A study from The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services suggests that teenagers spend on average 3.5 hours a day on social media. As a result of the rapid use of social media, many high schools including Bowie have promoted sports and events more throughout the internet. This allows for family, friends, and the community to know what is taking place around campus. Although this is a positive use of social media, there are many accounts using the Bowie name that are not affiliated with Bowie, and are instead promoting poor behavior and negative activity on our campus.
Throughout the Bowie community, these social media accounts have been created by students or groups of students, and are widely known. The accounts have a variety of different posts, such as vandalism around the school, harassment, and even pictures of students, many of which criticize people’s posture and bad parking jobs. The troll Bowie social media accounts are out of hand, and a change must be made for the sake of our campus and our student body.
The most widely known profile is the ‘Bowieisadifferentbreed’ account on Instagram. Many of this account’s posts are of vandalism around the Bowie campus. The account shows pictures and videos of broken and flooding toilets, bathroom stall doors falling off the walls, and piles of trash anywhere but the trash can. These accounts are public and students sometimes overlook the fact that these posts can be seen by everyone, or the bad image our school has because of the ongoing negativity spread through the accounts.
The account posts videos of students fighting, and posts pictures of students who aren’t aware their photo is being taken. With a campus that is so serious about anti-bullying, it is extremely disappointing to see students posting images of another student online that show the complete opposite of what Bowie stands for. Just because the person posting the image may find it funny, doesn’t mean others do. People should never post images making fun of others in their community. These posts can not only harm a student’s mental health, but harm the poster’s future as the posts online and track into one’s digital footprint. It is important to think before you act.
Along with the negativity being spread through accounts like these, posts like these also put a bad look on our school by filling people’s feed with only the unpleasant issues of our campus. Students and staff at Bowie know that our campus is not as negative as accounts online present it to be, but for parents, other schools, or the district, these posts can come across differently and cause many to question our campus. For example, the recent ‘Bowie Pisser’ account has been going viral all around campus, promoting bad behavior throughout campus. It is important to realize the effects these posts can have on our school, and how people may view our campus because of these posts.
Although these accounts have many negative effects, people argue that the posts are funny. Posting an image of an issue on campus and presenting it in a humorous way can both make people laugh and lead to improvement. While these posts can be funny, the negative effects of the posts are much more damaging than the fact that they can be found funny. In addition to this, rather than posting about broken toilets, fights, or other issues at Bowie, people can report them to administration, staff, or the district.
Rather than laughing at posts that highlight vandalism, bullying, and harassment, it is important to realize the effects the posts can have on other students, and our campus as a whole. If you don’t have something positive to post, don’t post anything at all. If you have an issue, report it.
Before posting something negative on social media, stop and think. Understand what consequences it could bring. And most importantly, choose kindness.
