AI Watches Students 24/7, Privacy Concerns Mount

An AP investigation reveals how schools monitor every word students type on their devices. Vancouver Public Schools pays $328,036 for software that scans students' digital lives 24/7. The goal? Stop suicides and shootings before they happen.

The surveillance caught real emergencies. One student searched "Why does my boyfriend hit me?" Another wrote about suicide. The system alerted counselors instantly. But it also flagged teenage poetry, creative writing, and private diaries about coming out.

The story broke when Vancouver schools accidentally released 3,500 unredacted student documents to AP reporters. The files revealed intimate details about depression, heartbreak, eating disorders - even students' role-play chats with AI. Oops.

Students adapted quickly. They learned to avoid triggering keywords. Some stopped using school devices for personal searches entirely. As one student put it: "I was too scared to be curious." Even googling menstrual cycle questions felt risky.

Companies like Gaggle defend the surveillance as essential playground safety. CEO Jeff Patterson argues school computers aren't meant for "unlimited self-exploration." But critics worry constant monitoring creates a digital prison.

Why this matters:

• Schools face an impossible choice: Monitor everything to prevent tragedies, or preserve student privacy and risk missing warning signs
• While the software catches real emergencies, it's also teaching kids that privacy doesn't exist in the digital age. Welcome to the surveillance generation.

Read on, my dear:

• AP Investigation: Schools use AI to monitor kids, hoping to prevent violence. Our investigation found security risks