An ‘eavesdropping’ programme has been launched in a US school district to monitor all students' social media activity and keep tabs on cyber bullying and suicidal tendencies.
The Southern California school district is starting the new academic year paying close attention to what its students are saying online.
The social media ‘eavesdropping’ programme was 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 is 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,’ Sheehan said.
‘We're not trying to hide anything, because the whole point of this is student safety,’ he said.
The Glendale Unified School Board approved spending USD 40,000 to hire a company to monitor students' public posts on websites like Twitter and Instagram. They are on the look-out for things like cyber bullying and suicidal tendencies, the NBC News reported.
The Southern California school district is starting the new academic year paying close attention to what its students are saying online.
The social media ‘eavesdropping’ programme was 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 is 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,’ Sheehan said.
‘We're not trying to hide anything, because the whole point of this is student safety,’ he said.
The Glendale Unified School Board approved spending USD 40,000 to hire a company to monitor students' public posts on websites like Twitter and Instagram. They are on the look-out for things like cyber bullying and suicidal tendencies, the NBC News reported.