Explicit 'afterschool' app should be removed from Apple store, say Swartz Creek student's petitions

SWARTZ CREEK, MI – A 17-year-old Swartz Creek High School senior has started two petitions following an uproar over a phone app geared toward school-aged children that includes sexual and graphic images.

Swartz Creek High School senior Juliana Davis has started two petitions asking for the removal of the After School app from the Apple store and banning of location-based anonymous posting apps.

"The first thing that happened was I saw someone on Facebook talking about how their daughter was told she should kill herself," said Juliana Davis, about an anonymous message on the After School app.

"It was one of my Facebook friends. They really didn't give a reason as to why it was said," she said.

Davis said the issue also came up in her leadership class at Swartz Creek high last week, where students often discuss current topics and issues, including bullying.

"A lot of the kids in the class were really disgusted," about the app, she said. Other posts alleged students slept with teachers, engaged in gay bashing, and had explicit photos and messages telling students to harm themselves and had threats of physical violence.

That's when Davis took action.

She started a petition on change.org that's received nearly 1,200 signatures asking for the app to be taken down from the Apple App store. Davis has begun a second petition urging the banning of location- based anonymous posting apps.

"The fact that school is supposed to be a safe place for everyone and it targets your school and peers... it stops school from being safe," Davis said. "Some of the things on there are illegal and you can't press charges because it is anonymous."

Letters to parents and messages to students regarding the app have gone out in several districts, including Davison, Swartz Creek, Grand Blanc, Kearsley and Bentley. Burton police posted a message on the department's Facebook page urging people to remove the app from phones.

Flushing schools issued a letter to parents Tuesday, Dec. 2 after a post titled "Bringing A Gun To School" appeared on the app.

The threat was found by law enforcement not to be credible, but school officials decided to increase police and security presence at the school and warned the person responsible would be prosecuted and expelled if found to be a student.

Flushing Township Police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are working together to determine who is responsible for the threatening post, with law enforcement having secured a list of students using the app.

In her second petition, Davis cites Apple's Review Guidelines from the Apple App Store, noting, " Section 17.2 of these guidelines states: "Apps that require users to share personal information, such as email address and date of birth, in order to function will be rejected."

"Anonymity over social media and the Internet in general have been causing many problems," she said, while later noting, "Under guidelines 18, 19, and 22 of the App Store Review Guidelines, this App should have never been accepted into the Apple App Store in the first place, but because of the misleading title and age guidelines, it was."

Guideline 18 deals with pornography, 19 with religion, culture, and ethnicity, while 22 including 10 note legal requirements.

Phone messages left with Apple's media relations and the app's creator were not immediately returned.

"I think Apple is one of those companies that have always responded well to the public," said Davis, adding, "I think when they are aware of the situation, they'll take it down."

She added that others need to always step forward when they see things like this app becoming an issue for students.

"I'd have to say parents really need to step up to the plate," Davis said. "A lot of times kids are young and kind of stupid, and sometimes we don't realize how harmful our actions can be."

"It will really make a difference," she said.