Thomas Fox-Brewster’s recent Forbes post about child exploitation on Kik raises issues that can’t be ignored. As Fox-Brewster documents, there have been reports of far too much illegal child abuse material on the service as well as cases of young people being targeted for grooming.
Coincidentally, this report came the same week that my non-profit internet safety organization, ConnectSafely.org, published A Parent’s Guide to Kik, to advise parents on how they can help their teens use the messaging service in a safer manner. Notice I said safeR. I added the R because there is no such thing as guaranteed safety when it comes to any digital service, just as there is no such thing as a perfectly safe car, kitchen knife or soccer ball. Virtually everything we do in life has risks, and our job as parents is to minimize those risks for our children, while allowing them to explore, play and learn. MORE