John Champe Instagram Accounts

On the first day of school in 2022, students decided to create Instagram accounts about John Champe High School for entertainment purposes.

Students in John Champe have published many different types of Instagram accounts surrounding, but not limited to: bad parking, confessions, sleeping, eating, homework, etc. This has made students cautiously aware of their surroundings because they never know what to expect next. However, these accounts can invade students’ privacy and can interrupt their learning environment.

“Some of the accounts are cool and funny,” sophomore Aline Nguyen said, “[but] I feel like it can be an invasion of privacy.”

Every month, one or two new accounts are created. It may seem a lot to have many accounts that are created by students within John Champe, but it gives recognition towards the school. Students may find this funny and all, however, administrators are worried about how this affects the schools image since some students are exposing teachers for not teaching well and this can further the teacher shortage. One account that led up to this would be the Champe Confession page on Instagram.

“There was this one account that exposed teachers,” Nguyen said, “[but] I am not sure if the page is still up because there was a lot of chaos.”

Some of the accounts can be used for a good cause, such as showing school spirit, clubs, and updating events for students, which are approved by staff sponsors. Moreover, many students find it beneficial because it helps grow the community within John Champe. Accounts that handle the announcement are Champe Chaos, SCA, Peer, etc.

“Thanks to the updates,” an anonymous senior said, “I can participate in many school games, such as the pep rally.”

Although some accounts can be useful, it can harm people in many ways. At John Champe, taking pictures without someone’s consent is a violation of their privacy. These accounts also affect the Champe administration because no one knows who is behind each of these accounts. Not only do students create the pages, but staff or people that do not go to this school can too. This can also lead to humiliation towards the specific student because the accounts are public and everyone can see it, even if they are not a student in school.

“One posted about me and I do not know who it was,” Nguyen said, “[and] I find that very weird because why would someone post about me?”

Since more accounts publish new posts, tensions between students are on the rise as some accounts have a negative attitude toward particular themes. By this, people can view that person differently with the rumors and such. However, that is not always the case.

“Overall though, most of the accounts are made to have fun,” anonymous said, “[but] it can escalate to serious damage.”

Not only do John Champe students create rumor accounts, but other students within LCPS and around the country are doing it as well. Although LCPS does not have the power to delete the Instagrams posts that are being made by students, they addressed the rumors through Twitter. For example, LCPS stated that they do not have the authority to arrest students for trespassing without a mask, instead, students will get suspended. Most of the students seem to believe rumors based on the amount of likes and comments a specific post receives.

“I usually glance at posts but never have the intention to worry,” the anonymous student said, “[because] I find them unnecessary.”