Yik Yak, a social networking site that allows users to post their ideas anonymously, has taken De Soto High School by storm in the last couple of weeks. On the surface, it appears to be a guiltless platform to promote idea sharing, however DHS students have used it as a way to harass their fellow students and friends. It’s a familiar scene in the school to see a student being told of a comment written anonymously about them. This can turn out to be very sinister, as there have been bomb and assassination threats posted anonymously in other parts of the country.

“I think it’s funny. People don’t always say mean things on there, and no one really means it,” said a student who wished to remain anonymous.

Although it may not be in earnest for the most part, it has become a serious distraction in school, and faculty is annoyed and disappointed in the student body.

“It’s pretty repulsive that some of our students would even allow their friends to post that. Some of it is cute and funny, but some of it is very harmful and derogatory. It appears to be a bathroom wall to me,” associate principal John Sedler said.

While some students think the comments are lighthearted, others are not so amused and are offended by the actions of some members of the student body on Yik Yak.

“I think it’s a platform for cyberbullying, and a place where people who are too cowardly to say it to other’s faces go to bully people,” senior Bretlyn Opfer said. “I think it makes our school look terrible, I think it makes me not want to be a student here, and I see people crying because of the things they read on there, when half of it’s untrue.”

Students who post on Yik Yak anonymously must also keep in mind that if there is a threat to human life, such as a bomb threat or an assassination threat, they are not truly anonymous. A high school freshman in Suffolk County, Long Island, New York, quickly learned this, as he was detained as a result of his statements on the networking site.

“Our detectives were able to quickly track down the teenager,” said the Suffolk County Police Department in a statement earlier in the year.

Many believe Yik Yak is negatively affecting De Soto High School, and if it doesn’t get students in trouble with lawsuits, or put them behind bars, it may result in the removal or a change in the Bring Your Own Device policy.

“Yes, it could require us to look at the BYOD policy to create more restrictions,” Sedler said.

This has also been seen in Mill Valley High School—although the students did not get their privileges fully revoked, MVHS teachers were given strict instructions to take any student’s phone if they saw them using the social networking app. This policy has been mirrored at DHS as well.

“If I see you using Yik Yak, I have to take your phone away,” band director Matt Bradford said.

In the end, how Yik Yak is used is really up to students. There are already some users that attempt to post more uplifting and less damaging “Yaks,” as users like to call them. However, the school has not been using Yik Yak in a way that positively affects DHS, and it may result in problems for the student body, just as it has at MVHS.