After returning from Thanksgiving Break, the administration and students faced the backlash of an Instagram account that allowed students to anonymously submit “confessions” about other students through a Google Form.
The information posted could be best described as inappropriate and crude. Several students expressed their concerns to Principal Michael Gasaway, and he took the opportunity to attempt to stop the situation.
“As soon as I found out about the whole page that morning, I made the announcement. I had a ton of kids in my office basically first thing in the morning and did not really realize how big of a situation it was until they showed me the page. It isn’t something I want associated with GHS so I handled it as soon as I could,” Mr. Gasaway said.
The administration believes the account was student-made, which is no surprise considering the constant presence of social media around the school. Mr. Gasaway explained his disappointment and what action was taken to eliminate this harmful presence.
“Social media for our students is extremely important to their education and social lives, so seeing that on Instagram was honestly disappointing. I hate seeing things like that no matter who it’s happening to or where it’s happening. To try and stop this stuff from happening, we have blocked almost all social media platforms when students are on the school’s wifi. We cannot control what goes on outside of school and any beef or arguing that happens after 2:30, but if we can cut down on what’s happening inside our school from 7:30 to 2:30,” Mr. Gasaway said.
With more than 100 followers and more than 150 submissions, several students were victims.
“There was a couple about me. There was only one I saw. People were saying there were more. I’m not going to say what they were. I just commented on it saying it wasn’t true. It just made me feel embarrassed. I would say I got the lighter half, though. I would definitely be really hurt if I was some of the other people, specifically the ladies. There were a lot of bad things said about the ladies,” senior Jakeb Hornbeak said.
The identity of the student who ran the account is not widely known although rumors spread, and it has not been announced if the person was found and disciplinary action was taken, but Mr. Gasaway’s Monday morning threat of expulsion was seen as effective.
“I think that the principal and people in charge handled it very well. I was surprised by that announcement, but it definitely put a stop to the account. I looked, and it was down like minutes later. If I was posted, I would have flipped on everyone and found out who it was. I’m not going to lie. I would have felt violated, and I would have wanted the school to stop it,” senior Jackques Cotton said.
Junior Waveland Goodrich saw the page as something meant to entertain students.
“I don’t think it should be that serious. Obviously, it was a joke, but they took it too far. It was just for fun, and I don’t think people really cared what was going to happen to them. But I definitely don’t think it was the right thing to do. It’s like outing a lot of people, and it’s not good for the school,” Goodrich said.
A significant factor to putting a stop to this involved the students who spoke up about the harm caused.
“We’re really relying on the students to be the voice and let us know when things are going on. As adults, we don’t always see everything on social media, and most of us aren’t even on these platforms. So to use our students as a voice and having them help us when things like this happen is important to cut it down. We always tell people if they see something to say something, and the same goes for this type of thing,” Mr. Gasaway said.
This situation has brought awareness to the administration about the student body’s ability to have access to a widespread form of cyberbullying that can affect students’ lives.
“We don’t mess around with that kind of stuff here. Our students here should not be worried about what is being said about them online and on social media. I really hated that this happened, and our goal as an administration is to make sure it does not happen again,” Mr. Gasaway said.
He and the rest of the administration encourage students to speak up if they see anything similar.
“Greenwood is not a place for bullying of any kind,” Mr. Gasaway said. “We encourage all students to seek us out and talk with any of us in the administration and any Guidance Department counselors. It’s what they’re here for; it’s what we’re here for. We all need to work together to make this a good and safe place to come to school and a positive community for everyone.”
