The following post was written by one of our Social Work interns, Brooke, who’s been interning with us since August. She’s attending Saginaw Valley State University and wishes to pursue a career in the Human Services Field.
“Several popular dating apps, including Tinder, have failed to protect children from being sexually exploited on their platforms, a new report charges.”
Tinder is basically a free dating app that matches people based off of several different factors. These include age, location and mutual friends and interests. If you come across a person you’re interested in, you swipe right. Until june of 2016, Tinder’s age requirement was only 13+. Since then, they have changed it to 18+.
Someone that signs up for Tinder does so through Facebook. Therefore, if your child fibbed about their age on that app, they can easily join Tinder even if they are under the age of 18. Unfortunately, not everyone on Tinder has good intentions. It can be used to find young children for ill purposes.
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Can promote sex
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Pictures can reveal a child’s exact location
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Meeting strangers
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50 million users
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7% of users are STILL between the ages of 13-17
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Over 100 million downloads of the app
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Over 10 million daily active users
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79% of Tinder users are millennial’s
SAFETY TIPS FOR MEETING SOMEONE OFFLINE:
If you choose to pursue the app, here are a few helpful ideas:
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Meet in a public place
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Take a trusted adult with you
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Tell a friend or family member where you are going
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If it’s not who it’s supposed to be, leave immediately
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Don’t accept a ride from the person you’re meeting
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Stay sober
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Have your cell phone readily available
Hear Others’ Stories:
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https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-rickard-guilty-plea-sentence-20190711-story.html
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https://nypost.com/2018/12/21/man-accused-of-raping-11-year-old-girl-he-met-on-tinder/
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https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/bragging-sex-offender-jailed-sexual-13967175
