Snapchat Controversy

 The app is similar to instagram, allowing you to take photos and enhance the look.

"SnapChat was not meant to be a bad thing, it was made to be something fun, and another app you can use on your phone to be funny or play with, and it's just being misused in some places. "

So although the image you send or receive can vanish within seconds, law enforcement say not everything disappears forever.

"With the new smart phone you have the ability to take screen shots, and stuff like that, so if you send it to somebody and you think it's going to be gone in eight seconds, if they take a screen shot of it..then they'll have it forever."
 
Forever is a long time when your eyes are not the only ones checking out personal images. So, how do you prevent your child from becoming a victim of public humiliation?
 
"Talk to your kids,talk to them about what they're doing. I mean if they have access to a smart phone, or a computer, then be interested in what they're doing on those devices..if something bad happens or someone approaches them and ask them for pictures, they'll talk to you about it." It's almost impossible to know what your child is doing 24-7, which is why constant communication can help keep parents in-tune and kids out of trouble.

"I think that I have a clear picture of who she's friends with and who she is communicating with, and so that's what I really try to monitor as a parent. Just try to make sure I know who she is communicating with."

SnapChat is being used by many for it's original intent. Tracie has one daughter in high school and another in college, and she witnesses them connecting through the app on a daily basis, which is nice, she said.