Parents should monitor children’s app use

I would like to forward on information that every parent should be aware of with regard to juvenile safety online and the various apps available to them that may pose risk to their safety.

I recommend you approve every app that is allowed on your child’s phone, adjust privacy settings to the most restrictive, find out what apps that most kids are using in your local area and talk to your kids about phone use, apps and social media.

A few things to look out for include Bumble, which is similar to the popular dating app Tinder. It requires females to make the first contact in an effort to protect them from unwanted advances by men. Kids have been known to use Bumble to create fake accounts and falsify their age.

LiveMe is a live-streaming video app that uses geolocation (GPS) to share videos so users can find out a broadcaster’s exact location. Users can earn “coins” as a way to “pay” minors for photos.

Ask.fm is notorious for cyberbullying issues. The app encourages users to allow anonymous people to ask them questions and get an answer. This app has been linked to the most severe form of cyberbullying. Business Insider reports that nine teenage suicides have been linked to cyberbullying on this app.

Snapchat is one of the most popular apps of 2019. While the app promises users can take a photo/video and it will disappear, recent features including “stories” allow users to view content for up to 24 hours. Snapchat also allows users to see your location unless you change your privacy settings.

Holla is a self-proclaimed “addicting” video chat app that allows users to meet people all over the world in just seconds. Reviewers say they have been confronted with racial slurs, explicit content and more.

Check back next week for more listings that might be of interest.

Feb. 21. Traffic: The vehicle has no valid registration and neither does the driver resulting in a tow and a long walk at 1:46 p.m. in the area of Nevada Way and Avenue B.

Suspicious: The man standing near the vehicle, securely stuck in the wash, is without transportation and appears to be under the influence and agrees this is an expense he cannot afford at 10:30 p.m. in the area of Quail Road and Buchanan Boulevard.

Thought for the day: You can’t imitate the look of shock when vehicles are towed from unlicensed drivers with unregistered vehicles.

Feb. 22. Family disturbance: Drinking, hair pulling and warrants are all in the mix at this melee at 5:27 a.m. in the 800 block of Avenue A.

Disturbance: The neighbors can’t agree on parking issues along the street at 8:40 p.m. in the 600 block of Avenue A.

Thought for the day: On-street parking is open to everyone and should not cause neighbors to become unneighborly.

Feb. 23. Parking: The vehicle is parked almost twice the allowable distance from the curb and could constitute a traffic hazard at 10:56 a.m. in the 600 block of Avenue B.

Recovered stolen vehicle: The owner locates his vehicle, previously reported stolen, then uses the extra keys to drive it home at 5:42 p.m. in the 1300 block of Hazelwood Street.

Thought for the day: Please don’t do this folks; the traffic stop on a stolen vehicle is no fun for any of the parties involved. Call the police and they will clear it and you for travel.

Feb. 24. Reckless: The driver is not licensed on a motorcycle and is going way in excess of the speed limit at 9:33 a.m. in the area of U.S. Highways 93 and 95.

See person: The subject in the lobby had just a little too much about two weeks ago and is now trying to find their two-wheeled transportation at 4:28 p.m. in the 1000 block of Arizona St.

Thought for the day: The unlicensed driver on the unlicensed motorcycle made good time — all the way to the crossbar

hotel.

Feb. 25. Animal: The caller and her dogs were most surprised by the slow-moving rattlesnake on the porch at 11:29 a.m. in the 1300 block of Dreamcatcher Drive.

Fight: The fight is posted on Instagram but the details are sketchy and the audience was quick to disperse at 1 p.m. in the 1400 block of Marita Drive.

Thought for the day: Just another example of how video lives on despite being removed quickly. Not quickly enough.

Feb. 26. Disturbance: The male has a condition that results in massive amounts of swear words combined with yelling that makes people startled at 7:46 a.m. in the 1000 block of Nevada Way.

Drunk: An intoxicated pedestrian is walking down the street at 8:38 p.m. in the area of Adams Boulevard and Georgia Avenue.

Thought for the day: Walking home in the roadway is dangerous enough without being intoxicated. Call a ride and get home safely.

Feb. 27. Petty theft: The caller believes a subject just took items from the backyard of their neighbors who are not home at 6:32 a.m. in the 900 block of New Mexico Street.

Suspicious: The house is vacant and the subjects are peeping inside with flashlights at 8:18 p.m. in the 1000 block of Keys Drive.

Thought for the day: The new owners are very impressed with the level of safety at their newly purchased house.

Call of the week: Wanted: The call begins as a traffic stop with a pickup pulling a disabled motorcycle with a tow strap. The driver of the truck has warrants but doesn’t own the truck; the truck has suspended license plates and the rider of the towed motorcycle is just flat out of luck at 2:43 p.m. Feb. 24 in the area of Buchanan Boulevard and Pinata Drive.

Tina Ransom is a dispatcher with Boulder City Police Department. She is coordinator of the Boulder City Citizen’s Academy.