As seniors gathered Nov. 19 in the Ken Griffin Auditorium, a senior declared to nearby friends: “U-High Confessions dropped again!” The group hurriedly yanked out their phones and opened Instagram to see the new post before the assembly began.
As students viewed posts like this — which regularly detailed sensational claims about sexually explicit acts and potentially illegal claims about classmates and their behavior at school — the popularity of the page spread for weeks before it was taken down around late November.
Dozens of U-High students followed, and more people engaged with, @uhigh.confessions, a public Instagram account that allowed users to anonymously report “confessions” about students, who were often mentioned by name, which were posted on the page. Many viewers said they believed the claims to be made up, although it was not possible to be certain.
While the page has been taken down, it flourished, despite how U-High students are educated to create inclusive spaces online and report behavior that may be considered harassment.
Dean of Students Ana Campos said that the U-High Student and Family Handbook covers situations like this. A section titled “Malicious Publications — Electronic and Print” reads that “publications that have the intent or impact of hurting others are inappropriate, regardless of medium (e.g., print, online, video) and regardless of whether they were created at school. … Disparaging members of the Lab community in electronic or print communications, either by name or by inference, will be treated as a violation.”
“A school is a place where students have to come every day, and they come with their whole selves,” Ms. Campos said. “They come needing to focus with their brain and study and learn, but it’s also the social center for most students. It’s where they do things that are of interest to them. And so it needs to be a space where students can feel like they can fully participate. We have to create the conditions for a space that feels like a community and a space where people care for one another. Anytime someone creates something where the intended purpose is to make fun of or to disparage or to do any of those kinds of behaviors, it chips away at the type of community that any school should be.”
Ninth grader Debbie Lu discovered the page about a month before it was taken down. She said she heard about it from peers and wanted to learn more. She was disturbed by its inappropriate content but also didn’t believe it was detailing true events. Nevertheless, Debbie said it contradicted what students are taught regarding online harassment.
“Many of the themes were improper and adult, which was especially concerning for high schoolers,” Debbie said. “I do think anyone contributing to the page is going against what the school teaches about online behavior, bullying and treating others with respect.”
A peer introduced sophomore Luca Asselina to @uhigh.confessions weeks before it was taken down. Luca thought the “confessions” were untrue due to their exaggerated nature.
Luca said he felt the impact of the page on students was minimal, and while he thought it could have been slightly harmful, he didn’t know if it should’ve been taken down.
“I don’t feel like anybody actually took that much offense to the things that were posted there,” Luca said. “Everyone knew it was a joke: the stuff was so exaggerated, that it wasn’t really believable.”
He said a note emphasizing to users that they could directly message the account owner to request a post to be removed was a helpful safeguard. If he had seen his name on the page, he would’ve requested for it to be taken down, he said, but not with strong feelings.
“It probably wouldn’t have felt too good,” Luca said, “but I would’ve known the person didn’t mean much out of it. I don’t really want that connected with my name, but at the same time, I know it’s all jokes.”
One junior, who spoke to the Midway on the condition of anonymity, followed the page and submitted a “confession” explaining a made-up story about inappropriate use of a school bathroom facility. The junior said @uhigh.confessions was a source of entertainment to them, and said if a new page were to emerge, they would interact with it.
“Even though it was taken down, it was still fun to see the posts at the time,” they said. “I think it’s sad that the account got taken down, because I don’t see any harm in it.”
Student leaders reflected on how to deter efforts like this in the future. All-school president Lisa Tao, a senior who said she only learned of the account after it had been taken down, said Student Council discussed @uhigh.confessions in a December meeting. The group has decided to discourage new pages like this because of how she said they negatively impact the student community.
“If stuff arises that you know doesn’t really go with what the Lab Schools believes in,” Lisa said, “then it very much is our responsibility to try to take care of it.”
A separate public Instagram account, which operates similarly to @uhigh.confessions, is still active as of Jan. 16. Posts were first made on the page on Nov. 20 and the most recent from late December.
A private Instagram account named @ucls2028confessions is an active confessions page aimed at ninth graders. Debbie said while she feels the content is less problematic than that of @uhigh.confessions, it’s still dangerous.
“I was surprised by what some people thought or found funny to post online,” Debbie said, adding she was against the account.
Feeling as though it contributed to unnecessary drama and tension, Debbie said she feels the page needs to be taken down.
“While I understand that some people might use it to express feelings or words they don’t want to say out loud,” Debbie said, “it’s not OK when others use it to make fun of, bully or spread false information about others.”
