It has come to our attention that students from St. Francis and surrounding high schools are accessing a new and very inappropriate social media application call afterschoolapp.com.  The app is described as “an anonymous and private message board for your school” and can be downloaded to an iPhone, iPad, iPod or through Safari (a web browser developed by Apple) and accessed via Facebook.

It appears that graphic and sexually explicit messages, pictures and videos are being posted and then students are posting inappropriate comments, sometimes about fellow students in their own or neighboring schools. As you can imagine, this is distressing for students, some of whom are following this site just to make sure no one is making comments about them.

Unfortunately, since posts are made anonymously, there is little the school can do if a student is being bullied or harassed if the person posting the comments cannot be identified.  We take student safety in all forms very seriously. Students that we can identify will be disciplined. 

We also wanted to make it clear that even though this app is called “After School – Funny Anonymous Schools News For Confessions and Compliments,” it is in NO way affiliated, endorsed or organized through SFHS.  Additional innapropriate sites that students are on are YIK YAK, SHUSH and ASK.FM.

Law Enforcement would also like to remind students and parents that possessing child pornography (which would include anyone 18 or younger) or creating, manufacturing or delivering child pornography, is a felony offense, punishable up to 15 years in prison.

We would encourage you to talk with your daughter about these sites and responsible use of social media. If you want to check to see if your child has downloaded the app to her electronic device, look for an icon of a tiger wearing yellow striped sunglasses. 

As always, if you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Dean Cost ccost@stfrancishs.org