'Yik Yak' Bomb Threats Cause Disruptions, Evacuations at Schools

By Owen Boss

It's a troubling growing trend. 

Schools across the country are evacuating students after officials at specific schools were alerted to bomb threats posted to the new social media app Yik Yak.

If you haven't heard of Yik Yak, it's a social media application that doesn't require its users to create a username and allows anyone to post information anonymously for people within a ten mile radius to view.

Yik Yak's terms of service require that users have to be 17 to download the application to their smartphones. 

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution recently published an article about the problems Yik Yak is causing in schools nationwide, and it seems school officials are looking for the best way to deal with anonymous threats posted to the site.

"In addition to it being a misdemeanor crime for disrupting a school assembly, it is also a felony for making a bomb threat. In addition to the massive disruption to the educational day, it is also a massive drain on public safety resources who respond to the call," a police department in Massachusett  posted to their Facebook page following a local school evacuation on Tuesday.

Should school officials take a different approach to Yik Yak threats? Have you talked with your kids about Yik Yak? Is it an issue in your community? Share with us in the comments!