Charlie Sosnick
Director of Special Projects
Normally when you see a group of students sitting in the Lounge and staring into their phones, they’re playing Fun Run together or browsing photos on Instagram. Unfortunately, our school community is currently enthralled with an app that is far more sinister than anything else on the App Store: Yik Yak.
Yik Yak allows anyone to write an anonymous post of up to 200 words. The posts are sorted by location, meaning that all of the posts from within a 10 mile radius are viewed together, in a stream. There is no way to identify who wrote a certain comment, aside from viewing a point on a map where the post originated from. Technically, the app should not work within a few miles of a high school, but this rule is easily circumvented. In short, Yik Yak is designed from the ground up to enable cyberbullying.
Ever since Yik Yak took over Staples High School in Westport, the app has been exponentially building steam at our school. Today, the app appears to have reached its critical mass. Perusing the local Yik Yak stream reveals an unsettling variety of slut-shaming, casual racism, and personal attacks on character.
Some of the posts talk about individuals’ sexual promiscuity*:
“John finishes faster than Jane can find another guy to f—.”
“If New Canaan didn’t have Jill and her abortion probs [sic]would we be a presentable town?”
Others target people for their appearance:
“An Ethiopian child eats more than Kate.”
“Emma has more oil on her face than the bp oil spill”
Other posts are just hateful cries for attention:
“hail hitler”
The fact that these posts even exist is reprehensible. However, there have been glimmers of hope. As groups of students clamor to read these posts, the response is generally one of disgust. Usually, a few people will consider going to contact an administrator. However, almost all students are too afraid to ruin the fun for everyone else by raising their voice. So, like watching a train crash, we keep scrolling through our Yik Yak feeds simultaneously sickened and entertained by what we see.
Even if you are not writing these posts, you are far from innocent. By providing an audience for this cruelty, the entire school community has become a bystander to an epidemic of cyberbullying. The most obvious solution is to contact a guidance counselor or administrator, but that’s not the answer. Yik Yak is only going to be beaten by people raising their voice and talking publicly about the scourge that it is. When you see a group of people giggling at a racial slur, remind them that insensitivity is nothing to laugh at. When someone shows you a crude abortion joke, let them know how unfunny you find it. Yik Yak, and the broader issue of bullying, will only be defeated by a school community that is unafraid to speak up.
*Names changed for obvious reasons
