Computer programs monitor students’ every word in the name of safety
By Madyson Fitzgerald, Stateline.org (TNS) Whether it’s a research project on the Civil War or a science experiment on volcano eruptions, students in the Colonial School District near Wilmington, Delaware, can look up just about anything on their school-provided laptops. But in one instance, an elementary school student searched “how to die.” In that case, Meghan Feby, an elementary school counselor in the district, got a phone call through a platform called GoGuardian Beacon, whose algorithm flagged the phrase. The system sold by educational software company GoGuardian allows schools to monitor and analyze what students are doing on school-issued devices and flag any activities that signal a risk of self-harm or threats to others. The student who had searched “how to die” did not want to die and showed no indicators of distress, Feby said — the student was looking for information but in no danger. Still, she values the program. “I’ve gotten into some situations with GoGuardian where I’m really happy that they came to us and we were able to intervene,” Feby said. School districts across the country have widely adopted such computer monitoring
