Snapchat offers new teenager safety resources for educators

It announced Wednesday that Snapchat would publish new resources to help educators develop a safe school environment and understand better how students will use the app. It debuted on a new website focused on supporting educators and protecting students. 

That announcement comes as lawmakers criticize Snapchat and other social media companies for not doing enough to protect children and teens on their platforms and also amid warnings from mental health experts that social media can pose "significant risks" to teenagers' mental health. Snapchat says that more than 20 million teenagers use its app in the United States, and it ranked third among teens in a 2023 Pew survey. While Snapchat has rolled out a number of features to keep teens safe on the app in recent years, Wednesday's announcement represents an effort to take those into the classroom. Entitled "A Teacher's Guide to Snapchat," it's a website that includes, among others, how the app works and an overview about Snapchat security tools. 

These downloadable resources on its website are some of the ways teachers can help parents and counselors work with students to address any issues that arise online, from bullying to sextortion. Intending to support students by helping the teachers, Snapchat has issued resource documents focusing on giving knowledge to the teachers. The document refers to the recommendation for best practices for online safety, the creation of school policies for use on social networking sites, and combating sexual solicitation. Furthermore, Snapchat introduces a new feedback form so that teachers can share how Snapchat is used at school and the use of comments directly in social networks.