Yik Yak has hit the community of Tonganoxie and its arrival has already left giant scars on those who have become its victims.

According to the article “How do you solve a problem like Yik Yak?” by Caitlin Dewey from the Washington Post, Yik Yak has been described as “a platform for hate speech or harassment.”

Yik Yak is in two things: total anonymity and close proximity.

Unlike most other anonymous-sharing apps, Yik Yak asks for virtually no personal information on sign-up. The app that was created for college students has arrived in the hands of anyone who is old enough to work a cell phone. Yik Yak is being used to bully, harass, stalk, threaten, and disclose youths drug activities and sexual exploitations while making it sound cool and fun. Can we not do something to protect our children and community from this forum?

Parents, when our children leave our house with that cell phone in hand, we must take the time to know what apps our children are using before the phone we gave them destroys them. We shouldn’t leave the supervision of our child up to the burden of our local schools to manage. It must start at home.

This app is poison to our society and really needs to be banned before more lives are left with giant scars and maybe even the loss of a precious life from bullying.

Susan Freemyer

Tonganoxie