A viral trend on TikTok that may have seemed to be a harmless joke among Boswell students has become a legal issue for some students.

The trend, posting pictures of students sleeping, eating, or displaying affection on campus without their permission, caused an influx of similar Instagram accounts based at Bos.

On Dec. 6, students reported multiple “humiliation” accounts to Bos assistant principals. Principal Nika Davis then informed the district’s director of safety and security, Charles Ramirez. The next day, Ramirez emailed parents and guardians about the accounts, the concept of exploitation of the students, and discipline and action that could be taken.

“So I’m actually the principal who reported it to central office that caused the letter to go out district wide,” Davis said. “I didn’t know if this was isolated to Boswell only. As it turns out, it was not.”

Davis said personal attacks posted on the accounts prompted the district’s actions.

“They were, number one, making fun of students and teachers here on staff, but number two, also illegally using the Bos logo to do so,” she said. “As a principal, I’m not going to sit back and let any of our students or staff members be attacked.”

Davis said several accounts are currently under investigation for possible trademark and copyright violations for using school logos, but accounts that post photos of students without consent with the intent of “shaming” those students face harsher penalties.

“The body shaming piece is going to be treated at a higher level,” Davis said, “because what would happen if it’s an ‘I don’t like this person,’ then that really ends up being kind of a bullying investigation.”

When an account is under investigation, the school works directly with the Fort Worth Police Department’s cybercrime investigation unit that begins to look into these reports, Davis said.

“The humiliation part of [the accounts], it’s disruptive to the school day,” Davis said, “so that in itself is just a violation of our school code of conduct.”

When it comes to the student behind the screen, the punishment depends on the severity of the account, Davis said, with up to 60-day sentence to alternative school being the most severe.

As of press time, no student has received SAC or alternative school.

Davis said the assistant principals are on social media, and they help monitor the creation and use of supposed “humiliation” accounts, but the Boswell’s main source of supervision of these accounts are the members in the central office.

“At the central office, that’s where they are running the checks on a regular basis for all the campuses,” Davis said. “They’re looking on a regular basis to make sure that they are within the confines of the school spirit.”

Boswell and the EMSISD district do not condone anything that doesn’t positively represent the school.

“We do take things like this very seriously,” Davis said. “They’re looking on a regular basis to make sure that they are within the confines of the school spirit.”