Know Your Kids Apps #4

By Nick Leith | Posted: Wednesday April 13, 2016

Each newsletter we will investigate an app that students at Casebrook are being spotted with on their personal phones and devices. 

As parents it's really hard to keep up with the info around all things new and exciting to 11-13 year old's in the 'app world'. Please take a couple of minutes to find out about the apps your kids are using and how they are using them. Used correctly they can be really useful and enjoyable, but often 11-13 year old's are not equipped with the social skills to make choices that protect themselves and their peers from harm or future consequences. The articles posted each newsletter will be quoted from the Common Sense Media website.

Agar.io

Age - 10+

Though really simple, this arcade game has enough challenge to make it super addictive, but its cutthroat nature and iffy usernames might not work for younger players. While the game itself is rather innocuous, you'll undoubtedly run into someone whose name is a curse word, or is sexually explicit, or makes a drug reference; however, there are no racy visuals, so if the words alone are OK in your family, then there's nothing to fear. Also, it's very easy to lose again and again, and it takes a lot of gameplay to level up and get really big, which means kids could play for hours with no clear end in sight. Parents may want to set limits before downloading and know that the game is also available online, which means kids could turn off the phone and continue to play on the computer.

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