Some schools across America are now using a social media monitoring software to check posts of their students on Facebook, Twitter and other sites. The school boards are saying that they are setting this up to address safety issues.
"It monitors key words that could present threats, for example 'gun' or 'attack' or 'kill' or words of that nature," said Bill Sublette from Orange County in Florida, according to Today. The same program is also being used by some schools in Glendale, California, in the hopes of curbing school violence.
"Because social media can be the source of bullying, school threats or masked cries for help, we believe it is appropriate to monitor public sites where anybody can view comments," said the statement from the Orange County board in the Today report.
Security staff of the district are tasked to look at the messages posted by the kids, and if there are "worrisome" they will be coursed to school officials or the police, according to Orlando Sentinel.
Orange County reportedly had success using the monitoring system in its early run when it determined that a student was inflicting self-harm. Authorities were called to address the situation and the family got the help they needed, the news outlet reported.
However, some parents are not yet sold on this, citing that the monitoring invades the privacy of the students.
"Their role isn't to parent," said Valerie Radcliffe, a mother, via Today. "They need to stick to educating our children and let the parents parent."
"My privacy issues aren't with the fact that they're just out there looking at it, because frankly with social media it's not private. But what are they going to do with the information they look at? That's what we're concerned about," Cindy Hamilton of the Opt Out Orlando said, according to Wesh.
Hamilton also said she intends to bring this issue with the school board during one of its regular meetings, as knowing more information about the program could help parents be more accepting of the policy. As it is, the program in Orange County was only announced to parents this week via e-mail, the Orlando Sentinel confirmed.
The social media monitoring software, which was developed by Snaptrends, is said to cost the board $14,000 per year. It is expected to be fully functional during the current school year.
Take our poll about this issue below:
