When a school begins policing every posting a student and or teacher makes online, it is no longer a school, it's a surveillance agency.
Those words are dramatic but accurate because of the tricky situation school leaders face today.
Social media has created a blurring of the lines between public and private life. A teacher's tweet made on a Saturday evening can be captured, and posted on a Monday morning in the staff room. Students can use their TikTok video to ignite a discussion all the way to first period.
On this basis, some people have called for the active monitoring of staff and students' online activities in school. They think that it would assist them to spot bullying, threats, discrimination, self harm or behaviour that may ultimately filter into the classroom.
I can see that argument.
There's a duty of schools to create a safe learning setting. Sitting back and pretending that violent threats posted online by a student and or violent behaviour publicly promoted by a teacher were not noticed would be irresponsible.
Where there is a real risk to the safety of the school community as a result of online behaviour, intervention is considered to be warranted.
This should not be a routine monitoring.
It's a different thing to respond to a serious concern, and also different thing to keep an eye on people just for fun because you can.
Students and teachers are not any less private citizens outside the school gate.
They use social media sites for personal reasons.
Where does the monitoring of all opinions, all jokes, all photos, all personal discussion begin if schools start doing it?
Would students start to fear to express themselves?
Would teachers always be concerned about losing their jobs because of each individual post?
Teaching should foster critical thinking rather than one in which no one feels "under surveillance".
Then there's the hands-on aspects.
So many posts are shared everyday by millions of users.
Who is it that sees what?
A sarcastic comment?
A political opinion?
A controversial joke?
In the online world, context is frequently missing.
One is not enough to tell.
In the absence of context, innocent posts can be read as untrue and result in punishment and hurt reputations.
That doesn't mean that schools should shut it down all together though.
I think that they should be all about teaching rather paying attentionto social media.
Schools should educate for digital citizenship, rather than monitor.
Students should be aware of another fact about the internet: It remembers.
Someone may follow a post for years after it is posted.
Teacher's conduct in public should also be reminded to them that this may affect how they are perceived by students and parents, whether it's right or wrong.
Constant monitoring is not as useful as those lessons.
There should be some exceptions, of course.
Schools should investigate if there are credible reports of cyberbullying, harassment, threats of violence or behaviour which directly impacts on the safety of students and/or staff.
However, safety should always be the top priority over privacy, where there is a real and immediate danger.
Those cases, however, should be exceptions and not the rule.
A school's mission is to educate, guide and protect; it is not their responsibility to monitor everything that a person does online.
It is already possible to watch people with ease thanks to technology.
to be able to monitor, and to have the right to monitor are both different things.
My view is that the best way is to develop a relationship of trust.
Educate students on Online Responsibility, Respect and uphold teachers' professionalism.
Intervene if true harm is involved.
Don't make all students and all teachers feel like they are under constant surveillance.
As education thrives in the presence of trust.
Surveillance can result in obedience.
But trust produces character.
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