对于儿童来说，互联网可能是一个相当危险的地方。他们有年轻、脆弱的头脑，可以信任任何人。他们很容易得意忘形。虽然蓝鲸挑战赛(Blue Whale Challenge)已经杀死了许多人，但无法监控对方身份的应用程序Sarahah和Yellow对孩子们构成了威胁。(Yellow)
使用Sarahah和Yellow应用程序所涉及的风险
当您允许某人以隐身模式发送短信或评论社交媒体应用程序时会发生什么？他们可能会变得卑鄙和肮脏，因为他们被记录为匿名。对于当今许多应用程序用户来说，这是一个危险信号。当接受者未成年时，情况会更糟，因为他们无法处理虐待。
Sarahah 和 Yellow Apps – Teen Rave(Sarahah and Yellow Apps – Teen Rave)
这两个新应用程序Sarahah和Yellow已在Apple和Google 商店(Google Store)上架，并且越来越受到青少年用户的欢迎。通过创建帐户并在Facebook和Snapchat等流行社交媒体平台上共享链接来使用(Snapchat)Sarahah应用程序。任何人都可以通过在用户的Sarahah页面上发表评论来坦白任何事情。该评论对用户保密。
Sarahah - 诚实的应用程序？(Sarahah – The Honesty App?)
这也被称为诚实应用程序(honesty app)，因为您的社交媒体连接可以在保持匿名(anonymous)的同时对您的照片发表评论。它没有任何年龄限制，因此几乎任何人都可以使用该应用程序。该应用程序主要旨在展示您的优势（这是其营销人员所说的）。该应用程序不允许您回复匿名用户的评论。您只能获取您最近活动的应用日志，例如您发送和接收的评论；加上你认为最喜欢的那些。
黄色应用程序 – Finders Keepers(Yellow App – Finders Keepers)
Yellow应用程序可以被视为青少年的Tinder，(Tinder For Teens)因为它允许他们根据通过社交媒体帐户链接的个人资料和照片在他们喜欢的人上滑动，在各种完美陌生人中搜索他们的匹配项。Yellow 应用程序没有任何年龄验证系统(age verification system)，这意味着青少年实际上可以与假装 14 或 15 岁但实际上 50 或 60 岁的人交谈；所以这是非常令人震惊的。
因此，有时青少年会发送或分享淫秽或淫秽图片，却没有意识到他们已成为潜伏在网上的恋童癖者的牺牲品。互联网上有许多性侵犯者，他们可以引诱儿童和青少年，然后使用此应用程序虐待他们。
警察局警告家长这些应用程序的危险(Police Department warned Parents on the dangers of these Apps)
美国(United) 警察局提醒父母，(States)并警告他们使用这两个不需要任何身份或年龄验证的应用程序的危险。这变成了一个可怕的场景，尤其是因为任何人都可以立即创建个人资料并使用它来伪装成一个普通的 14 或 15 岁的孩子，然后使用位置设置来找到他们所在位置附近的青少年。
Sarahah在阿拉伯语中的意思是(Arabic)开放(openness)或坦率(candor)，这无疑是透明度定义的缩影，它滥用了隐私和保密条款的含义。人们倾向于在网上进行滥用，因为他们隐藏在应用程序的匿名外衣下。
作为父母如何处理这种情况(How to handle the situation as Parents)
虽然立法当局似乎不愿意规范这些申请，但父母可以从他们的角度提供帮助。
- 了解这些应用程序不会验证另一端的人，因此不要让您的孩子使用它们。
- 让您的孩子了解它的危险。与孩子交谈时保持开放。
- 定期监控(Monitor)您孩子的互联网历史记录。
- 保持(Remain)平易近人。您的孩子应该能够毫无畏惧地坦诚面对您面前的任何威胁。
开发商有突破年龄和社会障碍的良好意图。这是一个疯狂或错误的社会实验，因为有些人将该应用程序用作仇恨、辱骂、歧视和各种网络欺凌的途径。Sarahah和Yellow都旨在将社交提升到一个全新的水平，但它为性侵犯者和虐待者提供了一个恶意的游乐场，他们正在寻找在网上潜伏的青少年受害者。(Sarahah)
Be aware. Stay safe!
What Parents need to know about Sarahah and Yellow Apps
Thе internet could be qυite a dangerous place for children. They have young, fragile minds and can trust anyonе. It’s easy for them to get carried away. While the Blue Whale Challenge has already killed many, apps Sarahah and Yellow, which do not monitor the identity of the person on the other side, pose a threat to kids.
Risks involved in using Sarahah and Yellow apps
What happens when you allow a person to send text messages or comment on a social media app in stealth mode? They can get mean and filthy because they are logged as anonymous. This is a red flag for many app users today. The situation is worse when the recipient is underage since they are not in a position to handle the abuse.
Sarahah and Yellow Apps – Teen Rave
The two new apps, Sarahah and Yellow, are available on the Apple & Google Store and are gaining popularity with teen users. The Sarahah app is used by creating an account and sharing the link on popular social media platforms like Facebook and Snapchat. Anyone can confess anything by commenting on the user’s Sarahah page. The comment remains confidential with the user.
Sarahah – The Honesty App?
This is also dubbed as the honesty app because your social media connections can leave comments on your photos while staying anonymous. It doesn’t have any age restrictions so practically anyone can use the app. The app was primarily designed to reveal your strengths (this is what its marketers say). The app doesn’t allow you to reply to the comment made by the anonymous user. You can only get app logs of your recent activities such as the comments you sent and received; plus those you considered as favorites.
Yellow App – Finders Keepers
The Yellow app can be considered as Tinder For Teens as it allows them to search for their match on a wide selection of perfect strangers by just swiping on the person they like based on their profiles and photos linked via social media accounts. The Yellow app doesn’t have any age verification system, which means teens can actually be talking to people who pretend to be 14 or 15 but are in fact in their 50’s or 60’s; so this is very alarming.
So there are times that teens would send or share lewd or obscene pictures without realizing that they have fallen prey to a pedophile lurking online. There are many sexual predators using the internet, and they could lure kids and teens and then abuse them using this app.
Police Department warned Parents on the dangers of these Apps
The police department in the United States alerted parents and warned them regarding the dangers of using these two apps which do not require any identity or age verification for using it. It becomes a scary scenario especially because anyone can create a profile in an instant and use that to pose as a regular 14- or 15-year-old and then use the location settings to find teenagers close to where they are.
Sarahah which means openness or candor in Arabic is certainly epitomizing the very definition of transparency which abuses the meaning of privacy and the confidentiality clause. People tend to inflict abuse online because they are hiding under the app’s cloak of anonymity.
How to handle the situation as Parents
While law making authorities seem reluctant to regularize these applications, parents could help from their end.
- Understand that these apps do not verify the person at the other end, thus do not let your kids use them.
- Educate your child about its danger. Be open while talking to children.
- Monitor your child’s internet history regularly.
- Remain approachable. Your child should be able to open up about any threat in front of you without fear.
The developers had good intentions of breaking through age and social barriers. It is a social experiment gone wild or wrong because some people used the app as an avenue for hate, name-calling, discrimination, and cyber-bullying of all sorts. Both Sarahah and Yellow were designed to bring socialization to an entirely new level, but it provided a malicious playground for sexual predators and abusive individuals who are on the lookout for teen victims prowling online.
Be aware. Stay safe!
