School Officials Warn Parents About “After School” App

December 4, 2014

The Escambia County School District is warning parents to be aware of a new app that can be used for cyberbulling and other inappropriate activity.

The app, called “After School – Funny Anonymous School News For Confessions and Compliments.”  According to the school district, the app is described as “an anonymous and private message board for your school” and can be downloaded to an iPhone, iPod or through Safari (a web browser developed by Apple) and accessed via Facebook. In some cases, graphic and sexually explicit videos have been posted and then followed by students displaying inappropriate comments, sometimes about students in their own or neighboring schools.

“As you can imagine, this can be distressing for students, some of whom are following this site just to ensure no one is making comments about them,” said Superintendent Malcolm Thomas. “What is different about this site, and makes it even more troubling, is that posts are made anonymously, unlike other social media sites where you can trace a username back to an email account. Because of the way this site functions, there is little the district can do if a student is being targeted, because the person posting the comments cannot be identified.”

The app is is no way associated with the school district.

“This app has caused so much difficulty, in so little time, that I want to reach out to our students, staff, district families, and the community to ask everyone to help monitor this app and to eliminate its use,” added Thomas.

The app has been blocked on school Wi-fi networks, and principals have been instructed to warn their students that use of this app on the personal devices on campus will result in disciplinary action.

“We are hoping that everyone will help us with the monitoring and elimination of this app from all student-owned devices. As your superintendent, as a father and grandfather, I am asking for your help. There are too many risks associated with this app to make it worth keeping,” concluded Thomas.

The “After School” app is no longer available for download from the Apple Store, but officials caution it may still be on students’ devices.

Comments

5 Responses to “School Officials Warn Parents About “After School” App”

  1. Curious on December 6th, 2014 6:04 am

    It was probably made with no ill intentions, just some kids found a way around it, kids are bad too, the parents just choose to overlook them, & why would kiss get on there to see if they’re being talked about, I don’t tolerate any type, but there are cases where some kids, go looking for trouble, like looking on there, maybe that kid meant to say something about someone else when they found they were being talked about, if people gonna talk, they will, adults are the same way, I find people talking about my past life, & im not living like that anymore, but in reality, they were a lot worse, & still are, they just think themselves perfect, there’s nothing I can do about it, nothing.

  2. Mom Against Bulling on December 5th, 2014 10:44 pm

    @Furious_Mom
    I totally agree with you. Who ever created this app should be ashame.

  3. Nick on December 5th, 2014 8:09 pm

    Children learn by example. This is just a modern day rendition of the slambooks of old.

  4. Furious_Mom on December 5th, 2014 2:39 pm

    I can’t BELIEVE that someone actually took the time to CREATE this app! There’s absolutely NO SENSE in all this!!!!! These poor kids who get bullied get bullied enough as it is – and now they want to create this stupid app….SHAME ON YOU!!!!

  5. Sage 2 on December 4th, 2014 3:36 pm

    When you wish to thank people for looking after your children in so many ways, remember those at the district level of the school system and NE.com for doing what is right.
    Some folks will do anything to make a dollar!

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News