ON LOCKDOWN

In an attempt to keep the school secure, faculty members increase their surveillance on students.

On Lockdown

Elizabeth Cunningham, junior, sits in Spanish class as her teacher gives out the online assignment to work on in class. Cunningham logs into her Chromebook and clicks on Canvas to find the links. A pop-up notification appears with a GoGuardian symbol, indicating that her teacher is monitoring their screens in real time. The teacher has full access to their screens and search history during the class period. The teacher can sift through the various tabs of a student’s Chromebook, from math homework to English essays. The occasional web game is also viewable, but easily the tab is closed from the teacher’s computer with no touch by the student. This is just one form of professional monitoring and censorship provided by Central staff to the students. With the implementation of schoolprovided Chromebooks in 2018, faculty views of technology have also changed. As detailed in the official Central handbook, it is an expectation that the school’s related software complies with the District 86 Acceptable Use Policy, because the technology is property of the school. This includes protecting the downloaded software such as GoGuardian, used for screen surveillance, and keeping blocked sites restricted from students. Blocked sites can range anywhere from social media apps, music platforms, and video streaming sites that are deemed harmful or distracting for students. There are varying opinions at Central regarding the increased censorship at school, both with technology and physical surveillance. Cameras have been added to monitor the halls, staff members have been hired to create a safer physical presence, and restrictions on Chromebooks have been installed. Some faculty members debate over what they believe students should be able to view in a school setting. Students also dispute over whether to respect the specific security measures or deem them to be an added disturbance during their day. It is a common occurrence for students at Central, such as Cunningham, to have GoGuardian as the main application used to monitor chromebook activity and technology movements around the school. During a given class period, students most likely use their chromebooks to access educational sites, complete

20 | Features assignments on Google Docs or One Note, and/or explore research databases provided by the library department. Assistant principal Ryan Maita has been in charge of the technology implementation for the 2019-2020 school year. In response to the concerns over added technology security, he said that the overall response to Chromebook censorship has been positive from both students and parents in the community. “It’s tough to argue [with] having an extra layer of security in place,” Maita said. “We want to implement every safety feature to ensure the security of both the students and staff members.” A concern of those who believe the technology monitoring is extreme stems from the idea that some students feel their chromebooks are being watched 24/7. However, the only time that administrators get GoGuardian notifications is when students search key terms indicating ideas of self harm or violence. In 2000, Congress passed the Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA) which makes it mandatory for high schools to address concerns of adolescents viewing obscene or harmful content. Central corroborates with that legislation in that students’ mental health is the main priority. In a survey conducted by Devil’s Advocate, 98.4 percent of the 123 students surveyed have a class that uses GoGuardian. It’s primarily used to limit distractions during class but some teachers have noted GoGuardian being helpful to track students’ progress in varying class assignments. “Teachers can now look and see that a student is struggling that perhaps didn’t want to raise their hand and ask for help,” teaching librarian Myles Laffey said. Some say that the ability to look at every students’ screen in class simultaneously has forced students to be held accountable for their work and to stay on task. “I trust kids to do their research during class,” teaching librarian Kerrin Riley said. “But, I like the old phrase 'trust but verify'." And in some instances, GoGuardian is used more so as a teaching tool, rather than a security measure. “I mainly use GoGuardian to monitor the pacing of the students or to see how their online assignment is going,” Spanish teacher Tanya Walery said. However, she also said that she uses GoGuardian every time the class is using their Chromebooks. According to Riley, classwork involving technology can be risky in losing students’ focus without any surveillance programs. She’s noted that English classes have seen a growth of attentiveness and it has shown in their work. “I think when Chromebooks are used effectively they can certainly enhance teaching and learning,” Riley said. “It’s made our job a lot easier as [administrators].” Some students agree with the teachers and are not bothered by receiving a notification from GoGuardian indicating they are being monitored. “I don’t mind having GoGuardian,” sophomore Sami Raslan said. “[GoGuardian] keeps me accountable and I get more done when I know my teachers are watching me.” On the other hand, other students find the system to be an unnecessary invasion of privacy. In the same Advocate survey, 56.9 percent of students claimed that GoGuardian did not make their work time any more productive. In addition to GoGuardian, the school’s technology department has restricted the access to certain websites for students. However, Maita said that teachers have the ability to request for sites to be unblocked if it’s beneficial to their class’ educational experience and a worthwhile activity. “We have created the restrictions to be triggered by keywords that alert our team to a potential dangerous situation for the student,” Maita said. “Usually the keywords are related to self-harm or indicate an inappropriate activity [for a school setting].” Both Maita and Laffey said that it is uncommon to be inconvenienced as a result of a restricted site because there is usually no educational value to that website. Administrators have the ability to input a password into the Chromebook and access any site they want in a few seconds. “Sometimes when students are researching using the databases provided a specific website will be blocked,” Laffey said. “[When that happens], it is usually a mistake and we are able to bypass the restriction.” However, from a student perspective, some said they feel that the blocked sites that get triggered by keywords are “excessive” and that blocked YouTube videos can be “frustrating [for students] when denied access,” according to students from the survey. As a result of the feelings of discontent with blocked sites by some students, the IT department, administrators, and students have had to deal with the repercussions from tampering with and bypassing the

