Geo Listening Essay

Due to a rise in social networks, such as Facebook and Twitter, people have questioned school administrators’ rights to monitor their students’ social media activity. Schools not only have the right, but also the duty, to scrutinize the internet presence of their students. Many teens may argue against this invasive activity, but it may turn out to be a blessing, rather than a curse. In recent years there has been an emergence of private companies whose clients include schools and other business entities that monitor social media accounts. Geo Listening, a private, for profit company monitors, analyzes, and reports adverse posts on social media. Geo Listening searches for evidence of drug use, violence, bullying, suicide, and other examples of self harm on the social media sites owned or posted to by students. They do not monitor private posts or commonplace criticisms against teachers or other school staff. As of September, 2013, Glendale, California school district was paying Geo …show more content…
J.D. Ferries-Rowe, chief information officer at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory School, argues against this saying that “the most valuable parts of education never are” (J.D. Ferries-Rowe). For example, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey taken in 2013 found that 15% of high school students nationwide were electronically bullied the previous year (What is Cyberbullying). Monitoring social media, though, can prevent the growing trend of cyberbullying. Monitoring social media can also assist teachers and parents to intervene before tragedy strikes. A CNN article on Glendale stated that there has already been a successful intervention with a student “who was speaking of ending his life” on social media. This intervention was significant, because two teens had committed suicide in the two previous years