Behind the Screen: BV West Instagrams

Students take to Instagram to post their peers bad parking and mid-lesson naps

Behind the Screen: BV West Instagrams

     Sleeping in class has become a tricky task to accomplish, so has parking poorly and having bad posture. Within the last semester, Instagram accounts created by BV West students showcasing their peers taking a nap in class or hunching over their homework have been the subject of conversations and laughs.
     Many of these accounts were inspired by different accounts that other schools around the country or started on TikTok and Instagram. These accounts are a prominent discussion topic for different high school students in and around south Johnson County. The accounts are school-wide pranks, where any student can participate.
     “I saw [it] on TikTok, and I thought what could be the harm in making an account for Blue Valley West,” said BV West Bathroom Shoes.
     “We saw the [BV West] slumped account, and we have seen other accounts on TikTok and wanted to start it,” said BV West Bad Posture.
     One student took the BV West Instagram trend a step further and created BV West Person of Interest (P.O.I). The account hosts a “person of interest” every week. The person volunteers to be photographed for a week by other students across the building. Students photographing the P.O.I earn “P.O.I Coins” to redeem prizes like gum, soda, and even $25 Visa gift cards.
     “It mostly started off as a friend group joke account, in which people would send in photos of our friend (just for laughs). We definitely never thought it would go this far,” said BV West P.O.I.
     These accounts gained followers and attention rapidly. Some have upwards of 700 followers.
     “It made people laugh, and I got tons of followers pretty quickly. It’s honestly brought people together,” said BV West Bathroom Shoes.
     Accounts get their submissions via Instagram DM and post these pictures throughout the school day. Depending on the account, they get anywhere between two to 42 submissions in a day. The accounts continue to ask for more submissions.
     Students quickly submitted their pictures, and even an administrator was featured on one of the accounts. One post from the BV West Bad Parking page featured Assistant Principal Bryan Brutto’s car captioned, “And this here, is why we don’t let you children drive big boy trucks.”
     All posts are intended to be light-hearted and to make people laugh. Accounts have not encountered any trouble with the administrators and are willing to take posts down at a student’s request.
     “We do it for fun, and that’s about it,” said BV Bad Posture.
     “It is more about the school spirit, a game of sorts to have some fun during the very busy school day,” said BV P.O.I.
     The accounts plan to stay active and find underclassmen to either help run the accounts or take them over once some owners graduate.
     “We hope to have the account passed down after we graduate,” said BV West P.O.I. “If you think you fit the role to help contribute to the P.O.I. account, send us a DM!”
     “Most likely, I will be passing this account down this year,” said BV West Bathroom Shoes
These accounts have been a good break for students. With all students doing in person learning, it allows students to bond after the drift between peers caused by the pandemic.
     “We would like to give a big thank you to those who have participated in the account so far. You can never have too much school spirit,” said BV West P.O.I.