blocked websites. Students have been caught “jailbreaking” their Chromebooks to download social media apps such as Instagram, games like Crossy Road, and music platforms including Spotify, that have been designated a distraction and therefore blocked from access. “We have smart and resourceful students who work really hard to go around our restrictions,” Maita said. “But we do realize [jailbreaking] is an issue and do our best to stay on top of it.” Cunningham said that she along with some of her peers have resorted to using their personal laptops to complete research and access sites that would otherwise be off-limits to the student body. “I’ve never taken my chromebook out of my backpack at home. It’s completely unnecessary,” Cunningham said. For those that rely on their Chromebooks both at school and in their homes, they are left to accept and abide by the technology guidelines and restrictions implemented by the school. “At the end of the day, [Chromebooks] are provided by the school and meant for educational purposes,” Walery said. Along with censorship in technology, the security team at Central has also taken initiatives to keep tabs on students’ whereabouts in the school. During class periods, students are expected to have passes when walking in the hallways, and are subjected to security officers asking where they are headed. “Each time I walk in the hallway or lunchroom I expect to see security officers scanning the areas,” Cunningham said. Some students said they are uncomfortable with the added precautions and don’t completely understand how the security officers make the school safer. Security officer Kevin Simpson said that they have already found students off-task in different areas of the school. “A lot of times kids that ask to leave class are ditching,” Simpson said. “Some kids don’t like to go to gym so they may be meeting their friends in the lunchroom or sitting doing homework in the library.” With the growing suspicion of student activity outside of class, some teachers have become less lenient with handing out unlimited hall passes, or passes all together. “Freshman year I wasn't allowed to go to the bathroom for the whole semester in one of my classes or else points would be taken off of my final grade,” Cunningham said. Administrators said they hope that students who genuinely need to leave the classroom are able to. “I think that teachers want to limit the amount of time their students are out of class missing instruction,” Maita said. “But I hope that if a student needs to use the restroom, they’re allowed to.” Another security change that occurred last year was with the removal of some bathroom doors in both male and female restrooms as a consequence of the global teenage vaping crisis. “We try to prevent groups from loitering in the stalls and doing things they’re not supposed to,” Maita said. “The country is dealing with a vaping problem and a way our school is combating the issue is by removing a few of the doors that provide an enclosed, unsupervised space for students to engage in inappropriate behaviors.” In addition to taking off the doors, Maita said that Central has invested in new forms of video surveillance. There are 159 new security cameras around the school being monitored by the staff to report suspicious activities. Simpson stated that the new security program and representatives are meant to protect students and not intimidate them. “The basis for why we have the cameras is for safety and that’s both for exterior threats, students, and visitors trying to get in,” Simpson said. With the increasing prevalence of vaping for teenagers, hallway passes and footage have been useful in searching for students suspected of misusing property. “The footage is used for investigations in the Dean’s office as well as with the security team,” Simpson said. Some students said that at times they forget that their movements and actions are being watched on cameras and when they notice it, it makes them uncomfortable. “You don’t even realize that you’re being watched the entire day in every area of the school,” Cunningham said. Although there are varying opinions regarding the convenience of security measures, Cunningham agrees that in the end, she hopes the school can be as safe as possible. “Although it can be annoying, I respect what the [faculty] is trying to do to keep us secure as a school,” Cunningham said. We want to implement every safety feature to ensure the security of both the students and staff members. " Ryan Maita "