FEATURE: Teens, social media apps and lashon hara

Schools are cracking down on apps that are being used for bullying. SHUTTERSTOCK PHOTO

Is the rise of social media encouraging Jewish young people to engage in activities such as bullying and lashon hara that go against the values they’re learning in Jewish day schools?

With apps that are predominately used anonymously – such as Ask.fm, which has grown in popularity over the last few years and now has 150 million users worldwide, and Yik Yak, an app that also boasts millions of monthly users and has recently sparked controversy in schools globally – the problem is growing.

Yik Yak in particular has come in for scrutiny in many schools after a number of recent incidents. One public high school in Ottawa went into lockdown last January after someone posted a message on Yik Yak that there was a gun on the premises, and there have also been multiple fire-alarm pranks linked to the app, in which students said they’d pull the alarms if enough people liked their posts.

The app allows users to anonymously post updates that can be viewed by anyone within a 10-mile radius. Posts, including negative and hurtful ones, can be “up-voted” or “down-voted.” If a negative post gets at least five “up votes,” it will remain visible, while posts that get a minimum of five “down votes” are deleted. 

Anonymous apps like Yik Yak, which are very popular among teens, have been implicated in cases of bullying and suicide in a number of high-profile cases in the United States.

As a result, some high schools have banned their use, either by blocking them from a school’s WiFi network or by using so-called “geofences” that prevent their use in certain geographic areas.

The Anne and Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto set up a geofence this past winter to block Yik Yak in order to head off problems with bullying and lashon hara.

Students say they have mixed feelings about the move.

One Grade 12 student at TanenbaumCHAT’s Wilmington campus who asked to remain anonymous believes social media apps in general allow teens to exercise their freedom of speech, and anonymous ones let shy people be more open with their views. “There are a lot of positives to social media – we’re globally connected, we have instant communications, and so many talented people have platforms for projects they never would have been able to afford otherwise,” she says. 

But she also admits that apps such as Yik Yak can be harmful, yet still thinks teens can exercise good judgment. 

“[These apps] are awful, and they do contradict the Jewish values we learn, but using the morals we have learned, we should decide ourselves what constitutes a good or bad act.” 

Another TanenbaumCHAT Grade 12 student agrees social media apps can be a positive or negative force, depending on how they’re used. “Social media is a great way to keep up with people who you’re not in the same city with, and you are able to get news right away,” he says. 

But although he likes the anonymity of Yik Yak, he recognizes that it’s often used for cyber-bullying. “There is no good that can come out of it,” he says.

Karen Sitnik, Judaic studies principal of Associated Hebrew Schools’ Kamin campus in Thornhill, says that anonymous cyber-bullying even occurs among younger children. 

“Kids have phones and do stuff anonymously in grades 4 and 5,” she says. “Because it’s anonymous, people think they can hide behind it, and suddenly someone who might have been more quiet is saying things because they think they can’t get caught.”

Sitnik says Associated has strict anti-bullying policies and a “technology usage plan” that both parents and students sign and limits Internet use at schools to academic purposes only, but the anonymous nature of Yik Yak and similar apps can make it very hard to identify bullies. 

Social media expert Randall Craig, author of seven books and president of the Internet consulting firm 108 ideaspace, says part of the problem is that parents don’t always understand the technology their kids are using. “Who teaches who about how to use social media apps and sites? Very often parents might not be aware of all the things that their children can do,” he says.

Another problem for parents is keeping up with the latest trends.

According to Craig, there are currently more than 500 social networking apps and sites. “There are new ones that pop up every day and old ones that close every day. And while apps like Snapchat, WhatsApp and Yik Yak might be popular now, [we] have to realize how fickle social media is.”

Tamara Rebick, co-director of student activities and Israel engagement director at TanenbaumCHAT’s south campus, admits that it may be “hard to forecast what the next app of the day will be,” but parents and educators must try to stay current. 

Also, technology education should start early, she says. “In terms of teaching values, I think that is something that starts at the core, like kindergarten, and if you want to use Jewish values as a teaching method, that has to start in the beginning of the Jewish day school system, so by the time you get to being old enough to have your own phone, you know what to do with it.”

Sitnik agrees, emphasizing that the earlier kids are taught how to use apps responsibly, the better. 

Her advice to parents? “Sit with your kids and teach them. It’s really about education and proper teaching, because the phones aren’t going away, so we need to use them as a tool to improve our education.”

Rebick also believes social media can have a positive effect in building a school community. “For example, last year we created a hashtag for our Shabbatons, and just creating a forum for pictures of the Shabbaton helps Grade 9 students who don’t know what to expect take a look at [them], and it helps open up the eyes to the community that’s waiting.”

Avital Aharon, director of educational technology at TanenbaumCHAT, says she doesn’t think social media apps are necessarily in conflict with Jewish values. 

“Jewish values are not against social media. Jewish values are about sharing. It’s OK to share, but you have to do that responsibly. You have to know how to do that in a positive way and prevent lashon hara.” 

Hannah Ziegler is a Grade 12 student at the Anne and Max Tanenbaum Community Hebrew Academy of Toronto.