{"id":4007,"date":"2013-08-20T08:31:00","date_gmt":"2013-08-20T08:31:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/blog\/2013\/08\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/"},"modified":"2021-09-21T12:08:29","modified_gmt":"2021-09-21T12:08:29","slug":"kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/","title":{"rendered":"Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Could your child be texting with strangers without you knowing about it? Unfortunately, if you haven\u2019t yet taken the necessary precautions to block dangerous mesaging apps, the answer is \u201cyes.\u201d While there are dozens of apps available that provide a way for users to communicate with each other, Kik is particularly problematic. Take a moment to learn what this app is all about including the threats that it poses to your child\u2019s safety.<\/p>\n<p><a name='more'><\/a><\/p>\n<p>### What is Kik?<\/p>\n<p>Kik is a free messaging service for Smartphones and tablets that enables users to interact with one another by sending text messages, photos, and videos. Teens like Kik because it gives them the ability to send unlimited messages to each other free of charge. All they need is a Wi-Fi connection, and they\u2019re good to go. That means if you\u2019ve set a limit on your kids\u2019 texting plan, they can bypass that limit using apps like Kik.<\/p>\n<p>### The Problem With Kik for Kids <\/p>\n<p>Although there are some privacy safeguards on Kik that are helpful, including the ability to block certain users, this app is still not suitable for kids. It\u2019s designed for users 17 and older, but getting around this age restriction is literally as easy as tapping the screen to \u201cconfirm\u201d your age. Once you download Kik, you\u2019re prompted to create a user name. In order to chat with other Kik users, you have to search for their user name in order to add them as a contact. So far so good, right? Not so fast. The problem is that Kik encourages users to share their user name on all of their social media networks. While this may be ok for adults, for kids, it\u2019s an open invitation to predators and cyberbullies.<\/p>\n<p>### How to Block Kik<\/p>\n<p>You could and should talk to your tween or teen about the dangers of Kik and other apps like it, but that won\u2019t guarantee that their curiosity won\u2019t get the best of them. That\u2019s why it\u2019s wise to just block the app altogether. Fortunately, it\u2019s easy to block Kik and <a href=\"\/?p=2439\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">other questionable messaging apps<\/a> with Qustodio\u2019s application controls. If your child protests, remind him that these safeguards are meant to protect his safety, and then move on. Never feel guilty about taking steps to prevent your kid from online dangers. After all, that\u2019s your job!<\/p>\n<p>Do you have questions about the safety of other apps? Let us know in the comments section.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Could your child be texting with strangers without you knowing about it? Unfortunately, if you haven\u2019t yet taken the necessary precautions to block dangerous mesaging apps, the answer is \u201cyes.\u201d While there are dozens of apps available that provide a way for users to communicate with each other, Kik is particularly problematic. Take a moment [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v22.4 (Yoast SEO v22.4) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device | Qustodio<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Could your child be texting with strangers without you knowing about it? Unfortunately, if you haven\u2019t yet taken the necessary precautions to block dangerous mesaging apps, the answer is \u201cyes.\u201d While there are dozens of apps available that provide a way for users to communicate with each other, Kik is particularly problematic. Take a moment [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Qustodio\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2013-08-20T08:31:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2021-09-21T12:08:29+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Qustodio Team\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Qustodio Team\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/\",\"name\":\"Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device | Qustodio\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2013-08-20T08:31:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2021-09-21T12:08:29+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d554b7a38dc19d91cefef76c775ab233\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"App safety &amp; reviews\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/category\/app-safety-and-reviews\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":3,\"name\":\"Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/\",\"name\":\"Qustodio\",\"description\":\"Free parental control app\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d554b7a38dc19d91cefef76c775ab233\",\"name\":\"Qustodio Team\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.qustodio.com\/public-site\/uploads\/2021\/10\/01090043\/Qustodio-Team.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.qustodio.com\/public-site\/uploads\/2021\/10\/01090043\/Qustodio-Team.png\",\"caption\":\"Qustodio Team\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/author\/qustodio-team\/\",\"jobTitle\":\"Experts in digital safety\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device | Qustodio","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device","og_description":"Could your child be texting with strangers without you knowing about it? Unfortunately, if you haven\u2019t yet taken the necessary precautions to block dangerous mesaging apps, the answer is \u201cyes.\u201d While there are dozens of apps available that provide a way for users to communicate with each other, Kik is particularly problematic. Take a moment [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/","og_site_name":"Qustodio","article_published_time":"2013-08-20T08:31:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2021-09-21T12:08:29+00:00","author":"Qustodio Team","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Qustodio Team","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/","url":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/","name":"Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device | Qustodio","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#website"},"datePublished":"2013-08-20T08:31:00+00:00","dateModified":"2021-09-21T12:08:29+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d554b7a38dc19d91cefef76c775ab233"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/kik-another-app-to-block-on-your-childs-device\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"App safety &amp; reviews","item":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/category\/app-safety-and-reviews\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"name":"Kik, another app to block on your child\u2019s device"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/","name":"Qustodio","description":"Free parental control app","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/d554b7a38dc19d91cefef76c775ab233","name":"Qustodio Team","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/static.qustodio.com\/public-site\/uploads\/2021\/10\/01090043\/Qustodio-Team.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.qustodio.com\/public-site\/uploads\/2021\/10\/01090043\/Qustodio-Team.png","caption":"Qustodio Team"},"url":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/blog\/author\/qustodio-team\/","jobTitle":"Experts in digital safety"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4007"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13703,"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4007\/revisions\/13703"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4007"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4007"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.qustodio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4007"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}