The social life: App's hidden adult settings

Beware of what app's your children are using.Photo/Thinkstock

I was involved in an eye-opening and thought provoking Facebook conversation this past weekend. As a mother of a 2-year-old it wasn't a topic I had cared to think too much about, but as our boy is becoming more media aware and smartphone savvy I thought it best to expand my mind a bit more.

Now there's some discussion as to whether this is a hoax, and frankly, I don't think it matters, as it should make us more wary about our children and our use of social media and apps.

A group member posted a screenshot, reportedly from a friend of her cousin in Scotland. It was about an app called Talking Angela. The original poster claimed her daughter was using the app when it's voice changed.

"In some weird robotic voice it says Angelica when you date what do you do on dates? She looked at me, got red in the face and said nothing. Then it said stick out your tongue, I'll stick mine out too. It said what are some things you can do with your tongue?"

Naturally I googled to see if it was a hoax, and there was some mention that it was a chain letter.

But other members downloaded the app and found there was an adult mode and a child mode, but it wasn't obvious that you needed to change the settings. In the adult mode there were some suggestive questions, but in child mode it was all very innocent. I'm sure there are many other parents out there who have downloaded apps onto their phones or tablets for their children to play. Maybe you've checked the ratings for the app, maybe you have even tried it out first. Whether you have this app or not it's definitely something to think about - what precautions do you already take and are they enough? For now my boy is interested in watching videos on YouTube of tractor racing, frogs catching beetles and BMX races.