High schools parents and students are
being warned about the dangers of using a social media app called "Yik Yak."
The app, which can best be described as a cross between Twitter and
Snapchat, allows students to post anonymous comments to other users within a
5-to-10-mile radius. Introduced a few months ago as the "anonymous social wall
for anything and everything," it has quickly gone the way of Ask.fm and Kik --
becoming used by teenagers to cyberbully their peers.
High schools across the country have been cautioning parents and banning
the use of the app on their networks. However, students are still able to access
the app by turning off their Wi-Fi and using their cell service.
MyFoxChicago reported that letters were sent home to parents.
Lake Forest High School was "working with our legal counsel and the local
authorities to see what recourse we have against individuals who have posted
items that are harmful to individuals and disruptive to our school setting,"
according to MyFoxChicago.
Amid cyberbullying worries, Yik Yak's co-founder told the Chicago Tribune that the company was disabling the app in the
Chicago area and will try to prevent it from being used on high school or middle
school campuses.
"The app was made for users college-age and above," Brooks Buffington said
in an email to the Tribune, referring to the age requirement that users must be
17 years old to download the app.
A high school in Massachusetts was also affected, after being evacuated
twice on Tuesday after someone posted threats on the social media app, according
to CBS Boston.
Marblehead police are currently working with local police in Mobile, Ala.,
where a similar case was reported. Yik Yak helped the Mobile police find the
users responsible, showing that for an app that touted itself to be anonymous,
it wasn't so anonymous after all.
Ashley Rains, a public affairs officer in the Mobile Police Department,
told CBS Boston that parents really need to be aware of the app.
"If you want your child to use it, make sure you know what they're reading
and what they're posting because this app can really be taken too far," Rains
told CBS Boston. "Just immature juveniles that think they are playing a
prank."
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