The problem with teen dating apps: ‘These apps lend themselves to highly sexualised conversations’
SA was shocked this week to learn a paedophile impregnated a teenager he groomed on an app for children. Experts are now warning parents to wake up to these “honey pots for predators”.
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The teenage dating app a paedophile predator used to lure a 13-year-old child in state care has been removed from the Australian app store but worrying alternatives are still available, warn the nation’s leading cyber safety educators.
And the social networking and dating website Mylol, aimed at teenagers from 13 to 19, can still be accessed through the internet.
Offender Matthew McIntyre, 35, was sentenced in South Australian during the week to three years and nine months’ jail after it was discovered he had impregnated the girl he used the dating app to connect with.
eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman Grant described teen dating apps as “honey pots to predators looking to engage young people”.
“Unfortunately, apps that are popular with young people can attract predators seeking to groom and abuse them … apps which tout themselves as a ‘teen dating’ app are particularly worrying,” she said.
“While teens are programmed to be curious and push boundaries, they need to be aware that not everyone they engage with online is who they say they are, and they may not always have the best intentions.”
Cyber safety group ySafe’s managing director Jordan Foster said too many parents underestimated the risk of the internet and “genuinely” had no idea of what their kids were being exposed to online.
“(What happened to) this poor girl is a sad but important indication to parents that we have to be involved in our child’s digital lives … because there are some really dark corners of the internet, not only being found by our children but (that are) finding them.” the clinical psychologist said.
“It is important for parents to know that teen dating online is actually really common … when we go into schools and talk about Yubo – a teen dating platform popular among Australian teens – kids have either heard about it or are using it.
“These apps – in which kids swipe left or right depending on if they find someone ‘hot’ – lend themselves to highly sexualised conversations … it is quite normalised on these platforms to talk to each other in a way that is sexual and aggressive, and there is a lot of peer pressure.”
Ms Foster said it was vital for parents to connect with their kids and talk to them about what they – and their friends – are doing online.
“Parents often fear getting involved in their child’s life because they don’t have the tech skills, what I say to parents all the time is, ‘you don’t need the tech skills, you just need to be talking, you just need to be building a relationship and communicating’.
“Parents already have what they need, they just need to lean into it.”
Carly Ryan Foundation (CRF) CEO Sonya Ryan said parents and caregivers needed to do all they could to shield children from predators, including by familiarising themselves with the apps on their kids’ devices.
“Wherever there are apps that young people are using, there will be predators on those apps looking to connect with those kids, it doesn’t matter what the app or gaming platform is … there will be adults on those platforms looking to take advantage of them in some way, to manipulate, coerce, groom, get nudes, threaten, bribe,” she said.
Ms Ryan said it was concerning kids were sharing details on their dating apps bios of things such as Snapchat and Instagram handles, email addresses and video chat apps.
She recommends creating a family safety online contract – such as the one developed in conjunction with the Australian Federal Police available on the CRF website – that sets rules for children to abide by while online.
“Parents have the right to set guidelines,” she said.
CRF also has fact sheets on apps popular with kids, free to download.