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The Text Me app offers free texting, calling, and additional phone numbers. In our experience, students will download apps like this so that they can hide their activity from their parents (since it won’t appear on their phone bill). Additionally, the Text Me app offers location sharing features which can be incredibly dangerous for students.

Why should parents care?
– In our experience, students will download apps like Text Me so that they can hide their activity from their parents (since it won’t appear on their phone bill)
– Even if a user doesn’t have a cellular plan, they can make calls and send texts using the app
– Text Me offers location sharing features which can be incredibly dangerous for students
– Apps that use location sharing make it easy for predators to target children. It’s easy for predators to pretend to be kids to learn where children live, where they go to school, and the locations they visit frequently
– The app offers in app purchases, so if you haven’t set spending guidelines for your family then costs can add up over time. Additionally, the app encourages students to earn more points by watching ads, inviting their friends to use the app, or playing games within the app
– Text Me does not support 911, so it’s important for parents to teach their kids to use the call function built into their phones if there is an emergency
– Some users have reported that they consistently receive random calls and messages from strangers on their Text Me app phone number

The Text Me app in the news:
Text Me is a messaging app that provides users with a virtual ‘burner phone’ number for anonymous texting and calls. Text Me is not safe for kids to use because it encourages anonymous texts and calls from a burner number, which cannot be tracked. Anonymity opens the opportunity for bullying and harassment, since those receiving the calls and texts have no idea who they are from. Some of the advertisements that pop up in the middle of text windows are questionable for young kids, including dating apps, violent video games, and dieting ads. –Zift