Ben Strand/ Winonan

Winona State University Health, Counseling and Wellness Services presented “Words Matter” to address the issue of cyberbullying as part of their weekly Healthy Monday series.

The presentation focused on the causes, problems and effects of cyberbullying, with an open discussion held afterward on ways to handle cyberbullying.

The discussion focused on apps like Yik Yak and Fade. Most people said the anonymity of the apps makes cyberbullying easier.

Yik Yak and Fade are two apps that allow people to make anonymous posts. Yik Yak uses words, and Fade uses pictures. The more popular the post and the more “likes” it gets, the longer it will stay up for people to see.

Since the apps are community based, and the only posts seen are from people within a certain radius, users only see posts from other people within their community.

Among the 30 people in attendance was President Scott Olson, who made it clear he wanted to make discussions about eliminating cyberbullying present on the Winona State campus.

Olson said, “Cyberbullying isn’t necessarily a new issue, but now there is a new aspect of it which makes it easier to get away with.”

Olson said when he was in school you could put a face to your bully, try to stay away from them and get help with the problem.

Now, with the anonymous aspect of cyberbullying causing new issues, “we don’t know who the culprit is, which makes handling the situation quite difficult,” Olson said.

Olson said he believes students will be the ones who come up with better ideas on how to address the issues of cyberbullying.

“A big reason we had this presentation on cyberbullying was because we wanted to hear the students ideas,” Olson said. “They’re the ones who can help come up with something to put an end to cyberbullying.”

Andrea White, a junior at Winona State and a peer advocate and educator, said students need to get the leaders of the campus on board to combat cyberbullying.

“If we could get club leaders and sports captains and teachers involved, it would help emphasize the importance of this issue,” White said. “This should not be tolerable in any sense, and we need to make as many people aware of this issue as we can.”

Among some of the ideas mentioned were being an active bystander, continuing the conversation outside the presentation and starting a campaign.

Jake George, a junior at Winona State, said one solution is to “Fade away cyberbullying” and flood apps like Yik Yak and Fade with positive and uplifting posts to drown out the negative ones.

Winona State is among the top of “The Hall of Fade” on the Fade app, recognizing the school communities with the top posts.

Olson said Winona State is a leader in a variety of solutions in a good way, especially when it comes to digital and electronics.

“Right now, we are a leader in something that isn’t giving [Winona State] a good name, and we need to change that,” Olson said.

White said other college campuses use these apps in different ways, like promoting events such as football games or fundraisers.

“We can do that here as well, we just need to make people aware of the issue and the problems surrounding apps like Yik Yak and Fade,” White said.

Winona State provides environments where people can feel safe and talk about issues like harassment and bullying. For anyone being bullied, White said there is a peer advocate, confidential hotline (507-457-5610), which is a confidential hotline everyone at Winona State can use.

“It’s also not just a hotline,” White said. “It’s a number you can call if you have questions about something or even if you simply need someone to talk to.”

Olson said this is “only the beginning” and there is “a lot more of this to come. We have a long road ahead fighting this issue.”