Students Launch Social Media Campaign in Response to Campus Violence Threats

Students in the Envision Cinema program at Canyon Crest Academy (CCA) want teenagers to #THINKB4UPOST on social media, in light of the November 20th social media violence threats at two San Dieguito Union High School District schools, CCA and Torrey Pines High School. According to San Diego police, two teenagers have been arrested as suspects in the two separate threats.

On Friday, December 5th, on the weekly school television show, CCA-TV, the students will promote the hashtag #THINKB4UPOST along with the attached digital image. The CCA-TV hosts will encourage students, faculty, and members of the community to post the hashtag and image on all social media, even using the #THINKB4UPOST image as a facebook profile picture. CCA-TV is viewed on the CCA campus in all classrooms during 2nd period on Fridays (9:38-11:12am), and it can also be viewed at YouTube.com/ccatelevision. All #THINKB4UPOST social media images and a 16”x20” poster can be downloaded from our website http://www.envisioncinema.com/.

“Kids nowadays think they can say or do anything behind a computer screen without any consequences to themselves or others, but they need to know that their posts can impact other people in big ways. We feel like #THINKB4UPOST is a positive way to respond to a scary situation at our school and a good way to remind students and everyone that they should #THINKB4UPOST. Posts on social media can have positive power also,” said Ari Moutal, CCA-TV staff member.

“The students did not want to target one social media platform in their campaign, like Yik Yak, where the actual threats were posted on that day. They felt like the problem is not the specific social media form, but the people using it. That was really impressive to me, and I think we’ve come up with a productive avenue to encourage our community and others to really #THINKB4UPOST,” Mark Raines, CCA-TV teacher and Envision Cinema Coordinator.

CCA-TV is the award-winning television production of the Envision Cinema program at Canyon Crest Academy.