For something that was originally intended to help college students communicate, Yik Yak has definitely gotten out of hand.

It makes complete sense for an application that allows anyone within a 1.5-mile radius of each other to anonymously post things to exist on a college campus. There are upward of 20,000 students at some of these bigger universities and one demeaning comment about one specific person isn’t going to necessarily get much attention.

You bring that app to a high school though, where an entire campus can be engulfed by that 1.5-mile radius, and high schoolers end up acting extremely immature.

It is mind-boggling to me how the addition of a name and profile picture make the nature of our generation’s posts completely different. Why is it that the second we are anonymous, we turn into jerks who take pleasure in hurting our peers, even our friends? Have we learned nothing from similar forms of anonymous social media outlets that have led to widespread cyber-bullying and even suicide?

When something is posted on Yik Yak at South, everyone can see it, and that’s not just limited to students. Although many of us may still be convinced that teachers don’t have lives outside of school, they do. And who is to say whether or not they can download Yik Yak? Or your parents, for that matter?

These posts are made public the second you hit ‘send.’ You need to seriously think before you post. Put yourself in that person’s shoes. Maybe you think you’re just joking, but do they?

I know Principal Wegley made an announcement and sent out an email suggesting that South “take a stand” against Yik Yak and stop using it. Sadly, I think a lot of students became curious about the app and downloaded it instead. I hope that as one of your peers, you will listen to what I am saying and stop using Yik Yak.

Even if you have the app solely for the purpose of looking at Yaks, get rid of it. Being one of those people is the same as being a bystander as you watch someone bully someone else and don’t do anything about it.

If all I have said is not enough to get you to stop using the app, then at least realize that your posts are not completely
anonymous. Two teenagers were arrested in Alabama a few months ago because of threats they yakked regarding their high school. After the school was shut down for a day, Yik Yak released their exact locations and phone information and the administration was able to track them down. Yik Yak knows who you are.