Dominion’s recurring problem with social media has taken form this year as the application Yik Yak. It is an app that allows its users to make posts anonymously which students have taken the liberty of misusing to the fullest extent with the omnipresent cyber-bullying on the application.

According to principal Dr. John Brewer, the problem had escalated to a point where members of the community reached out to members of the school administration to address the issue. Brewer proceeded to address students during Titan Time and said that “that Yik Yak was not a good environment for True Titans to represent themselves” and in addition, called on students to delete the application from their electronic devices and desist from using it from that point on.

Student reaction to the announcement seems to be mixed. Student Alanna Higdon said that she thought the intent of the speech “was kind of unrealistic. I don’t know how he expected to reach people, and more people actually got Yik Yak after that. Honestly, it’s someone else’s decision. I mean, we’re teenagers. When someone tells you to do something we’re going to do the opposite.”

In regards to measuring the effectiveness of his message, Brewer said he had no set plan to do so. Brewer said, “When I share that message I have a clear expectation of what I expect and what the student response should be. At 10:30 last Wednesday, I pressed the little X button and it was gone forever.”

Fellow student, Lauren DeGennaro, reiterated the appeals of Higdon’s statement and continued to make the case that the actions of students on the application were beyond the censure of member of the school’s administration because the app is beyond the jurisdiction of the school currently. According to DeGennaro, “The principal can only control so much and what we can say on an app is not one of them.”

Concerning the question of jurisdiction, Brewer said that “It’s not impossible that a student could be held accountable, but it is not the prerogative of the school to monitor social media.” According to Brewer, the role of the school is to teach students how to use social media in an ethical way.

The anonymity of Yik Yak is a problem, according to Higdon, because “they have a bad intention because people can hide behind their words.”

Brewer said that he believes that Yik Yak goes against the goals Dominion has at teaching the students responsibility because of that very anonymity. “I think adolescents in part are more likely than most people to abuse that anonymity. It allows you to do things that you’d never have done if you had to take responsibility,” according to Brewer.

Be that as it may, DeGennaro said that “I feel like them trying to help does not make the situation any better.”

Dominion has had its own issues with social media in the past and according to Brewer, “I think it is here to stay and that it would be our role as a school to help young people deal with the effects of social media in a responsible fashion.”