A new app exploding on over 22,000 high school campuses, intended to help teens, has turned into a cruel platform for cyberbullying, threats, and even alleged criminal activity.
“I’m on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and after school," said Dana.
Seventeen-year-old Dana is just like another teen with her social media savvy. She uses the apps on her mobile phone to chat with friends.
With every new app, there's concern with what teens are posting and sharing. A new popular called After School lets users connect with people, without leaving a trace of what was shared or who shared it.
“With
, its completely anonymous. So, if you have a secret that you want people to know, but don't want them to connect your face to the secret, you can say it without the repercussions from it," said Dana.
And parents can't see the content on the app because only kids who go to the school can access it.
“It's abused by some teens because they're anonymous, so they can really say anything they want to,” said Wiseman.
Professor Charles Wiseman is an associate professor at
. He said the app was designed for students to anonymously compliment their crushes, ask embarrassing questions and share their thoughts.
Instead, he said, it's also a place for anonymous cyberbullying and even serious threats
“After School has been used for people to post, oh you better not go to school today something bigs going to go down and post a picture of a gun. That has happened," he said.
I've heard stories of like girls getting trash talked on it just because people didn't think there was consequences," said Dana.
The app was pulled off the App Store twice. It has been replaced with a safer version and the company says they will contact authorities if a threat is made.
In a statement to FOX25, Cory Levy, cofounder of the after school app says, "after school has taken proactive measures to ensure safety, prevent cyberbullying and work with schools and parents. After school has industry leading moderation procedures that ensure every post is moderated and allow students to remove a post from their school's feed with a single report."
Even with the new safety measures, Family Therapist Dr. Karen Ruskin said the app poses more risk than reward.
"We are exacerbating a potential problem to allow teens who do have some very unhealthy thinking to be able to post those unhealthy thoughts," she said.
It's a risk Dana is willing to take for her anonymity
“I like it because I know that my mom cant track down what I'm saying.”
AFTER SCHOOL STATEMENT IN ENTIRETY:
"After School allows students to create and participate in positive and fun communities within their high school to give each student an equal voice and to share their messages of support, positive affirmations, stories, and what's going on in their lives with the rest of their school. We have partnered with many nonprofit organizations, parents, schools, administrators and others to offer a safe place for teens to communicate and connect with each other."
"After School has taken proactive measures to ensure safety, prevent cyberbullying and work with schools and parents. After School has industry leading moderation procedures that ensure every post is moderated and allow students to remove a post from their school's feed with a single report. We are very proud of the students who are a part of After School in the way they have supported each other and worked to better the lives of others with the app."
- Cory Levy, After School COO and Co-Founder
Update:
After School App tells FOX25 that the offensive post seen in this story was properly blocked by the App's moderation team and not a single student in the school feed was able to view this post. "This is an example of our moderation measures working. "The student who created the post took a screenshot on their own phone and then posted that picture on other social media accounts that do not have our methods of moderation as if they had found it on our app."
Cox Media Group
