WhatsApp is known to be the best instant-messaging application being used by millions of users globally, including children. While there are innumerable positives to WhatsApp for general users, safety concerns also coexist especially when children are using the app. Our question is: is WhatsApp safe for children? Why do parents need to carry out the WhatsApp hack?
These are some of the questions we will answer in this post and also discuss how parents can monitor their child’s WhatsApp to keep them safe from the online threats. Before we begin with the discussion, let’s give you a quick recap of what WhatsApp is all about, what is this app used for and whether it is safe for children to use.
WhatsApp – An Introduction
As we described above, WhatsApp is an instant-messaging service that allows people to communicate with each other in the form of text messages, pictures, videos, GIFs and what not. People can also send their important documents to another person through this app.
Wholly owned by Facebook, WhatsApp has a massive user-base, including adults and children. There is no additional cost incurred while using WhatsApp as it consumes the regular internet data the same way as checking an email on your smartphone.
You must be wondering why people use WhatsApp instead of the regular text messaging service available on mobile phones. The reason they prefer WhatsApp over conventional text messaging service is that the former delivers the messages in an instant without you having to spend a cost for it unlike the latter.
Further to that, WhatsApp allows you to send/receive messages to your loved ones or any other person who lives abroad. Users also have a choice of creating groups on WhatsApp and share pictures, videos, and voice messages with each other.
Is WhatsApp Safe for Children?
While WhatsApp is considered a pretty useful app for many adults, it may not be appropriate for children and teens. The majority of children like using this app because it may be a bit unfamiliar for parents unlike other social media apps such as Facebook. Parents are mostly familiar with regular texting or Facebook but most of them have no idea how WhatsApp works.
Even if they want to monitor their child’s mobile phone, they may overlook WhatsApp as they assume this app does not need any monitoring. This serves as an advantage to children as they go on using the app without having their parents monitor it.
Having this leverage, they think they can do anything on the app – share inappropriate messages or other visual content with others or interact with strangers who may be potentially harmful to them. Without realizing, they are catapulted into the dangers of the online world.
WhatsApp, just like any other social media platform, is plagued by online threats including cyberbullying, sexting, pornography, and pedophilia. These threats can be potentially dangerous for children’s emotional and psychological development.
When in a group, children can be easily reached out by anyone and can be targeted for cyberbullying. It is easier for anyone to send a message to someone if they belong to the same WhatsApp group. Children may be cyberbullied – harassed or tortured – by a stranger. Similarly, all the pictures and videos shared in a group may be used for spreading rumours or making it viral across the internet as a way to defame the person.
Screenshots of all the conversations, photos, and videos shared in a WhatsApp chat can be taken and shared within a matter of seconds, spiraling the situation out of control. And this just does not stop here. Children are also exposed to pedophilia on this platform. Sexual predators can get directly in touch with your child on WhatsApp and lure them into believing they care for them. They may also demand inappropriate pictures or videos from the children.
Therefore, children are not safe on WhatsApp. While it is a blessing for many, it can also be a curse for some. No parent would want their child to get exposed to these life-threatening online dangers and they would do the best in their capacity to keep their children safe on the platform. This is the reason why most of the parents have turned to WhatsApp spy app and WhatsApp hack solutions in a view to keeping their children safe from the online dangers.
How to Monitor Child’s WhatsApp
WhatsApp monitoring solutions are being used to spy on someone’s WhatsApp activity without letting them know. These monitoring solutions come in the form of mobile applications as well as computer programs. Since WhatsApp itself is a mobile app, a WhatsApp spy app is the preferred choice for keeping a check on one’s WhatsApp.
All you need to do is download the WhatsApp spy app and have it installed on the target mobile device. Once installed, the WhatsApp spy app will begin recording the WhatsApp activity taking place on the target device and share the recorded data on your online user panel, whose login credentials are given to you by the spy app.
A WhatsApp monitoring app helps you know what your child does on the app all day. The app works secretly in the background, which means your child may not be able to tamper with it. In case you find your child interacting with a pedophile or getting abused by someone on the app, you can immediately intervene in the situation and save your child from an unfortunate incident.