As students return to class, Snapchat has rolled out a few resources geared toward getting educators up to speed on the service and directly addressing concerns about the app so that young users are safe.

Snapchat is also part of the strong league of the most used messaging applications among teens. While disappearing messages do add an assurance that their updates will not be held against them in perpetuity, it also allows for more risqué and risky sharing between teens - something that comes with a degree of harm attached.

To fight abuse and keep teens safe, Snap unveiled an online resource this week for teachers that compiles information on multiple versions of what Snap is, how it works, and all safety resources available.

Here is Snap's own description:

Our Educator's Guide to Snapchat includes an overview of how the platform works, in addition to ways Snapchat can be used positively within school communities, and information about our safety tools and Community Guidelines. But Snap's offerings include new videos profiling Snap's features for schools and safeguards for teens; and downloadable resources that educators can share with parents, counselors, and others to help students navigate risks they may face online, including bullying, mental health concerns, and sexual harms like sextortion.

Here's a useful collection of the various Snap safety tools. Check it out here, online. 

Snap has also partnered with Safe and Sound Schools to develop a new applied practical toolkit for educators.

"The toolkit was developed based on insights from teachers, mental health professionals, and school resource officers about the impact that digital platforms have on school environments. The resource is meant to provide educators with the knowledge needed to support safety and wellbeing of students online, specifically understanding Snapchat.".

This 29-page guide includes a huge cache of notes in relation to Snapchat's safety and reporting measures as well as laws and regulations related to how educators can respond to concerns.
Snapchat's also adding an educator feedback form so that educators can give direct feedback on concerns.
That will add another way to help raise awareness of misuse or issues through sharing that information directly with Snap.
Some good safety measures and, as mentioned, in light of how popular Snapchat is in teen circles, the company makes sense in provisioning tools that can help educators understand the app, and more importantly, how they can raise their own concerns.

Interesting: how Snapchat will respond to such feedback. If, for example, multiple respondents would mention that sextortion is a major problem, could Snap consider automatically blocking the sharing of nudes?

Some of these measures impede upon DM privacy and what people can share. But if it enhances safety, based on the latest ongoing reports, maybe worth considering.

Whatever the change, however, in any case, at least the new tools would help educators in a better approach toward dealing with online harms.