By Eric Burch

This year, Plymouth High School was introduced to a new app, called Yik Yak. While yet another social media app could introduce students to others, it can also leave negative effects on students.

This application is used by location, and one can only read the posts that were made near this person. There are reasons why the app could be considered taboo at high schools. One of the reasons is that it is an anonymous app. Dean of Students Kenneth Olson said that “the caution comes from what I have witnessed on message boards and other anonymous posting sites where often people make comments that they would never make in a face to face conversation or in a post that was tied to their name.”

While the app could be used to make rude comments, the app could be used in good ways. For example, senior Mariah Tepper said “I feel like if used the right way, it’s a great social media outlet. It’s anonymous, so it’s easy to be yourself.” But Tepper also understands that there is a good and a bad about being anonymous. “I track Ball State’s and Indiana State’s. Their yik yaks are hilarious. I’ve seen more posts raising people’s self esteem and other issues of the sort on college yik yaks. Our local yik yak is terrible. It’s rude and offensive. Our peers just like to abuse power.” Mr. Olson said that he “believe[s] that the anonymity that it creates allows people be overly cruel to others. I believe in a high school setting this is particularly dangerous where teens who are already image and socially conscious as it adds to drama and conflicts within the school and is too easy of a platform for cyberbullying.”