Photo courtesy Streetchat
Streetchat (go to link) is a new anonymous messaging app from Apple that sprang up over the summer as the latest tool kids can use to cyberbully. The free app on iTunes for iPhones, iPads and iPods, is proudly described this way: "Streetchat is an anonymous bulletin board to post photos to the people in your school. It is a fast reliable way to share your thoughts, gossip and talk about things around you."
After all the vicious cyberbullying that has come out of past anonymous phone apps (some of which have contributed to teen suicide), you gotta love that adult developers are still encouraging teens to engage in malicious gossip, don't you?
If there is anything anonymous message app developers have learned from Secret, Whisper, and Ask.fm, it's that this tool can--and always will be--abused.
It's not even the first day of school yet and already, stories are coming out that this app is being misused to cyberbully in schools as well as make anonymous real-life threats.
One of the ways Streetchat can cyberbully is to set up an anonymous platform to launch a Rating Site tactic, i.e. to negatively rate, denounce or judge someone.
Media reports often give the impression that kids flock to these kind of apps, but as this one teen reviewer of the app exemplifies, teens, themselves may be sick of developers monetizing their relationship conflicts.
* This app is sickening...
by Audrey Chaffin
This is so terrible...what kind of people are you to make an app for kids to make fun of other kids in their school?! Maybe that wasn't the original intention, but it is certainly happening. It's so sad to see things that encourage bullying. I know in your rules it says that bullying is not allowed, but that's clearly not monitored very well. I saw plenty of kids making fun of specific kids in the school...one post asking commenters to list the fattest girl in school. I can only imagine how upset I would be if I was one of the kids being made fun of for everyone to see... This could seriously lead to kids committing suicide or cutting themselves over what people say about them and it probably will. There is no need for an easy way to view what everyone at your school thinks about you. This is going to hurt so many poor kids' feelings and get everyone mad at each other. For the sake of teens feeling happy with whom they are, please remove this app.
To be prepared this school year how cyberbullying apps work along with other cyberbullying tactics, join our free webinars for parents and educators this month (Sept 15 & Sept 30) or buy Cyberslammed for your school or home.
After all the vicious cyberbullying that has come out of past anonymous phone apps (some of which have contributed to teen suicide), you gotta love that adult developers are still encouraging teens to engage in malicious gossip, don't you?
If there is anything anonymous message app developers have learned from Secret, Whisper, and Ask.fm, it's that this tool can--and always will be--abused.
It's not even the first day of school yet and already, stories are coming out that this app is being misused to cyberbully in schools as well as make anonymous real-life threats.
One of the ways Streetchat can cyberbully is to set up an anonymous platform to launch a Rating Site tactic, i.e. to negatively rate, denounce or judge someone.
Media reports often give the impression that kids flock to these kind of apps, but as this one teen reviewer of the app exemplifies, teens, themselves may be sick of developers monetizing their relationship conflicts.
* This app is sickening...
by Audrey Chaffin
This is so terrible...what kind of people are you to make an app for kids to make fun of other kids in their school?! Maybe that wasn't the original intention, but it is certainly happening. It's so sad to see things that encourage bullying. I know in your rules it says that bullying is not allowed, but that's clearly not monitored very well. I saw plenty of kids making fun of specific kids in the school...one post asking commenters to list the fattest girl in school. I can only imagine how upset I would be if I was one of the kids being made fun of for everyone to see... This could seriously lead to kids committing suicide or cutting themselves over what people say about them and it probably will. There is no need for an easy way to view what everyone at your school thinks about you. This is going to hurt so many poor kids' feelings and get everyone mad at each other. For the sake of teens feeling happy with whom they are, please remove this app.
To be prepared this school year how cyberbullying apps work along with other cyberbullying tactics, join our free webinars for parents and educators this month (Sept 15 & Sept 30) or buy Cyberslammed for your school or home.
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