'Abused Emojis' is the brainchild of BRIS, a charity which aims to help and protect vulnerable young people in society by running a national helpline where they can seek and receive support.
Commenting on the free app, the charity explained its motivation, saying: "Some things are hard to spell out. Abused Emojis will make it easier for kids to talk to others about negative feelings or about situations where they have been treated wrong."
Drawing on the power the use of emojis can have in our digital savvy society, Donna Chadwick of The Children's Society in Greater Manchester commended the approach, saying: "I have seen a lot of children use standard emojis, for example on Facebook, where the faces are crying or angry. These new emojis could be very useful to a child who might have difficulty talking truthfully about what’s going on in their life."
Further to this, the Swedish charity has asserted: "Many of the problems that kids face today are stigmatised and often they have no one to talk to but us. A complex reality demands a complex set of symbols. Abused Emojis is part of our work to let children talk more freely about their situation."
While the innovative approach has been praised on a number of levels by various charities, including the NSPCC, concerns have been raised regarding certain children.
Acknowledging that the approach may not benefit all vulnerable young people, a spokesperson for The Children's Charity said: "Not all children will have access to smartphones, we need to keep thinking about the children who are hidden and the most hard to reach and engage."
In addition to his, concerns have been raised as to the safety of the user, with Hilary Fisher of Women's Aid, warning "It could pose a serious risk as it is likely that their phones will be monitored. For victims of domestic violence, the app does not necessarily provide a safe way for them to communicate their abuse as it assumes that the victim is the only one accessing the phone."
Elaborating on her point, the director of Policy, Voice and Membership went on to say: "A typical element of coercive control is for the perpetrator to monitor a victim’s phone, therefore they are likely to see an ‘abused emoji’ being used in a message. This could potentially be very dangerous for the victim."
