Communication app for kids

Speedster said:
I recieved more than my fair share of messages from Olga wanting to just be friends on Skype
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That was then, it's probably so hardly used now that it's dead.

Anyway there's also Messenger Kids. The benefit is that it has a parent's dashboard where you and their parents can manage which features to enable...

messengerkids.com

Messenger Kids | The messaging app for kids

Messenger Kids is a free video messaging and chat app for children, offering more parental controls and more fun for children. Download it for iOS, Android or Kindle!
messengerkids.com messengerkids.com
 
Back in my day we used an empty can and some string and it was more than good enough for us.

Sure eventually things got out of hand and a kid used to accidently end up strangld to death by the string but those of who survived learnt important life lessons.
 
Polymathic said:
Back in my day we used an empty can and some string and it was more than good enough for us.

Sure eventually things got out of hand and a kid used to accidently end up strangld to death by the string but those of who survived learnt important life lessons.
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The 2 cans and a String phone gave you a 50/50% survival rate. Good Odds if you ask me....
 
APoc184 said:
Good question. Honestly, I don't know the correct answer.

We have only checked up once and never again. It has been 3 months now since she started.

We would rather build a trust relationship with her.
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To be honest I don't even know WTF is going on on either of my kids' phones. As you say. it's about the trust relationship. They will approach me or their mother if they are getting messages from strangers or if the content is of a disturbing nature.

I also want to teach them to respect other people's privacy, so generally won't snoop on their phones unless they ask me to.

When they were younger I used to use Google Family Link, but only for a few months before it got too much for me to manage. Google sends you 429082435 requests for everything they want to do for you to approve. Ain't nobody got time fo dat! I just explained to them nicely that I will do a full audit of their phones while they sleep. I never did :giggle:
 
The_Ogre said:
To be honest I don't even know WTF is going on on either of my kids' phones. As you say. it's about the trust relationship. They will approach me or their mother if they are getting messages from strangers or if the content is of a disturbing nature.

I also want to teach them to respect other people's privacy, so generally won't snoop on their phones unless they ask me to.

When they were younger I used to use Google Family Link, but only for a few months before it got too much for me to manage. Google sends you 429082435 requests for everything they want to do for you to approve. Ain't nobody got time fo dat! I just explained to them nicely that I will do a full audit of their phones while they sleep. I never did :giggle:
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For me it has a lot less to do with what my kids get up to (although that is a factor) and far more to do with the fact that there are some really sick people out there. My concern lies in protecting my kids, not restricting them.
 
Speedster said:
For me it has a lot less to do with what my kids get up to (although that is a factor) and far more to do with the fact that there are some really sick people out there. My concern lies in protecting my kids, not restricting them.
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Well said.

What if you find out they are on MyBB:oops:

I've been here since I was 15. Wouldn't recommend:crying:
 
The Door said:
One of the most annoying things about being a parent is having the childless experts dictating their opinions based on being kids once rather than being parents.
You have to just ignore the noise and do as you see fit. If you're doing that, you're parenting right IMO. Parents put up with a lot of abuse from opinionated but inexperienced people.

On the subject of sick people, sometimes it's those closest to them - or friends of those - who are the biggest risk. You never know who's on the other end of a mobile device. Kids can be cruel.
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This is why, unpalatable as it may seem, you have to inspect their interactions regularly.
 
APoc184 said:
Our daughter and her friends do Whatsapp.

Pre-paid sim with no data and no airtime. Simply used to activate Whatsapp.

They can only use it on home Wi-Fi. We logged into her account with Web Whatsapp so can check up on the conversations and activity if needs be.

She has 3 friends, her grand parents, my wife and myself to chat with currently. Mostly very irritating voice notes the whole time.
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Whatsapp web is what saved us from a potential situation...

Speedster said:
For me it has a lot less to do with what my kids get up to (although that is a factor) and far more to do with the fact that there are some really sick people out there. My concern lies in protecting my kids, not restricting them.
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Our daughter aged 10 is on a whatsapp group with numerous other girls from school, they are all the same ages. A bad apple decided to add a boyfriend to the group. He in turn added his friends. They starting engaging with the girls trying to get them to go out, they tried really hard to get them to go somewhere to have "fun". We walked into this by chance by browsing on Whatsapp web.

I then contacted the "boys" and discovered that they were all aged 24 to 26 :mad: what the actual f were these braindead losers planning on doing with underaged girls. I now want to trap them into a "fun date" and show up with some other dads & baseball bats.

Needless to say the phones were taken away.
 
Dr Chopper said:
Our daughter aged 10 is on a whatsapp group with numerous other girls from school, they are all the same ages. A bad apple decided to add a boyfriend to the group. He in turn added his friends. They starting engaging with the girls trying to get them to go out, they tried really hard to get them to go somewhere to have "fun". We walked into this by chance by browsing on Whatsapp web.

I then contacted the "boys" and discovered that they were all aged 24 to 26 :mad: what the actual f were these braindead losers planning on doing with underaged girls. I now want to trap them into a "fun date" and show up with some other dads & baseball bats.

Needless to say the phones were taken away.
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Approx 10-year-old girls...
One has a BF (that's already crazy)...
Turns out the BF's friends are 24-26 years old?

I don't know whether you should set up the trap date or call the cops.
 
Dr Chopper said:
Whatsapp web is what saved us from a potential situation...


Our daughter aged 10 is on a whatsapp group with numerous other girls from school, they are all the same ages. A bad apple decided to add a boyfriend to the group. He in turn added his friends. They starting engaging with the girls trying to get them to go out, they tried really hard to get them to go somewhere to have "fun". We walked into this by chance by browsing on Whatsapp web.

I then contacted the "boys" and discovered that they were all aged 24 to 26 :mad: what the actual f were these braindead losers planning on doing with underaged girls. I now want to trap them into a "fun date" and show up with some other dads & baseball bats.

Needless to say the phones were taken away.
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Yup, crazy world we live in. An "open" platform isn't an option.
 
Google chat doesn't do voice notes, and for some reason the phone option is greyed out on my daughter's device (she can answer calls, but can't initiate).

Anyway, we've hopped over to Messenger Kids. Looks promising so far.

Edit: or maybe not. It's not letting me approve contacts. Facebook says I need the newest version of the app but Play Store says I have the newest version of the app.

Edit 2: Had to install messenger on my phone
 
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