These days, the information superhighway resembles a virtual Wild West more than it does a highway. And the local sheriff is usually several steps behind the bad guys.

Often the targets—our kids—don’t think they need protecting. McAfee’s 2014 Teens and Screens study revealed that 59% of tweens and teens interact online with strangers and one in twelve will meet that stranger in real life.

The same study noted “53% close or minimize their web browsers when their parents walk into the room and 50% clear the history of their online activity.”

Here are three trends you need to discuss with your children:

Challenges

It wasn’t too long ago that our social media pages were filled with ice bucket challenges for charity. But kids today are confronted with much more dangerous challenges, including:

The Fire challenge
Teens apply accelerants such as rubbing alcohol or nail polish remover to their bodies and set themselves on fire. The fire is supposed to burn just long enough for someone to video the experience. But they’re not always able to douse it before serious injury or death occurs. The video is then uploaded to social media.

Planking
We think of planking as a helpful exercise to tighten core muscles. Kids are challenged to plank by lying face down, then post a photo. Sounds harmless. But the surface they’re lying on can be an escalator handrail, rooftop edge, or balcony railing. The more dangerous the location, the greater the accolades from their peers.

Surfing
This surfing has nothing to do with catching a wave. Kids are challenged to “surf” on top of a car, train, or other fast-moving vehicle. Prestige increases with the speed of the vehicle. It’s even better if a friend can video the act for social media.

Chats

The concept of online chats seems harmless enough. But anonymous sites—which are often not-so-anonymous—can be dangerous, as the following sites illustrate:

Ask.fm
Parents might think a visit to Ask.fm could help with schoolwork, but this app isn’t about being helpful. It is about the destructive things people say concerning each other…comments that have driven some kids to suicide.

Chatroulette
Users are randomly paired in video chats with strangers from around the world. Participants may continue with the chat or request another random pairing. A false sense of security can cause tweens and teens to over-share. Of course, once the information is out on the Internet, it takes on a life of its own.

Chatroulette also has a reputation for notorious exhibitionist and pornographic displays. It has been called a “predator’s paradise.”

Kik
This instant messaging app with more than 150 million users does not claim anonymity. But unverified accounts make it easy for predators to encourage kids to share personal information, pictures, and videos.

SnapChat
Considered a primary sexting app, a message, photo, or video is supposed to disappear after the time limit set by the user. But with a simple screen shot, recipients can save the picture and share it whenever they choose.

Presumptions of privacy were also dashed during “The Snappening” in the fall of 2014 when hundreds of thousands of snaps were leaked by a third party app. Participants who expected their message to have a lifespan of ten seconds live with the fear that compromising photos may resurface at any time… in any place.

Yik Yak
Users create anonymous messages known as yaks. Posts can only be seen by others within a ten-mile radius of their location. Participants are encouraged to share personal posts in hopes their yaks will be “voted up,” giving them a higher “Yakarma” score. But details, combined with the limited geographical boundaries, can easily compromise anonymity.

The expectation of anonymity within a local area also emboldens cyber-bullies and local predators. Believing they are safe from identification, users become comfortable making threats and engaging in other criminal activity.

True Confessions

Wanna hear a secret? A growing number of sites and apps offer users the opportunity to post confessions, secrets, and regrets.

Anonymity makes sharing secrets and confessions with strangers easier than becoming vulnerable with those we know. As a result, online confessionals are now flourishing, including sites and apps such as:

PostSecret
Participants use postcards to mail their secrets anonymously. The website publishes ten new secrets each week. Secrets range from tender to obscene and users eagerly search the website to see if their secret was deemed worthy of publication.

Whisper.sh
Users share their secrets by posting messages superimposed on images. Participants are assured of anonymity, which the site claims eliminates the potential for cyber-bullying and ruined relationships.

But in order to participate, users must grant access to their smartphone’s camera as well as their contact list. And participants can communicate via GPS, which compromises anonymity.

This is not a comprehensive list. No such list exists. As parents become aware of the existence of some trends, teens will gravitate to new and even more dangerous ones. The problem is an ever-evolving, moving target that requires diligence and vigilance on the part of parents and other adults who have the opportunity to influence kids today.

In my next post (August 17, 2015), we’ll look at what we can do as parents, grandparents, and concerned adults to protect the children in our lives.

(This article was originally written for Crosswalk.com.)