App used by students prompts schools’ worries about bullying
Administrators in the Newport-Mesa Unified School District warned parents this week about a smartphone app that enables students to anonymously post content that officials fear could lead to cyberbullying and violence.
The application, called Ogle, is operated by Nuistars Inc. of Palo Alto. It allows students to place comments, pictures and videos on feeds for specific high school and college campuses. Users can view the content posted on campus feeds and add their comments.
The app lists more than 65 Orange County schools, including Corona del Mar, Costa Mesa, Estancia, Newport Harbor, Back Bay and Early College high schools in the Newport-Mesa district.
Campuses in Northern California, Texas and Virginia also appear.
Newport Harbor’s feed has more than 300 posts. Costa Mesa High’s has close to 500.
Some posts for those schools ask users to share their comments about teachers named in Ogle. Some contain discussions of instructors users think are attractive and others they disdain.
Many posts ask users what they think of particular students, leading to responses such as “Dresses like she found her clothes in the garbage.”
Others call certain students “gay” or a pejorative term for homosexual.
One asked users to post nude photos they might have of a specific student.
“Students are posting pictures of themselves and even pictures they’ve come across of other people, including minors,” said David Haglund, deputy superintendent of educational services for the Santa Ana Unified School District, where officials became aware of the app last week. “They’re saying nasty things about each other and teachers. Bullying is bullying, whether it’s sharing a note in class or going on social media.”
The Newport-Mesa district asked its principals this week to send emails to parents and guardians to make them aware of the app and encourage them to delete it from their children’s mobile devices and monitor the students’ online presence.
The Costa Mesa and Newport Beach police departments are monitoring the app, according to school and district officials.
In an anonymous emailed statement to the Daily Pilot on Thursday, the “Ogle team” said: “We are aware of the concern, and cyberbullying is absolutely NOT our intention for the app. Our goal for this app is to create a free and safe community space for students, for a better communication. We are currently working around the clock to improve the app. As a matter of fact, we are also in contact with local police departments, anti-bullying organizations and local high schools to try to help the students.”
Ogle’s description in mobile app stores states that Ogle is rated “17 and older” for “frequent/intense sexual content or nudity” and “infrequent/mild alcohol, tobacco or drug use or references.”
When downloading the app, users are not asked to verify their age.
