Privacy, as defined by Oxford dictionary is “the state of being alone and not watched or interrupted by other people.” In recent years with the developments of new technology, privacy has become more of a privilege than a right. From a student being outed to their parents through Gaggle to webcam spying use by the Lower Merion School District in 2010, many people have reasonable concerns over privacy. Are students at Robinson granted privacy in school, specifically online?
Does surveillance technology help or hurt students?
According to a survey conducted by the Center for Democracy and Technology (CDT) in 2021, 71% of teachers reported that their schools use student activity monitoring. Furthermore, 44% of teachers report that schools were contacted by police through surveillance technologies, and nine out of ten teachers report that surveillance technologies are used more to discipline rather than for security purposes.
School surveillance technologies for online usage are not only in use during school hours, but also at home as well, harming privacy. Homes are often places where most people feel safe, where people can have privacy. However, schools intrude on that sense of privacy with online surveillance. Additionally, according to the same survey by the CDT in 2022, students didn’t feel safe expressing their thoughts and feelings, or accessing resources online, due to the fear of being monitored while doing so.
Surveillance technology may also put students at risk of encountering law enforcement, according to a report by Senator Elizabeth Warren. The “School to Prison Pipeline” refers to policies that due to inadequate resources, law enforcement are used to discipline students with zero-tolerance policies, according to ACLU. With the usage of surveillance technologies, the school-to-prison pipeline may be further exacerbated. According to the CDT, 44% of teachers report that one or more students have been contacted by law enforcement due to behaviors flagged by the surveillance technology.
Students looking for resources may also be harmed by surveillance technology. In states where abortion or gender-affirming healthcare is illegal, students may be at risk for trying to look for help. While many school surveillance programs don’t collect data about reproductive healthcare or abortion, some programs may.
Some programs do however collect data about LGBTQ+ topics, such as Gaggle according to Wired and The Guardian, furthermore putting queer children at risk. In the 2022 report, CDT reported that 29% of LGBTQ+ students reported that someone they know or themselves have been outed as LGBTQ+ to their communities through online surveillance technology.
According to CDT, in schools that use surveillance technology, approximately eight out of ten students are more careful about what they search online because their activity may be monitored. Approximately half the students in schools that use surveillance technology don’t share their thoughts or ideas online because of online monitoring. 66% of teachers believe that students may be less likely to access resources that may help them, such as “how to come out to your family,” or other resources due to surveillance technologies.
What can these surveillance technologies do?
Lightspeed Systems, used by FCPS, is one of many surveillance technologies that are being used nationwide. While according to an interview by The Guardian, these technologies have had beneficial impacts- such as dealing with mental health crises or suicide, it harms privacy- something that many value, especially those who may be having a hard time.
Lightspeed can search for use of inappropriate language and behavior, as well as indicate signs of illegal activity or certain mental illnesses such as eating disorders. It does this by allowing administrators to view their students’ screens, according to Lightspeed, called “Classroom Management.” Lightspeed also allows administrators to view their student’s screens at any time, even at home. It’s up to the administrator as to when Classroom Management is being used. Additionally, with administrators’ abilities to monitor screens, they can also screenshot and record screens to send to students’ parents. Furthermore, AI is used to also analyze student activity, as it bans YouTube videos.
Nathan Poumade, School Based Technology Specialist, or SBTS, said, “If we decided to opt in to Lightspeed classroom monitoring, then teachers would have more control in the classroom- monitoring students’ laptops and being able to peek in to see what students are doing, only allowing [students] to go to certain websites or applications depending upon what it is you’re working on in that class. It’ll be a little bit more of a controlled environment, as your laptop is in each individual class that you go to.”
Furthermore, according to the FCPS website, parents can opt in to receive a “weekly Parent Report” from Lightspeed, which would provide what students have used on their laptops. They can also sign up to use “Parent Relay Portal,” which parents can use to log in at any time to see their child’s internet browsing history. Parent portal also allows parents to stop access to the internet on the laptops anytime during non-school hours.
According to a CDT survey, surveillance technology is used more for disciplinary purposes, rather than to help a student out (i.e. referral for a counselor). Only 47% of teachers believe that online monitoring is supposed to be used for determining if a student is in a mental crisis, and 45% believe that surveillance technology should be used to keep others safe. On the contrary, 70% of teachers who use surveillance technology believe that it should be used to determine if a student has violated disciplinary policy. Monitoring isn’t only active at school either. According to the same survey, 60% of surveillance technologies are effective during after school hours as well.
What does Lightspeed look like at Robinson?
As of Feb. 6, Robinson has opted out of using Classroom Management systems, but does use the filtering system by Lightspeed to block any inappropriate content and games as mandated by the county. Poumade said, “Robinson chose not to be a part of that program [the classroom monitoring], but everybody in FCPS has the Lightspeed Internet filter to block things, and that’s really not anything that we at the school level have control over.”
The Lightspeed filter essentially acts like a filter that blocks out any harmful content, such as spyware, malware, or any other harmful content. It also blocks certain websites and games, such as Coolmathgames.com. Poumade said, “I would say the Internet filter has, in a lot of ways, prevented a lot of potential issues with spyware and viruses and malware because it’s kind of keeping you away from some of those websites.” He continued, “It’s also hopefully keeping you focused on when you’re in school; you’re using your laptop for what it’s intended for, which is to do your schoolwork and not to entertain yourself during class”.
Many argue the reliability or usefulness of Classroom Management. Poumade said, “I also have my own concerns about if [Classroom Management] would really be the best way to go for teachers, because then I feel like teachers aren’t fully going to be invested in teaching- they’re going to be concerned about monitoring student laptops as opposed to teaching students, but that’s my own personal opinion as far as that’s concerned.” However, he stated, “for teachers I know, and having conversations with them, it would give them a little bit more peace of mind that students are on task in class and doing what the teacher is asking them to do.”
With the rise of surveillance technologies in school systems, privacy may no longer be something everyone feels like they have. Freshman Alexa Donnell said, “I think we have a little bit of privacy because I don’t really know if they even look at the search history. I feel like you’d be safe to look up random stuff, but if you looked at something inappropriate, then it will probably be shown on a notification [for administrators].” Senior Anika Warrior said, “A lot of things are filtered out and if someone searches something that may be questionable, teachers see it, it’s immediately questioned, no matter what the context is.”
Some students have differing opinions on whether or not this technology should be used. Warrior said, “I disagree with [monitoring] unless someone is a certain age. I understand filtering out younger children and the media that they see, but when it comes to a certain age, I don’t agree.”
Donnell said, “I think [monitoring laptops] is definitely necessary, especially if it’s with children, because there’s some apps that kind of pop up out of nowhere that aren’t the most appropriate for some children. It makes sense to keep an eye on what they do, but I don’t think they have the right to tell them what they should look up.” Donnell continued, “It’s like free will, but if it gets out of hand, if they keep on searching up inappropriate things like over and over, then maybe talk with the parents.”
Surveillance technology is on the rise. With more and more schools implementing it, can schools still be considered a safe space if students in schools with this technology must worry about every click? Will that deter some students, especially students in a crisis, from getting the help they need? While students at Robinson may still have privacy as of now, that has the potential to change.