Our entire lives revolve around technology, especially social media. Something starting out small has drastically taken over. Though it has benefits and can be used for good, people use social media to take bullying to the next level. Cyber bullying needs to be stopped. I, along with my high schoo, are doing all we can to stop and prevent bullying.

My school experienced an incident this year on the app Yik Yak. This app allows anyone to post anonymous messages and uses a location device allowing people near you to view the same posts. At lunch, students thought it would be funny to use it to bash other students and teachers. Horrible things were said and my schoolhad to block the app.

More recently, anonymous students created Instagram and Twitter pages posting student “hookups.” Whether they are true or not, people have been hurt by comments and rumors made. This is both inappropriate and unnecessary to be leaked to the student body.

People think it’s okay to hide behind a screen and take down people. Friends of mine have cried on my shoulder for hours. High school is hard enough on teenagers, and they don’t need the extra baggage.

Measures being taken to prevent/stop bullying include a simple ideas that make a large impact. Students stayed after school one day and created 2400 post it notes with positive phrases on them. The next week, when students and teachers walked into school, everyone was surprised with a message on their locker. I received one saying “smile:)”, and it did, in fact, put a smile on my face.

Also, there are giant white boards in the halls for students to right any positive message that they would like. Both of these techniques were powerful and made AHS an uplifting environment.

The techniques above are being used to fulfill our school motto. My high school is becoming “One Team”.