The new and controversial app called “After School” raises both enthusiasm and concern within the walls of Kadet territory.  Air Academy’s administration despises it, students eat it up; but what is the after school app really about? To clarify, this app is a medium of social media, directed toward school communities, in the form of an anonymous chat room. With the recent relaunch that corrected serious problems including bullying, the app has now made its way into the hallways of Air Academy.

When it first launched, the popularity of the app skyrocketed from 0 to 100,000 within the first two weeks. More than 1,000 messages were being sent every hour from about 14,000 different high schools.  The creator of the app stated that his reason for making the app was to let “people  feel like they can express themselves without having to worry about any judgement or repercussion.”

The app was first denounced last December for its promotion of bullying and anonymous hate towards certain students. The creators of the app decided to take it down due to the criticism coming from many school administration, teachers, and parents. But in April of 2015 it was relaunched and was improved with many safe guards against bullying and inappropriate language. Cory Levy, co-creator of the app spoke on the subject stating how they have taken a “proactive” approach to moderating comments. “If a post is mean, it won’t be shown or approved” said Levy.  The extent to which this promise is fulfilled is another matter, though. The comments are filtered through a team of moderators who also work for the app “Yik Yak” which is somewhat similar to the afterschool app except that it pertains more to college students. The creators of the app even went to the extent of hiring specific moderators who, if in the case that a student might post something related to suicide or self harm, will request to chat with said student about it.  The inappropriate content on the app can only be seen if the student proves he or she is 17 years or older by scanning the back of their license. Levy also mentions a new addition to the app called “FIRST” which monitors messages for mention of guns or bomb threats, and notifies police if necessary.

More than 400 students from Air Academy are currently using the app.  Our school is a little late in getting this app considering it launched almost a year ago. Some are very interested in the app while others, like senior Iman Bernard, believe that it is not worth it  to even download. “Why waste my time on other people’s lives when I can invest in mine?” Iman replied when asked why she doesn’t have the app.

If the app is used as the creators had intended–as a way to “communicate with your school”–then there isn’t any harm in it. It really is up to Air Academy as to how the app will be utilized. Anonymity in social media is comparable to a super power, but students need to remember that “with great power comes great responsibility.”