Owners of controversial BHS Instagram accounts answer questions
The accounts, some of which have been deleted or banned, raised questions about privacy and humiliation at the school
There are over 20 BHS-themed Instagram pages about various topics ranging from photos of bad posture and bad parking to high-quality pictures and fan pages run by students. The images and videos used by these pages come from other students who DM (direct message) the owner of the account pictures of people or things that fit the username. Some of them are jokes, like one account featuring dramatic photos of boxelder bugs around the school, and some of them are serious.
Since research for this story began, some of the accounts have been deleted by the owners and others have been shut down due to complaints or disciplinary actions at the school.
Some students think these accounts are funny, while others would classify them as bullying and public humiliation. Some people featured on the pages do not even know they are on one of them until someone else tells them about it or tags them in the comments. Students who know about these accounts are on the lookout so no one takes a picture of them not paying attention (lacking), sleeping in class (slumped), or with horrible posture.
Some of the Instagram accounts got taken down. Others, the owner took all the pictures down or they took their account down themselves. Each account owner had different reasons for creating or maintaining their accounts. Here are their anonymous responses about their motivations. Their responses came via Direct Messages on Instagram.
bhs_badpostureacc
Q: What made you come up with the idea of the account?
A: “We saw the slumped and bad parking [accounts] and then we joked about making a bad posture account with each other and then we ended up actually making it.”
Q: Do people message you to take a photo of them down?
A: “We have had people message to take down certain posts and we are sure to be very quick to take them down. We want to make sure we don’t make anyone feel bad and keep it lighthearted”
Q: Do you think this account is going to become a big deal for the teachers and principals at BHS?
A: “We don’t post anyone except students, and should it become a problem with the administration we will delete the account”
Q: Do you enjoy running this account?
A: “We do think it’s fun but we do get a lot of DMs and it can be hard to keep up sometimes but overall it’s a great experience.”
Q: Do your friends know that you run this account?
A: “ Our friends don’t know who runs the account and neither does anyone else, we have kept our anonymity.”
_slumped_buffalo [all content now deleted]
Q: What made you come up with the idea of this account?
A: “Mainly TikTok with my friends, and we just thought it was funny to take pics of people sleeping.”
Q: Do people message you to take a picture of them down?
A: “Yup. I’ve taken all the ones down of people who didn’t want it up.”
Q: Do you think this account will become a big enough deal that teachers and principals will be involved?
A: “Honestly probably.”
Q: Do you enjoy running this account?
A: “Yes, but sometimes it’s like a job, I get so many DMs a day”
bhs_goodposture [all content now deleted]
Q: What made you come up with the idea of the account?
A: “I just wanted to do the opposite of bad posture, it was the third account up.”
Q: Do people message you to take a photo of them down?
A: “It’s only happened once actually”
Q: Do you think this account is going to become a big deal for teachers and principals at BHS?
A: “Yeah some of the accounts are. Some of them are tacking it too far.
Q: Do you enjoy running this account?
A: “ I did, not anymore. It is a lot of work, I got other stuff to do. I’m a 4.0 student, I don’t want to spend time out of my day focusing on other stuff.
Q: Do your friends know you run this account?
A: “Yes, only some. One of them almost spoiled it.”
bhsgoodpics
Q: What made you come up with the account?
A: “ My friend made BHS bad pics and I wanted to counter it because he was bringing negativity to the school.”
Q: Do people message you to take a picture of them down?
A: “Yes and I will take it down right away”
Q: Do you think this account will become a big deal for the principals and teachers at BHS?
A: “Honestly I hope that it won’t since I’m trying to spread positivity and if people want their photos down they can just ask me and ill take them down but if it does end up becoming a big deal with the principles and stuff I will delete the account right away.”
Q: Do you enjoy running this account?
A: “Ya it’s so fun to see all the different people in the school who want to participate in this.”
Q: Do your friends know you run this account?
A: “ Ya a lot of people know I run this acc but I trust them not to say.”
