By Jennifer Eisenbart
Editor
A new social media mobile app is has drawn fire on a national level – and now is getting the boot in Burlington as well.
The app, called Yik Yak, has made headlines since earlier this year, but only this week has Burlington High School gotten involved.
The app is designed as a virtual bulletin board where posters remain anonymous, but it is sometimes used to bully and belittle others.
BHS principal Eric Burling sent out an email to parents Tuesday, saying the app that facilitates anonymous posts has been blocked on the school level, and the district had contacted Yik Yak and asked it to block the app on the BHS campus.
According to the letter, the company appears to be cooperating.
According to a CNN article on Yik Yak published in March (and referenced in Burling’s letter), the app was originally designed to be used by college-age students to share information within a certain geographic area.
Like Twitter, users are limited to a certain number of characters. If a post is “voted down” by enough users (rated poorly), it will disappear. It debuted in late 2013.
The app, however, doesn’t require users to sign in or identify themselves in any way – and also doesn’t appear to enforce the age requirement of 17.
Imagine an anonymous Twitter feed, and the image becomes “concerning,” according to Burling in his email.
“I am writing to ask for your support in addressing this serious issue,” he said. “Collectively, we have an opportunity and responsibility to ensure and maintain our positive school climate at Burlington High School.”
Burling went on to say that it was “extremely disappointing” that students are apparently using the app at school – and beyond it – to insult both peers and staff.
“As a school policy, we are prohibiting Yik Yak and will continue to enforce our current technology code of conduct,” Burling said. He added that simply accessing the app, even if students were not contributing to the conversation, “is creating an audience for bullying behavior.”
The posts Tuesday evening in the Burlington area ranged from a variety of comments about drugs to spiteful comments about weight, appearance and sexual habits to “lmao got an email from the school saying this app is bad for our mental health!”
Burling said in the e-mail that school social workers, psychologists and counselors would be available, but he also advised that parents have a “meaningful conversation” with their son or daughter – and review the apps on their children’s phones, deleting the Yik Yak app if it’s found.
“Together, we can continue to make Burlington High School a safe place for students to live and learn,” he finished.
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