For my kids school district they won’t allow the kid computer access at school without three different parent consent forms being signed and a liability acceptance form so I have to buy it if my kid breaks it. We use a different monitoring software and I get a weekly report of my kids computer activity.
It makes sense to me that schools don’t want to open themselves to the liability of the misuse of school property so they put in safeguards to ensure it can’t be missused. Of course, my eldest is in 1st grade and isn’t even allowed to take home a computer until 3rd grade, at that point we’ll have a conversation about webcams and how covering them when you’re not using them is a good idea. Outside of that I can’t think of any objections I have as a parent to these policies. As a dickhead teenager I would have figured out ways to use the software to fuck with the people monitoring me but teenagers are against lots of rules that need to be in place due to the concerns of society at large.
Can the parents not agree to it meaning it’s like most software licenses where you agree to all the onerous terms or can’t install/use it? If the parent objects to the spyware does their child then not get a chromebook to do schoolwork or would the district give them one w/o that software? (I know, district-by-district answer)
District-by-district, but generally yes. You want a school Chromebook, you sign the agreement. I can’t think of any reason a district would allow opt-out with school equipment.
For my district the kids would be SOL and would not be allowed to use a computer at school and would have to provide their own including purchasing the proprietary software to do their home work. It’s probably a $1,000 hit to say no to the spyware
Our school board is rolling out a “Chrome books for all” policy where kids will be issued a new one in grades 1, 5, and 9. The first tranche were issued this year and then each new class of those grades until everyone has one.
My 13 year old is currently in grade 8 and is fuming mad with this policy as she KNOWS that they will have rights to the device. This will force her to look at things she shouldn’t or when she shouldn’t on one of about 10 other devices that she has access to. Most smart TVs have access to the web, unbeknownst to adults.
For the record, we make it crystal clear to our kids that their current devices belong to us as the parents, the kids are just the current users. That being said, we have no logging or nanny software blocking anything they do. Work or school equipment has policies that they just have to live with.
My kid can do the assignments or take tests remotely on the school supplied tablet (with spyware pre-installed and unremovable) or on what was (pre-COVID) her “gaming rig” with a huge screen, a full size keyboard and a physical mouse. But the latter is only an option if she has the spyware installed on it. I know there have been students who have tried to hack into and disable the monitoring software and been caught. Is it possible for someone to rig up something elaborate that gets around the monitoring? Sure. Is a middle or high school student likely to manage this.
I certainly don’t want my kid to be competing with students who are NOT being monitored during tests and assignments.