On September 27, 2024, Grayslake Central High School principal Dan Landry sent the entire student body an email addressing harmful student-run Instagram accounts that had used the GCHS name and likeness for its account. The issue taken very seriously, enough to warrant a widespread email from school administration. While the email remained as vague as possible in order to protect students that had been affected by the accounts, District 127 Superintendent Dr. Mikkel Storaasli described the true intentions of the Instagram accounts in an interview with Rampage. “Some of the stuff [on the Instagram account] was just racist, blatantly racist stuff,” Dr. Storaasli said. According to him, many of the posts took the form of memes and some were direct jabs at students who attended North Chicago Community High School.
In the past, students at Grayslake Central have created and operated social media accounts that are involved and connected with the school, like those used by extracurricular clubs and athletic teams. However, the specific Instagram account that was creating derogatory posts was not associated with the school in any way. However, the account used the GCHS logo and used the word “Rams” in its username, making it clear that whoever ran the account was someone familiar with the school, and likely a student. The posts that the account was sharing could be considered cyberbullying, according to Nemours Children’s Health Organization, which defines cyberbullying as “the use of technology to harass, threaten, embarrass, or target another person.” Cyberbullying can seriously impact student mental health. Grayslake Central student counselor, Matthew Aberman, said that “I’ve had some students coming to me talking about things that have been on the accounts. Some students have been personally effected.”
Some claim that cyberbullying can be solved with blocking or blacklisting hurtful users, but this isn’t always true. Aberman said that “Rumors spread and [gossip] spreads, but it’s very easy to make other social media accounts. It’s very easy to get other people involved, because you don’t physically have to be there to do the bullying.” Just like bullying offline, cyberbullying can affect every aspect of a person’s life. Nemours Children’s Health Organization says on their website “The stress of being in a constant state of upset or fear can lead to problems with mood, energy level, sleep, and appetite. It also can make someone feel jumpy, anxious, or sad. If someone is already depressed or anxious, cyberbullying can make things much worse.”
“I was embarrassed [when I heard about the account], because I don’t think that this is the way that the student body generally acts,” said Grayslake Central Principal Dan Landry. While the owner of the account may have thought that they were having harmless fun and simply making funny memes, to many other students this was not the case. The students whom these memes and posts were targeting, like those at North Chicago High School, felt upset, hurt, and even afraid. It is clear that these posts made students feel uncomfortable and unwelcome at GCHS. “[The posts] hit [North Chicago’s students] hard. And that’s what I don’t think people always understand. The stuff that’s funny and ‘just for us,’ other people see that,” said Dr. Storaasli.
