New App Helps Educators Protect Students Online

This article is presented in partnership with CA Lottery.

There are some facts that every parent and educator should know about children who have access to the internet. According to statistics collected by various online monitoring groups including law enforcement:

• 69 percent of teens regularly receive online communications from strangers and don't tell a parent or caretaker
• 77 percent of victims of online predators are aged 14 or older
• 65 percent of children ages 8 to 14 have been involved in a cyber-bullying incident
• 70 percent of children ages 7 to 18 have accidentally encountered online pornography

In this new media society where stranger communication, cyber bullying, inappropriate picture sharing and bad language continue to grow, finding a solution that makes sense — both realistically and financially — is important. One new technology helping is PLAYMessenger. It's a free, digital filter app that protects kids, and it's now available for download on iOS and Android devices. Apps like this are giving parents and educators an edge in the fight against unwanted online communication to children. PLAYMessenger is in partnership with PRIVO and certified under the Federal Trade Commission's Children's Online Privacy Protection Rule. The company's designers, based in Long Beach, California have just completed several months of testing the app in private schools in Southern California, and they say it is now ready for free public use.

How Does It Work

PLAYMessenger is parent-driven from the start. Product Co-Founder and CEO Danish Ahmed describes the app as "digital training wheels for kids," as it allows children to chat with verified friends and family, while automatically filtering and blocking anything inappropriate. The app keeps personal, identifiable information from being sent to unauthorized, unverified users. It uses advanced language filters to ensure that children do not say or receive bad language. It protects against children sending or receiving inappropriate pictures. It is even programmed to identify bullying language and activities. The technology implements "white words," a massive list of words that are protected and identified as safe for kids to use.

"Parents set up the account with a verified government identification, such as a driver's license, social security card or a credit card," says Ahmed. "Nothing will ever be done with this information except to make sure the person signing up as a parent is who they say they are. Any conversation the kids are having is monitored and the contact history can also be checked."

Verification of a new user is done by sending the parent an email request asking for permission. Once the parent grants permission, all normal chatting, pictures and information sharing can continue, but with the safety net of blocking all inappropriate communications.

While children can create accounts without parent verification, a young user will not have full access to send information and conduct regular device activity, therefore prompting the child to seek a parent's permission.

Statistics reveal that 95 percent of parents don't know common chat room acronyms teenagers use such as POS (parent over shoulder), P911 (parent alert) and A/S/L (age/sex/location). PLAYMessenger has a list that is continually updated with commonly used acronyms and blocks them. The app is also educating parents in these and other teen abbreviations. While parents can monitor their child's activities in real-time, they don't have to because the app maintains a history log for future review.

It is very important for parents and educators to continuously speak with children about their use of mobile phones and other electronic devices with internet access. Apps like PLAYMessenger are a tool to supplement personal responsibility by adding a layer of technology-based protection.

Nicole Bailey-Covin is a public school education writer for Examiner.com.