15 Apps Grand Junction Parents Should Watch For

Grand Junction schools are just about to kick off the 2019-2020 academic year. Children will be away from home for hours at a time. Do you know what apps your child has on their phone? Here are 15 you should watch out for.

According to CBS Miami, the recent arrests of 25 men in Florida for allegedly trying to have sex with children has prompted authorities to issue an "app warning." 9News.com reports authorities held a press conference last week where they shared 15 apps parents should know about. Six of the apps listed were used by suspects in the case.

Looking at the list below, I'm pleased to say I'm not familiar with any of these. Then again, I don't have kids. If you have children, please take a moment to familiarize yourself with this list.

• 'Skout' is a flirting app that's used to meet and chat with new people. Teens and adults are in different groups, but ages aren’t verified.
•  'MeetMe,' an app where teens can easily be in contact with users much older than them, with an emphasis on dating.
• 'Hot or Not' rates users on attractiveness. There’s no age verification and users can send each other messages.
• 'WhatsApp' and 'SnapChat' are for messaging, but what you should know is teens can send unlimited messages, have video chats and even share their live location with other users, people they may not even know.
• 'TikTok' is used for sharing user-created videos that can contain bad words, even adult content.
• 'Badoo' and 'Bumble' are dating apps for adults, but teens can still find ways to join.
• 'Grindr' is geared towards the LGBTQ community. It allows users to share photos and meet up based on the phone’s GPS location.
• 'Kik' is specifically for kids, but anyone can join and anyone can contact or direct message your child.
• 'LiveMe' is a live streaming app, but you don’t know who’s watching and your kid's location is revealed.
• 'Holla' is all about connecting strangers around the world through video chat. Enough said.
• 'Whisper' is a social confessional where kids can remain anonymous but still share their feelings. And it can reveal your child’s location for a meetup.
• 'ASKfm' encourages people to allow anonymous users to ask them questions, which opens the door for online bullying.
• 'Calculator%' apps are several secret apps that allow kids to hide their photos, videos, even browser history.

As you can imagine, the news story opened the flood gates to arguments between parents.

The 15 apps listed above are simply suggestions parents may want to watch out for. A person can take it or leave it. Again, I'm not a parent, but if I was, I would at least familiarize myself with the list in hopes I never see them on my child's phone.