In response to countless amounts of bullying incidents derived from a new app called Yik Yak, one group of high school students decided that enough was enough. 

After an incident where a student was caught threatening the school on the app, students at Cherry Creek High School in Colorado launched a student-led campaign "to harness the power of social media and students' true identities for good," according to an article on DenverPost.com.

At Cherry Creek High School, "hurtful stereotyping and harassment would be fought with a hashtag: #IAMCREEK," the article said. "Barely a year old, the app allows people to anonymously create and view 'yaks,' or short comments, made within a 10-mile radius based on the Global Posititioning System-determined location of users' smartphones. The proximity means many users know one another or at least run in the same circles."

"At Creek, Yik Yak was harmless enough at first. But it did not take long for the conversation to sink into the cyber gutter," said the article. "Among the cliques ridiculed were the "tree people," students who congregate under a big tree near a statue of a Bruin, the school mascot. At other schools, these students would be called stoners."

Last month, a student used the app to post a threat against the school, according to the article. "Acting on a tip from a student, school officials and Greenwood Village police began investigating."

Greenwood Village Police Chief John Jackson said "the student, a minor, admitted responsibility and was charged in municipal court with harassment."

"Social media can set you free and make you feel empowered with words that don't seem attached to anything," Jackson said. "Or it can be the noose around your neck when I come calling."

In response, high school students Hannah Sanders and Ethan Widoff released a seven-minute video on YouTube on Dec. 16.

"Some people are looking at me and Ethan as people to bash," Sanders said. "But I think at the end of the day, more people are taking it positively — looking past the faces and listening to the message."

See the video below:

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Article by Kassondra Granata, Education World Contributor