Thousands of kids and teachers heading back to school this year have a threat over their heads – Instagram “confessions” or “secrets” accounts that exist to bully and spread rumors about kids and teachers. This online bullying can lead to distraction, depression, and even suicide for kids and teens; trying to shut them down piles additional stress on teachers. Instagram must work with teachers, school administrators, and school support personnel to shut down school-based bullying accounts.

Most “confessions” accounts exist solely to shame school communities, and they are heinous. Common content includes posts featuring student and teacher photos calling them cruel names, rumors (often explicitly homophobic) about kids’ sexual relationships, accusations of sexual misconduct against teachers, accusations of sexual assault, and more. This sort of online bullying not only distracts students and teachers from their work, it can be deadly. One recent study found that online bullying leads to more suicidal behavior than in-person bullying. Another found that kids who are bullied online are 4 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts than those who aren’t.

In school districts across the country, teachers and school officials have reported these accounts to Instagram only to be ignored or told they don’t violate any guidelines. When that happens, the bullying these accounts encourage spreads even further, hurting more kids and teachers. Instagram must let teachers, school support personnel, and school administrators shut down these school-based bullying accounts by responding to their reports!