Schools Have Their Students Under Surveillance. Will It Prevent Future School Shootings?

In a country with more school shootings than any other major industrialized nation, a lot of schools are wondering what they can do to protect their students (who are stressed enough as is). Some companies think they have a solution: surveillance.

Gaggle is a tool that monitors the work and communication of 4.8 million students. It’s limited to online behavior tied to the school district, but even so, it’s still a lot -- like homework assignments, emails, and notifications from any social media account linked to a school email address. Another company, Social Sentinel, goes a step further to scan public social media posts and flag questionable content to local school districts.

But it’s not clear how effective these kinds of tools are at flagging actual threats. And it doesn’t help that for a lot of Gen Z, our sense of humor is, well…dark. Taken out of context, some posts can get flagged unncessarily. That’s how one student in Washington got flagged to her school district for tweeting, “nick if you dont fall in love with jess again im gonna kill you.” (The girl was just trying to stan her New Girl OTP.)

Some argue that the resources going into surveillance would be better spent on things like more school counselors, mental health screenings, and anti-bullying curriculum. It’s an issue we’re going to continue to see pop up, especially as some lawmakers are proposing controversial legislation requiring schools to track their students’ online activity to prevent future shootings.

Take Action: Use and share these four tips to protect your privacy online.

After a Controversial In-Flight Edit, Delta Air Lines is Letting These Films Keep Their Same-Sex Love Scenes

(Editor’s Note: Jackie’s original headline for this section was “Congrats, Delta Air Lines, for Letting People Be Gay” and it was too good not to include.)

Delta Air Lines announced that they’re restoring same-sex love scenes in the films Booksmart and Rocketman, which were previously censored for in-flight viewing.

The company got in a bit of trouble this past weekend with fans of Booksmart (including its director). A fan tweeted upset about an edited version of the film she watched on a Delta flight that cut out a love scene between two female characters, despite there being no nudity.

It got back to director Olivia Wilde, who found that this version also cut out multiple moments in the film that showcased female and queer sexuality (but the movie’s cursing, it seems, was fine). This all happened a day after the airline was also called out online for cutting out references to gay relationships in the film Rocketman.

It’s great that Delta is restoring these scenes, but here’s the thing to remember: When you don’t see yourself represented in the media you consume, the message you’re being sent is that you don’t count. LGBTQ+ people exist, female sexuality exists, and our films and TV shows need to reflect that.

Take Action: Support representation in media! Check out any of the stellar films on this LGBTQ+ watch list.

Back in the Classroom: The Chicago Teachers’ Strike Was a Success

After 11 days of picketing and protesting, Chicago teachers are returning to their classrooms with some hard-won victories. Their walkout was the longest the city has seen in decades, and it resulted in a commitment from Mayor Lori Lightfoot to reduce class sizes, hire more social workers, nurses, and librarians, and increase teacher salaries by 16% over the next five years.

Not all of the Chicago Teachers’ Union’s demands were met, but the ones that were are major -- after all, a $30 million increase in funding and sanctuary protections for undocumented students are nothing to scoff at. Wondering what the students think of all this? Read this column from a high school student journalist in the area.

There’s been a recent wave of teacher strikes across the country from Arizona to Kentucky, and educators are fiercely advocating for their students and schools in a time when education budget cuts abound.

Take Action: Tell Congress to fund our future. Write your rep about approving H.R. 2740 to increase funding for public schools by $4.4 billion.

• Why aren’t more people talking about… how the Keystone Pipeline spilled over 380,000 gallons of oil in North Dakota, just like Indigenous activists and protestors predicted?

• Meanwhile, in India… the country’s capital is temporarily banning cars because of the toxic air pollution, currently eight times higher than the maximum safe level.

• My hero today is… eighth-grader Alaina Gassler, whose science project eliminates blind spots from cars.

• My *other* heroes today are… the 650 people who formed a human chain to move children’s books between libraries.

• Today in viral cuteness… this heartwarming thank you from a first-grader to his football coach.

• In ~Halloween~ viral cuteness… this two-year old dressed up as a pair of pants, and this is what I have to say about it.

• I’m obsessed with… The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I know I’m a little late to this hype train, but WOW. Catch me doing absolutely nothing but playing this video game for the next month.

The Results Are In: Jackie Wins!

Last week, we asked y’all to vote on mine and Anthony’s Halloween costumes, and the results are in! I guess there must be some Gravity Falls fans among the News-Changers (and I mean, how could you not?). Thanks for voting!

Anthony also wanted to relay this message:

“Good morning only to the people that voted for both of us or just me!!!"

He’s kidding...probably.

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