Zift Advisory
After School is a semi-anonymous social networking app specific to a child’s school of attendance. Users can leave anonymous comments or ask questions for friends. After School can be downloaded for free in both the App Store and the Google Play Store. It is rated for users 17 years and older. This app is safe for mature teens.
What is After School?
After School is a semi-anonymous social networking app specific to a child’s school of attendance. It was created as a safe, private space for kids to connect online in support of their offline development and interests.
After School can be downloaded for free in both the App Store and the Google Play Store. It is rated for users 17 years and older.
Users can anonymously post pictures, comments, or confessions to a public message board, creating a virtual 'town square' for their school. The developer reports as much as 85% of US high schools are actively represented by After School communities.
To increase civic engagement among teens and young adults, the network encourages users to get together to participate in real-world activities, organizations, and causes. Users can connect with each other via the “Would You?” feature of the After School app.
This feature allows users to match based on shared interest and sends them out to do things together. The publisher's site lists seeing a movie, getting coffee, or volunteering at a homeless shelter as possible “Would You?” activities.
Is After School safe for my kids?
After School is not entirely safe for teens, but has made a number of systematic improvements to reduce incidences of harassment and cyberbullying.
The original design was pulled from app stores after numerous reports of anonymous threats and intimidation, forcing app developers to build additional protections and safeguards for vulnerable users.
The revamped After School app has a stricter verification process and now enlists the help of moderators in maintaining a safe and secure environment. According to the developers, all posts on After School are held for moderation before being posted to the network.
Moderators confirm, with a combination of software and direct human approval, that each post complies with their stringent community guidelines and anti-bullying policies. Any user violating these policies risks being banned from the platform.
Age and school attendance can be verified through your child's Facebook account. For kids without Facebook accounts, moderators will accept a scan or picture of their school ID.
All content is viewed by moderators and tagged for content type and content tagged with mature content can only be seen by users verified to be over seventeen years of age. Violent or threatening content is tagged as such, which alerts both moderators and administrators from the user's school system to a potential issue.
After School also offers live chat support with professionals for at-risk or struggling teens.
While improved moderation and verification mechanisms have addressed many of the community's concerns with After School, it is still best for older teens with experience handling social media and internet culture.
The optional anonymity of nearly all After School's functions can not only encourage potentially toxic behavior, but make it difficult for parents to independently monitor their child's online communications and activities.
After School is safest for mature teens who are able to engage responsibly with mature content and situations online.
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