We hear it during Freshman Experience Day. We hear it on the first day of school. We hear it reiterated to us every day for four years, yet why is treating each other with dignity and respect so hard? How hard is it to hold back unwelcome comments? To censor yourself online as you would in person? To understand that the anonymous comments you post are not just going to a computer screen, but to a person?

In a world of Twitter feeds and Facebook posts, cyber bullying has increased substantially over the last 10 years. With newfound apps such as Yik Yak, the anonymity of the author poses a severe threat to the mental health of teenagers everywhere.

An app designed for college campuses, Yik Yak has infiltrated high schools all across America, allowing the portal for cyber bullying to open even further. Aside from the cowardice of hiding behind an iPhone, anonymously writing hurtful and cruel posts about someone can have serious consequences.

In an age where teen suicide is becoming a norm, it is despicable that students who have had so much training and so many lessons on the dangers of bullying, succumbed to one app. We all hypocritically look down upon those who blatantly torment other students in the hallways. We call out unfair treatment in the classroom. We look at news stories surrounding bullying with a sense of disgrace, but somehow online behavior gets a pass.

To dispel a lie that many online bullies tell themselves, just because you can’t see the person doesn’t mean what you are saying hurts any less. In fact it probably hurts more, because what cyber bullying does is expand the network of torment. It is no longer restricted to Calculus or the bus ride home, it is anywhere with internet access. And in 2014, that is pretty much everywhere.

The basic lesson of this, and what many high schoolers are failing to see, is that words hurt. Simple as that. What someone posts or what someone says can have a severe impact on someone else’s life, and who is to say that any of you deserve to have that much control over another person? Sure, it is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.

Yik Yak is not only shameful in itself, but if someone were to seriously try to harm themselves over a post, how is the police supposed to apprehend the culprit? How would justice be served to that poor victim? That’s right, it wouldn’t.

I urge you all to think before you Yak. Is it really worth it? Are 47 ups greater than one life? You tell me.