HS Hires Firm to Track Students on Social Media

In Glendale, CA the high school hired a company to keep track of its students' activities on social media sites like Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Glendale Unified School District began an “eavesdropping” initiative last year to monitor teens engaging in unsafe activities, and is now expanding it to all of its middle and high schools.

The school claims the effort is intended to reduce bullying, and address possible substance abuse, and points out that one student's possible suicide attempt was prevented.

A Southern California school district is starting the new academic year paying close attention to what its students are saying online.

The social media "eavesdropping" program started last year as a pilot project in three schools in the Glendale Unified School District.

District Superintendent Dr. Richard Sheehan said it worked so well, it’s now expanding to all middle and high schools in the district.

“With modern technology, unfortunately we have to try and stay a step ahead of the kids,” Dr. Richard Sheehan said.

“We’re not trying to hide anything, because the whole point of this is student safety.”

The Glendale Unified School Board approved spending $40,000 to hire the Hermosa Beach company Geo Listening to monitor students’ public posts on websites like Twitter and Instagram.

www.nbclosangeles.com...

It was the death of a 15 year old student who committed suicide by jumping off the roof last year that prompted this course of action.

So what do you think?
Did the school go too far or are they doing a good thing?

On the one hand, some may think that what the schools are doing is invasive.
And yet, on the other hand, they act like they are very concerned about the actions of the students.

What about the parents? Where are they in all this? They should be the ones to monitor their kids, not the school.

Good ol California nanny state doing the job of parents for them.

Not that the 40k could of been used for school programs or anything.

Where are the parents? Too busy on facebook i would guess. Maybe twerking with their shiny new butt implants.

Well, regardless, it's way out of line. Worry about teaching math, science, history etc. and get the fudge off the internet. Is it any wonder that... oh nevermind what's the point anymore it's bizzaro nation at it's finest.

There's been a number of threads lately where the teens have gotten in trouble, go to jail and then their postings on FB reveal a darker side that Mom & Dad didn't know about.

Time for the parents to step up to the plate and take over being in charge of the kids.

Originally posted by snarky412

[...]

Time for the parents to step up to the plate and take over being in charge of the kids.

Well, there you have it.

But parents have now been deeply brainwashed not to step up. Here—I'll let Jon Rappoport speak for the Nanny State:

Matrix, Orwellian freedom, surveillance, corrupting language

The Surveillance State... [is] based on the premise that ALL freedom has to be monitored and tracked. Meanwhile, modern "democratic" elites have redefined freedom.

This is at the heart of what they’re doing: They want freedom to mean "doing the right thing for the greatest good of the greatest number." Never mind that such a re-framing is a complete non-sequitur. In the social engineering game, the op goes this way: "Every person would use his freedom to do the right thing; therefore, coercing people to do it is part of freedom."

It’s Orwellian. It makes no sense. But that’s what’s on the table. "Let’s eliminate the ‘choice’ part of freedom and go directly to what a free person would do and make that into ideal and necessary behavior...."

reply to post by snarky412


Here is what i really think about this.

A reflection on our overly litigious society... better to be an overbearing and ridiculous state institution then have any possibility of having any liability to any possible tragedy no matter how remote a chance or how disconnected from said institution. A weak gesture to cover their own butts, combined with the self-serving administrations, unions, politicians, and in general entirely sick system of education that has become a cancer to society in a cloak of distinguished tenure and an entirely scripted, and well acted, concern for children.

reply to post by elcapitano75


Yours is also a well-founded argument....

Wonder what the students there think about this?

If they are okay with it or dissatisfied.
Of course, I will have to say, any thing posted on FB, Twitter etc. is open to the public so it is free info for the grabbing.

I still question the parents responsibility in all this.
What, parents don't 'Parent' any more?

gone too far with that . violates right to privacy .. not to mention that outside school its the responsibility of the parents to keep track of their children and what they do..
( though in todays world with most lacking any sense of responsibility its no surprise to see the schools starting to monitor .. get them ready early to be good little minions for big brother annd accept big brother watching their every move .. freedom is dead in western countries .. )