During PRIDE Time on Wednesday, Dec. 8, teachers and students discussed the fiasco of anonymously run Instagram accounts being made by students.

Somewhere around one to three weeks before the meeting is when I first remember seeing the “Hays High Slumped” page and “Hays High Bad Posture” page. The “Hays High Slumped” page mainly posted students resting their head on their desks or sleeping during class, while the “Hays High Bad Posture” page mainly posted students hunching over their phones and computers. Between Dec. 4-7, around 10 other accounts were made, posting about people eating at lunch, students’ bad parking, random pictures and hurtful subjects.

The meeting during PRIDE Time almost immediately eliminated the problem, with all the accounts deleting their posts within about an hour and all except a couple accounts being deleted entirely.

The mob mentality of everything was what I found to be the most interesting. On Monday and Tuesday of the week, it seemed like a new account was created every few minutes. In some cases, the accounts would offer to delete a post if asked, which I think was a well-intentioned move by the account owners. The crackdown by staff and administration was definitely needed, however, as some of the accounts were very embarrassing or completely degrading.

The one Instagram account that I was surprised that was targeted by the administration was the “Hays High Bad Parking” account. Rather than focusing on the looks, personalities or traits of specific people, the “Bad Parking” page was focused on the scenario of a car parked badly. With around 200 parking spaces, the majority of them being filled, the person posting the picture and the person viewing the picture will likely not even know who owns the car.

Although nearly all the Instagram accounts made over the past few weeks have been deleted, many accounts related to Hays High still remain; many clubs utilize Instagram as a way to inform students. Student Council, Journalism, Tribe Broadcasting, Spirit Club, Cheerleading, Future Farmers of America, Environmental Club, Guitar Club and Chamber Singers all share what is happening on what is likely the most used social media app high schoolers use, aside from Snapchat. These accounts, which are often run by the student leaders of the club, showcase the best of what it has to offer. The leaders are passionate about what they are involved in and want the rest of the student body to be as well.

The wave of school-related Instagram accounts is not just specific to Hays High, however. A few of the accounts made over the last few weeks are similar to what other high school students across the nation have created. Thomas More Prep-Marian students have created their own “slumped” and “bad parking” accounts over the last two weeks and have begun posting. It will be interesting to see if TMP students will create a fiasco of their own and how their administrators handle it.