A new disturbing trend is making waves in the digital world. Recently, teens have been found involved in doing drug deals through their smartphones, especially via instant messaging apps such as Snapchat. It has been observed that teen drug deals have been on the rise particularly amid pandemic.
Everybody knows how the Coronavirus pandemic has affected our lives. The fact that we had to stay indoors under a lockdown situation, we had no option but to perform our basic tasks through the internet. With schools closed for almost a year, kids and teens had to attend online classes.
Since they had to spend the majority of their time on the internet this last year, they had more opportunities to explore diverse things online, including the bad things. During this period, Snapchat has been used excessively by teens for doing all sorts of wrong things because it can be as secretive as teens would like it to be. With teens involved in drug deals on Snapchat, parents had no option but to use a secret Snapchat spy to keep a watch on their online activities.
In this post, let us discuss a case study where a mother found her 16-year-old daughter involved in doing drug deals through Snapchat and how she helped her daughter get out of this difficult situation.
Teen Girl Caught Involved in Drug Deals Through Snapchat
Because of the closure of schools for the entirety of the last year, teens had to attend online classes from the safety of their homes. While they were largely safe from the deadly Coronavirus, they couldn’t shield themselves from the consequences of doing wrong things on the internet.
From sexting to watching pornographic content to communicating with strangers to buying drugs online without their parents’ knowledge, teens have been engaged in all sorts of crimes during the past year. First, they used to deal with drugs in school. But then, the schools closed during the pandemic and they started dealing in drugs through smartphones and social media apps like Snapchat.
One day, a mother caught her 16-year-old daughter doing drug deals on Snapchat. First, she realized her daughter was doing it through her smartphone in the form of text messages and phone calls. As soon she realized her mother had suspected her smartphone activities, she started doing it through social media apps, especially Snapchat.
She was dealing in marijuana in the beginning but eventually, she turned to LSD. She was also doing deals in pills of an unknown substance named fentanyl. In fact, she was finding every way possible to get her hands on the drugs. After her parents learned about online drug deals, they enrolled her in an outpatient substance abuse program right away but it failed to work.
When the abuse program didn’t work for their daughter, the parents then decided to send her to a resident wilderness program. The mother of the teenage girl never thought that they would send their daughter to rehab but then, they had no other option. They realized only their teen girl was not struggling with this problem; there were several other teens who were severely affected by drug abuse.
Drug Abuse Becoming Common Among Teens
Katey McPherson, a youth mental health expert expressed that two young students have lost their lives due to drug overdose quite recently. The substances teens are taking these days are much more intense and harmful than they used to be in the past.
Ever since the pandemic has taken over our lives, drug abuse among teens has become more widespread. This is because teens can now do drug deals even on social media apps. According to a source, almost 1800 people have died because of a drug overdose in 2020. What’s more alarming is that the death rate has doubled since the previous year.
Teens are not doing drug deals through texting and phone calls; they are doing it through Snapchat. And, as soon as parents find out about their secret activities on Snapchat, teens start looking for other apps.
The reason teens prefer using Snapchat for such activities is that the app helps them communicate with others in a secretive manner. The accountability on the app is quite low because the snaps disappear as soon as they are viewed there. So, what should parents do to help their teens stay safe on apps like Snapchat? Let’s discuss below.
How Can Parents Help Teens Stay Away from Drugs Deals?
Enrolling her daughter in rehab helped her daughter get away from drugs. After rehab, her daughter was completely substance-free and even remains so. Her mother was glad that the rehab worked because she knew the drug abuse could have taken her daughter’s life had they not admitted her to the rehab on time.
So, what should parents do to help their teens stay away from drug deals on social media apps? How can parents help their teens before it is too late? Several experts suggest that apps like Mobistealth are effective monitoring apps. These apps help parents monitor, control, and manage their teen’s smartphone and even monitor the entire social media activity.
Instead of trying the free Snapchat spy apps on the internet for the sake of saving money, we would suggest you opt for reliable and trustworthy Snapchat monitoring apps like Mobistealth. There is no such thing as “free” on the internet. Even if you come across any free monitoring app, make up your mind that it’s either fake or simply trying to get hold of your personal information.
Apart from remotely monitoring your teen’s Snapchat with the help of a monitoring app, you should also physically check their smartphone and have honest and open communication with them so they know you are involved in their life and you are available for them whenever they need you.
With honest communication and regular supervision, you can stay informed of your teen’s life activities and choices they make on the internet. If you know what’s going on in your teen’s life, you can probably stop them from getting involved in immoral activities.
