I’m convinced of this because I’ve been following the news coverage of Lawrence High School. Just imagine you’re a student at Lawrence High (go Chesty the Lion!) and every homework assignment, email, photo, and chat on your school-supplied device is being monitored by artificial intelligence for indicators of drug and alcohol use, anti-social behavior, and suicidal inclinations.That’s been the reality since last November, when the district began a $162,000 contract with Gaggle, a Dallas-based student safety technology company to provide around-the-clock surveillance. If a word or an image triggers an alert in the AI software, the result could range from the student being sent to an administrator to being referred to online counseling to getting a visit from local police.
The district says Gaggle is a tool to increase the safety and welfare of its students and staff. That’s an admirable goal, because suicide is the second leading cause of death for youths 15-19, according to the National Institute for Mental Health. In Kansas, the suicide rate among young people has outpaced the national average, according to the Kansas Health Institute.
“With Gaggle, our district is better equipped to proactively identify students who are at risk for potential unsafe behaviors, provide support where needed, and foster a safer school environment,” according to the USD 497 website.
Gaggle claims that it has saved an “estimated” 5,790 student lives between 2018 and 2023. It did this, according to its website, by analyzing 28 billion student items and flagging 162 million of those for review.
AI surveillance flags “concerning content” on school-issued devices and software accounts for review and blocks potentially harmful content, according to its website. Expert human review, it says, helps district officials to take action before students harm themselves or others, and in severe situations it alerts “district-appointed” contacts, even after hours or on weekends. If no district representative is available, the police might be summoned.
What Gaggle is selling is an antidote for fear — for administrators, for parents, for students — in exchange for civil liberties. It’s difficult to argue with 5,790 lives saved, if you take it at face value, but I have my doubts about that number.
At what point is the safety you think you’re buying for students actually doing harm in unintended ways? Won’t teachers avoid assignments that challenge students to consider real-world problems like violence, depression and suicide? Won’t students learn just to keep their emotions to themselves, instead of confiding in a teacher or another trusted adult? What about the chilling effect on student creativity and expression?
Gaggle is the thought police for K-12 campuses.
― Elvis Telecom, Saturday, 3 August 2024 00:51 (one year ago)