Background – Growing public concern about the safety and security of schools has led many schools and school districts within the United States to hire private companies to monitor students’ online interactions and the content they create, including on social media. The use of such technologies supposedly increases schools’ awareness of what students are doing online and, thus, helps to identify and prevent potential issues such as mental health problems, cyberbullying, or self-harm that might otherwise go unnoticed. However, there is currently no evidence to support that social media surveillance or content monitoring is able to effectively address these public health and safety issues.
Authors; Kristjan Kikerpill, Andra Siibak
First published: 10 December 2022
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Other resources
- Podcast ‘Doom-monitoring Students’ Online Interactions and Content Creation in Schools’ with Professor Andra Siibak and Kristjan Kikerpill