Welcome to the K-12 Surveillance State (7 minute read)
Schools are adopting more and more technologies to monitor students in an effort to improve safety. Software programs, such as Gaggle, scan student activity across different platforms including email, computer files, and online assignments. Gaggle claims to have prevented at least 542 suicides. However, these claims are difficult, if not impossible, to prove. Facial recognition technology can be used to recreate a map of movements for students and teachers. Iris scanners have been installed in some playgrounds. The rise in the use of technology could be due to technology vendors taking advantage of school budgets. Constant monitoring of students results in a lot of data that is collected without the studentâs consent. As the technology is relatively new, the laws behind data collection and sharing have not caught up yet, so parents need to be vigilant about what systems the schools may be installing to monitor their children with.