We have to help our kids remember that the same stranger danger that is true when you’re six and at the playground is just as real when you’re fifteen and connected in direct messages by people you don’t know. We can no longer trust the apps that they use blindly, imagining that no harm can come to them simply because the app wasn’t meant for harm. The only reasonable response is to take responsibility for our children’s safety ourselves. We won’t be writing paper letters and saying no to laptops for school projects. We can’t hide our head in the sand and keep our kids from using technology at all. What is our response to this tendency for people to use something meant for good and using it for the worst intentions. Google docs being used by young people for bullying, secret messaging, and sexting. The social function in the YouVersion Bible App being used to groom potential predatory victims. The response was shocking with inappropriate pictures and requests filling her direct messages just minutes after posting her first picture. Worse still is the story from Bark’s project that put a 37 year old mom on instagram posing as a 13 year old girl. You see it yourself in your Facebook comments as some friends think it is the perfect forum for their disruptive thoughts. Something I’ve learned is that if there is a system or an app that can be exploited to do harm, those who wish to cause harm will use it to do so. For the last five years I’ve been learning about the digital/connected world our kids are growing up in and how it impacts our children and our families. The answer is usually yes, and I am not surprised. I receive messages from parents a lot asking if I have seen the latest awful thing people have done online. Yet many of these apps aren’t as harmless as they seem. We don’t think twice about letting our kids use Google Documents or even the Bible app. Some for socializing, some for fun, and some for school and productivity. Our kids use all kinds of different apps for many different reasons.

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