites?
A Social media has its fair share of benefits for people belonging to all age groups. However, the other side of the coin in the case of social media websites is not a side that parents have a positive inclination for. Let’s not dive any deeper into the negative impact of social media platforms on teenagers because that is a big discussion in itself. However, in the context of the topic at hand, social media websites enable people under the age of 18 to know about dating apps. Even a 5-year-old kid can read a post detailing the concept of Tinder. Word of mouth is another way in which teenagers get to know about online dating applications. More often than not, people belonging to an age group (under 18) unfit for apps like Tinder and Down use them as a means to get over break-ups. Instead of dealing with the intricacies of a heartbreak, these kids dive into the pool of prospective hook-ups available on online dating apps.The Dangerous Impact of Hook-Ups and Dating Sites on Teens
Well, it isn’t a big secret that teens are unfit for what dating sites bring to the table. The “why” of it all can be summed up in the points below:-- Dating apps facilitate matching with random people. A simple ‘right swipe’ can get a teenager in touch with a vicious pervert.
- It has been established that cheating the age verification process of dating apps is not a difficult task. Consequently, apps like Tinder can enable teens to engage in inappropriate associations with people much older than them. Teenagers using online dating applications remain under the constant risk of being sexually exploited. The cherry on top is the fact that the term “sexting” is not meaningless.
- Sharing of sexual images containing nudity can get teenagers in some serious trouble. The person on the other end of the supposed romantic interaction is a stranger with unknown intentions. Explicit images shared by teenagers on dating apps as well as IM apps can be leaked online. Let’s not forget about those cyber bullies hiding behind random IP addresses.
- Sexual predators make a significant portion of the people who make profiles on online dating apps. No parent would ever want their kid to trust such a person and be subjected to blackmail. However, online dating apps have made the above-mentioned scenario a possibility.
How Parents Can Prevent Their Child from Hook-Ups and Dating App
As generations change, so do the ideals and principles governing the functioning of the world. The main reason for the apparent change in the behavior of today’s generation is technological advancement. Zooming into the topic at hand, let’s consider the above-mentioned impact of dating apps. The behavioral modifications caused by dating apps in teens nowadays are visible enough for parents to take notice and be alarmed. The fact that some of these apps have no age restriction whatsoever doesn’t help the case either. Parents are always worried about online safety of teens. The free versions of such applications subject teenagers to even more threats prying in the dark corners of the interconnected society online.
So, how exactly can parents protect their kids from the abuse that dating apps expose them to? A smart workaround can be achieved by getting to the root of the problem. More precisely, parents can monitor the smartphones activity of their children to keep a protective eye on them. A parental monitoring software like TiSPY can come to the rescue here.
How TiSPY Works?
TiSPY is the easiest and most effective way for parents to protect their kids from the dangers application that approach their kids along with Valentine’s Day. The following Tispy features that enable in fulfilling its true objective:-
- Message Tracking: TiSPY enables parents to keep a track of the text messages exchanged by their kids via their smartphones. Parents can track incoming and outgoing message as well as they can get record data of deleted message on their Tispy dashboard.
- Tracking of Multimedia Files: TiSPY’s dashboard displays even those images that have been deleted from the phone it has been installed on.
- Monitoring of Social Media and Instant Messaging Apps: TiSPY can be used to monitor social media apps monitor social media apps like WhatsApp, Facebook, Hike, Sykpe, Mails, and more. Parents able to check chat and image sharing data as well. This feature is the most helpful feature for parents to spy or monitor on kids.
- Monitoring of Internet Use: TiSPY has the capability of maintaining a log of all the websites history the user of the smartphone being monitored visits with data and time.
- Controlling and Monitoring of Apps and Programs:TiSPY can be used to make a note of all the installed apps on the phone being monitored. Also, it can gather data detailing the frequency of the usage of a certain app. Parents get notification mail and get alert when their teens change the SIM. By using the Tispy monitoring software parents can monitor child phone usage.
Keystroke Logging:The control panel screen can be used to view keystrokes logger made on the smartphone on which TiSPY is installed.
Conclusion
As many others have said before, love is the best thing that we human beings do. Therefore, its celebration should not become a cause for anyone to be alarmed. So, parents just need to equip themselves with TiSPY and let things follow their natural course.
Smart measures to ensure safe device usage by your children.
