The safety tricks for musical.ly that parents need to know.

The popular app Musical.ly, which allows users to create, share and discover short video clips lip-syncing to pop songs, has been heavily criticised by cyber safety experts.

According to the Sydney Morning Herald, experts warn that the app contains “pornographic content” and “publishes users’ location information along with their videos”. In addition, there are concerns over child safety given the “highly sexualised dance moves” users are exposed to.

Wenona School, a private college on Sydney’s north shore, has this week banned the app, after discovering that girls as young as 10 were uploading videos of themselves in school uniform.

A letter was sent out to parents on Monday that read, “A number of girls have been singing and dancing and uploading performances in school uniform, which introduces numerous other potential risks. Even in cases where girls have recognised the importance of selecting a privacy setting, there is still a sense of achievement in drawing high numbers of followers, and user names don’t clearly correlate with a person’s actual name, the result being that girls will accept friend requests all too quickly, without ensuring they do know the person!”

LISTEN: Listen to Mia’s daughter Coco explain why she and her friends love Musical.ly, on This Glorious Mess, the podcast for imperfect parents.

The letter specifically requests that any young person who does not meet the age restrictions, which is 13 years old, delete the app from their phone.

Cyber safety expert Leonie Smith warns that most parents don’t fully understand how it works. She says “They don’t know for instance that kids can post these videos publicly so anyone who has the app can see it, and potentially their location. That they can have followers that are adults, who can privately message them.”

Smith reminds parents that, “Wherever there are a lot of young kids with open accounts you’re going to get creeps. That’s the bottom line.”

Here are the safety tips all parents need to know:

• Ensure the privacy settings are ‘on’. This means that no one can view your child’s videos who is not an approved ‘friend’.

• Ensure the location settings are ‘off’. This means that the location of your child cannot be traced.

• If your or your child see anything that you consider inappropriate, be sure to report it. You can do this by clicking on the relevant profile, and selecting the three dots.

• Also encourage your child to report any mean comments. Again, select the three dots in the upper right corner, and "report abuse".

• Remind your child never, ever to post private information.

• If you have any concerns about the app, or feel that your child under the age of 13 is using it, then you can email Musical.ly at privacy@musical.ly.

The most important thing is to maintain an open dialogue with your kids about their activity online. As Susan McLean writes, "Kids are usually reasonable when there is validity behind a decision. Stay strong and remember your child’s safety is your responsibility both on and off line."