New Dangerous Burnbook App Exposes Kids to Cyberbullying

As a parent, it’s our job to protect your kids from bullying, and that includes cyberbullying. An OnlineCollege.org survey says 42 percent of teenagers have been cyberbullied over the past year, and now there is a new app that seems like it can only make this shocking statistic even worse. It’s called “Burnbook”.

The name comes from the classic high school movie “Mean Girls” and encourages kids to say anything anonymously about anyone. It works like this: users can download the app on their smartphone, link to their school’s community of users via a geo locator, and proceed to fire away about anyone or anything — all the while remaining anonymous. The results have been just as ugly as you’d expect. It’s the latest in a parade of social media sites that gives kids the shield of anonymity to hide behind in order to do harm.

Although Burnbook’s terms of service tells users “they may not use the service to transmit content that is hateful, abusive or otherwise objectionable” it’s still happening. Burnbook doesn’t have as many users as a similar app “Yik Yak” or “Snapchat”, but all these apps tend to grow quickly. It’s better to know about them early on so you can talk to your child about the dangers of using them.

Here at Goldstein and Bashner, we are experienced in dealing with injuries sustained from bullying in Long Island schools. When schools fail to take appropriate action and the bullying does not stop, you have legal options. We have obtained sizeable compensation for our clients and we only get paid if we win your case.