LAS VEGAS (KLAS) — This week is the start of a new school year for the Clark County School District and as safety procedures are addressed in the classroom so to our the precautions that protect student safety online.
From Chrome Books to tablets the learning that goes on across the district involves a lot of technology and with that can come the potential threat of online dangers.
CCSD students are allowed internet access, but they sign a digital waiver agreeing to use school technology for school work.
Lieutenant Bryan Zink with the Clark County School District Police Department tells 8 News Now, that the district also uses programs to filter content.
“They are all embedded with two different technologies, there’s Go Guardian, and then there’s also Beacon,” he said.
Go Guardian’s software helps schools manage student devices.
“Those monitor, they’re not spying on the kid, they don’t activate the cameras when people don’t want the cameras on. What they do is they monitor what the kids do,” he added.
Beacon is a tool that allows administrators to track and report on student interventions, if needed, it can even turn a computer off.
Tom Shininger a dean and counselor at Las Vegas Day School described the need for software programs that filter potentially dangerous content.
“Even though they might act mature, they might be on their game with grades, they’re still kids,” Shininger said.
In the case of more extreme behavior, the technology can help get ahead of a crisis, if, for example, a student types something alarming.
“Where can I buy a gun, it’ll send an alert to the school, who then, alert the proper authority,” Lt. Zink added.
The school’s action plan could then kick into high gear if such a situation were ever to come up.
“It may end up that you get a knock on your door with local law enforcement or school police, or our partners in the valley making sure everything is okay,” Lt. Zink tells 8 News Now.
The focus is just keeping kids on task, focused on schoolwork, and staying safe in the cyber world.
