I usually write about technology tools you should try in your classroom and explore with your students.  Today I am writing about a tool you should beware. Yik Yak is a location based anonymous social comment phone app. It allows you to post and see the posts of people near your location.  Recently it has received a lot of news because of cyber bullying and terror threats that were posted with the app.  The school district my children go to just posted a warning to parents that is scary to say the least.  They admitted that there was bullying going on through this app at the school and there was very little they could do about it.  Other similar apps like Whisper and Yo are an emerging trend and a new source of cyber bullying and home for child predators.  This is the sad part of technology.  Some people will take something that could have a lot of positive potential and turn it into something bad.  I don’t know if there is a positive spin for Yik Yak coming in the future, but as an educator and a parent I know I will monitor it.  If you see posts on that app or the others that are threatening or bullying you can report it to your local authorities.  They do have a means to track the people down. Yik Yak does have some school blocking but it was not very effective from keeping anyone at school to read the local messages or from posting.

If you’re interested here is the link to the article in the Washington Post.How do you solve a problem like Yik Yak?

10/31/2014