Are your children using Yik Yak? 

“The Yik Yak app is the most dangerous form of social media I've ever seen,” says psychiatrist Dr. Keith Ablow. Commentators are divided as to the true danger of Yik Yak for children, but there are 

Five Things Parents Need to Know about the app:

1. Created for adults by fraternity brothers Tyler Droll and Brooks Buffington, Yik Yak is essentially a location-based, anonymous chat room app that does not require a login or registration. 
2. "Some of the comments left on Yik Yak are harmless and silly adolescent fun. But, just as we've witnessed on social media sites, a few could be hateful, harassing, sexually explicit and harmful," says Dale Archer of Psychology Today. 
3. "The nature of anonymity emboldens the user to post words and photos they would not say or show someone in person and it's much easier to insult another when you don't have to do it to their face. Social media allows hurtful words and unflattering photos to be posted without a moment's thought. Now it's even easier," says Archer.
4. Users themselves can control what's hot and what's not. If a post is good, users can up vote it—the equivalent of LIKE on Facebook or "favorite" on Twitter. If something is repulsive, mean or juvenile, then users down vote it. With 5 down votes, the comments are removed forever. In this way, the community of participants police themselves.
5. Parents need to monitor their children's social media interactions. According to Justin Patching of the Cyberbullying Research Center, "Cyberbullying is already a huge problem today and the last thing we need is an anonymous app that allows one to do that. Soon Facebook, Twitter and other social medias will be the least of our worries when it comes to cyberbullying and suicide."