At 9:05 a.m. on Sept. 16, senior Valentina Maslovoric sent out a message to the senior class GroupMe, reminding everyone to vote for the Homecoming court nominations by the end of the school day.
“I already did mine,” senior Adriana Lipari responded after one minute.
Thirteen people reacted to Lipari’s comment with a “thumbs down.” One senior boy replied, “cool dude.”
For Lipari, with reply after reply, the group chat that was once made for school-related announcements turned into senior boys saying what she found to be hateful and critical comments. Lipari says she’s dealt with bullying her entire life.
“It got to a point where it just like, okay, like, this needs to stop,” Lipari said.
She replied: “So why when I have a comment it’s a problem but when others do it it’s not a problem? I get ya’ll are ‘popular’ but people have feelings.”
Almost immediately, Lipari was removed from the group. Sixteen people in the GroupMe “hearted” the notification.
“I kind of felt rejected,” Lipari said. “That’s the senior class that I’m part of, but it made me feel like I did something wrong, when I really didn’t.”
Lipari is not the first person to experience online harassment at Northwest.
“It’s not just Northwest. It’s not just the senior class. It’s not just something that teenagers are dealing with. We are losing that in our society,” Student Council sponsor Sarah Dent said.
Cyberbullying has been found most common on social media platforms, whereas GroupMe can be seen as a professional and direct way of communication. Regardless, seniors report feeling unsafe to share opinions or even Google Forms in the senior class GroupMe in fear of being bullied.
“Every year, there will be little hints of something going down in the group chat,” Dent said. “But it does seem to be a little more toxic than things that we’ve seen in previous years.”
In a 2021 study done by the Pew Research Center, 41% of all internet users reported experiencing harassment online. In 2022, the Pew Research Center found that 53% of U.S. teens found online harassment and online bullying are a major problem for people their age.
Still, some students find it hard to distinguish jokes from claims that could harm others.
“I think some people find it pretty entertaining,” senior class president Paxton Taylor said. “Just to see some bickering between a couple of randos. You can see it from their reactions.”
Hateful TikTok comments or passive-aggressive Instagram DM’s are now not seen as harmful or destructive. They’re seen as people simply expressing themselves.
“I think a lot of is just to impress the masses,” Taylor said. “You don’t get a platform that big where you can say whatever you want and do whatever you want. So people just kind of take it and run with it sometimes.”
Being able to hide behind a screen has made it very easy to spread negativity and hate without any consequences. All the class group chats are made by Student Council members freshman year.
“The purpose wasn’t intended for spam or bullying,” Dent said. “Obviously, that’s not what we want to see happen. And there’s not adults in these group chats that are monitoring this. is student-driven and student-led.”
With no monitoring in the group chat, it creates an open space for unfiltered comments.
“What we’re hoping is that we can start addressing it and calling it out. If you see something or hear something — call it out in real time,” Dent said.
All SMSD devices provide Report Bullying applications for students. Once a report has been submitted, it goes straight to the administration’s email. Regardless of having access to these apps, it’s unclear how often they’re used.
“This senior class GroupMe is so indicative of a larger issue that we’re dealing with in our society that I wish there was a solution to,” Dent said. “I wish there was a way to say this is going to get better— but I’m not sure that it is.”
On the same day Lipari was kicked out of the GroupMe, Maslovaric commented again at 12:58 p.m.reminding the senior class to vote for the Homecoming Court nominations.
“Adrianna did hers already, I hear,” a senior boy said.
Thirteen people liked that comment.
“If this was somebody else, who is popular enough, it wouldn’t be a problem,” Lipari said.
Days later, senior Haven Rodriguez commented on the out of control comments within the GroupMe.
“Who are you bro,” a senior boy commented.
“Who is Haven, and what are they on about?” Another said.
“It keeps going back to ‘treat people the way you want to be treated’ This is something that we preach from when we’re little tiny people. And we’re losing that,” Dent said.
Timeout:
And so I was just like, okay, like, people are people, people have feelings.
“It bothered me a lot because I’m a senior. I don’t care if I’m popular or not. I’m not a varsity cheerleader. I’m not doing a club or whatever. But I’m alive and I’m living, can that be what m
https://www.security.org/resources/cyberbullying-facts-statistics/
The senior class GroupMe, once a safe space for comments and concerns about school activities, had become an echo chamber of damaging comments bouncing off the walls.
It’s not just Northwest. It’s not just the senior class. It’s not just something that teenagers are dealing with. We are losing that in our society,” Dent said.
