Introduction to AI Surveillance in Schools
Lesley Mathis knows what her daughter said was wrong. But she never expected the 13-year-old girl would get arrested for it. The teenage girl made an offensive joke while chatting online with her classmates, triggering the school’s surveillance software. Before the morning was even over, the Tennessee eighth grader was under arrest. She was interrogated, strip-searched and spent the night in a jail cell, her mother says.
The Incident and Its Aftermath
Earlier in the day, her friends had teased the teen about her tanned complexion and called her “Mexican,” even though she’s not. When a friend asked what she was planning for Thursday, she wrote: “on Thursday we kill all the Mexico’s.” Mathis said the comments were “wrong” and “stupid,” but context showed they were not a threat. “It made me feel like, is this the America we live in?” Mathis said of her daughter’s arrest. “And it was this stupid, stupid technology that is just going through picking up random words and not looking at context.”
The Use of Surveillance Systems in Schools
Surveillance systems in American schools increasingly monitor everything students write on school accounts and devices. Thousands of school districts across the country use software like Gaggle and Lightspeed Alert to track kids’ online activities, looking for signs they might hurt themselves or others. With the help of artificial intelligence, technology can dip into online conversations and immediately notify both school officials and law enforcement. Educators say the technology has saved lives. But critics warn it can criminalize children for careless words.
Schools Ratchet Up Vigilance for Threats
In a country weary of school shootings, several states have taken a harder line on threats to schools. Among them is Tennessee, which passed a 2023 zero-tolerance law requiring any threat of mass violence against a school to be reported immediately to law enforcement. The 13-year-old girl arrested in August 2023 had been texting with friends on a chat function tied to her school email at Fairview Middle School, which uses Gaggle to monitor students’ accounts.
Private Student Chats Face Unexpected Scrutiny
Students who think they are chatting privately among friends often do not realize they are under constant surveillance, said Shahar Pasch, an education lawyer in Florida. One teenage girl she represented made a joke about school shootings on a private Snapchat story. Snapchat’s automated detection software picked up the comment, the company alerted the FBI, and the girl was arrested on school grounds within hours. Alexa Manganiotis, 16, said she was startled by how quickly monitoring software works. West Palm Beach’s Dreyfoos School of the Arts, which she attends, last year piloted Lightspeed Alert, a surveillance program.
An Analysis Shows a High Rate of False Alarms
Information that could allow schools to assess the software’s effectiveness, such as the rate of false alerts, is closely held by technology companies and unavailable publicly unless schools track the data themselves. Gaggle alerted more than 1,200 incidents to the Lawrence, Kansas, school district in a recent 10-month period. But almost two-thirds of those alerts were deemed by school officials to be nonissues — including over 200 false alarms from student homework, according to an Associated Press analysis of data received via a public records request. Students in one photography class were called to the principal’s office over concerns Gaggle had detected nudity. The photos had been automatically deleted from the students’ Google Drives, but students who had backups of the flagged images on their own devices showed it was a false alarm.
By SHARON LURYE, Associated Press Education Writer
Natasha Torkzaban stands outside Lawrence High School, where she and other students have filed a lawsuit against the school district’s use of digital surveillance software, Sunday, Aug. 3, 2025, in Lawrence, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)
Conclusion
The use of AI surveillance in schools has sparked controversy and debate. While some argue that it is necessary to ensure student safety, others claim that it infringes on students’ privacy and can lead to false alarms and unnecessary arrests. The case of the 13-year-old girl who was arrested for making a joke online highlights the need for schools to carefully consider the use of surveillance software and to ensure that it is used in a way that respects students’ rights and privacy.
FAQs
Q: What is AI surveillance in schools?
A: AI surveillance in schools refers to the use of artificial intelligence technology to monitor students’ online activities and detect potential threats or warning signs.
Q: What are the benefits of AI surveillance in schools?
A: The benefits of AI surveillance in schools include the potential to detect and prevent school shootings, suicides, and other violent incidents.
Q: What are the drawbacks of AI surveillance in schools?
A: The drawbacks of AI surveillance in schools include the potential for false alarms, unnecessary arrests, and infringement on students’ privacy.
Q: How can schools balance the need for safety with the need to respect students’ privacy?
A: Schools can balance the need for safety with the need to respect students’ privacy by carefully considering the use of surveillance software, ensuring that it is used in a way that respects students’ rights and privacy, and providing transparency and accountability in its use.
Q: What can parents do to protect their children’s privacy in schools?
A: Parents can protect their children’s privacy in schools by being aware of the school’s surveillance policies, monitoring their child’s online activities, and advocating for their child’s rights and privacy.
