Source: https://lhstoday.org/36011/art-entertainment/saturn-a-new-way-to-keep-track-of-your-schedule/

Saturn was created in 2018, and it is used for school students to help improve their lives by containing the school schedule, creating class group chats so that students can communicate with each other before and after school, and assisting students to become more organized. Many students love it, but at the moment, only students with iPhones can access the app. Android users will have to wait until Saturn updates their app for Android users. But now, Saturn has taken a dark turn and has become a hotspot for cyberbullying, hate speech, racism, and other terrible offensive things. 

This has been occurring in both high schools in the Cherry Hill District, and what freaks most people out is that the high schools do not control this app. In other words, staff members were unaware of this app until a few weeks ago, and it is now under fire by Cherry Hill East and West. While this app has affected students positively, it has also been detrimental and has made more students vulnerable to cyberbullying. Sometimes, students without the app wouldn’t even realize they are being made fun of on another platform.

Saturn never used to be like this. Back in 2018, Saturn had fewer features and things to do. In other words, the app’s main goal was to help students be more organized with their classes so that they wouldn’t have to scramble to find their classes or ask someone what the schedule would be like. But this app had a few security issues since it was pretty new, and it still has the same security issues today. 

In SBG San Antonio Staff Reports’ Popular Saturn App Exposes Kids to Potential Predators and Cyberbullies, Father Says, published on August 14th, 2023, it states, “Cullum set up an account and used a fake schedule by choosing from a list of teachers the app provided, and he was able to see who was in any class. He said he was even able to see a girls’ athletic team. And then, by changing the teachers, he could see who was in any given class.” Here, in this article, something vital is that it brings up the topic of predators. Yes, due to the lack of security in the app, an adult or stranger could access the app and find out students’ schedules, when they start the school day when they end the school day, etc.

Saturn eventually released updates to improve the app and its security upgrades as the years passed. However, these updates would subsequently put the app in hot water, especially their addition to a bulletin board. Currently, Saturn has five little tabs. There’s a calendar, a front page, a chat, a people tab, and a bulletin board. While many of these little tabs are harmless, the one that has raised many eyebrows throughout the country is the bulletin board. This bulletin board was initially used so that students could announce school events such as a Pep Rally, club meetings, plays, etc. 

Now, it has been used to blast other people on the app and post inappropriate pictures of people or things. Yes, while it is legal to take photos of people in a public school without their consent, many schools have a strict policy stating that covert photography (which is when someone takes a picture without the person knowing) is not allowed, therefore making photography without someone’s consent a rule-breaker. Not only that, it’s plain disrespectful. It’s not kind to publicly shame someone on social media, and even if it’s with your friends or as a joke, you still don’t know how the person you talked about felt. It can also get you into trouble. Joke or not, most people will interpret the situation as rude.

Saturn may or may not continue to create these detrimental additions to the app in the future, and many schools have blocked or even banned the use of Saturn in their schools. Many students do not mind the app at all. However, this app has brought up too many security issues and has been a hotspot for cyberbullying and predators, two significant conflicts in schools today. To protect students in school, many experts have suggested that Saturn should not be used since it may be too dangerous. If you would still like to use the app, go ahead, but remember that you are using the app at your own risk.