By Tim Cho
Student Life & Web Editor

“If you act like an adult, we will treat you like an adult. We eat, enjoy coffee and drink in the hallway, use iPod and phones at NHS (Neshaminy High School) because the students behave like adults. Today some did not act like adults,” said principal Robert McGee as he addressed the entire student body by public address announcement on Oct. 29 regarding recent abuse of a social media app.

This app, Yik Yak, allowing anonymous posts to be seen by anyone in a one and a half mile radius, has become an infamous name in Neshaminy. Days before Halloween, Neshaminy administrators were notified of cyberbullying on Yik Yak. Quickly taking action, administration sent an e-mail to parents informing them of the app and encouraged them to speak with their children about its consequences.

Students posted offensive and otherwise inappropriate comments under other students’ names, and the situation soon escalated. Comments targeted physical appearances, specific friends, and other vulnerable aspects of teenagers’ lives.Yik Yak has recently seen an uprising of negative uses of the app. The Guardian reported that, “Myriad threats of violence, sex crimes and hate crimes have been reported, including a mass shooting threat and the circulation of a sex tape.”

Originally created as a news hub type of social media, it allowed people to post comments for others to see. However, Yik Yak has become a center of “word vomit,” said Kelsey Duff, 19-year-old sophomore at the University of San Francisco, to Forbes.

Nevertheless, once word of Yik Yak reached the administration of Neshaminy, they took immediate action. McGee’s first thought: “What is the quickest way to resolve a problem involving potentially over 2,500 teenagers? Ask the teenagers and parents to help solve it.”Teachers and parents were asked via e-mail to “flag’ posts for removal,” as two “flags” will remove the post within a few minutes. Students were asked to act responsibly and remember that “today’s decisions affect tomorrow’s opportunity.”

Neshaminy then adopted a temporary suspension of cell phone privileges for the next day, and saw a decline of victimizing posts by Oct. 30. As an added precaution, Neshaminy contacted and worked with Yik Yak to create a “geofence,” a no-access zone for anyone attempting to connect to the app.

After stabilizing the high school’s atmosphere, Neshaminy began working with the Middle Town Police Department (MTPD) to investigate the initial cause of the inappropriate posting on Yik Yak. Not uncommon is the correspondence of Neshaminy and the MTPD as, “NHS often consults with MTPD on issues. We have a great working relationship,” said McGee.

Parents have voiced their concerns as well. Stanley Esposito, Langhorne resident and parent of a Neshaminy student, expressed his worries to his own children. “My first thought was to see if my kids had the app. My daughter did not have it. My son grew tired of it and lost interest.”

Mirroring McGee’s “today’s decisions affects tomorrow’s opportunities,” Esposito “always emphasizes that their future could possibly ride on every post. I tell them if they would not want their family to see their post, don’t hit send.”He fears social media apps, like Yik Yak, will, “take over their lives. I fear that they will lose their people skills. It is very important to retain communication and verbal skills. I’m afraid their grammar and writing skills are taking a hit.” Grammar and writing skills are not the only aspects that are negatively impacted. Health and physical education teacher Amy Geruc believes that “bullying can lead to many physical, mental, emotional and social health problems. It can decrease a person’s self-esteem. All of these harmful effects could limit a person’s ability to achieve in school, organized sports/clubs and socially with peers and family.”

Students have spoken out as well. Whether to each other or on social media, many have frowned upon the anonymous postings. Christina Chen, junior, believes that, “Anonymity grants kids more power than they should have, and of course when presented with power, kids are gonna abuse it.”

Likewise, “Some people were quick to join because they believed it was actually anonymous, when in reality it was not,” said junior Cole Tiemann. This false sense of anonymity was addressed by McGee as well, “Posts are not anonymous, they can be tracked with an IP [Internet Provider] Address back to the phone, to the Service Provider and then to the billing address of the phone.”While Neshaminy administration has blocked Yik Yak from the high school’s campus, Esposito believes,

“Banning apps won’t matter to me because there will always be another app.” He believes the issue is not the social media apps themselves, but in how kids use them; teach kids how to responsibly use social media, not take those resources away. “The latest and greatest apps come and go. Our kids are here for the long haul.”