School Safety Tech Raises Questions About Student Privacy
In a photo taken last March, a teenage boy is sitting at his desk with a plastic pellet gun that looks a lot like an AR-15. The airsoft rifle is propped up on the arm of a chair, pointing at the ceiling, and the boy, Eric, is looking at the camera. We're not using his last name to protect his privacy.
Eric's friend took the picture. At the time, Eric says, he didn't realize his friend had captioned the photo "Don't come to school Monday" and had sent it to others on Snapchat.
"I don't think he really had the intention of getting me in trouble," Eric says, explaining his friend's post as "dark humor."
But Eric, who is now in 10th grade, did get in trouble.
Someone reported the photo to Miami-Dade County Public Schools, where Eric is a student. Two police officers and Eric's principal took him out of class to question him. "I was terrified," Eric says. "They think that I wanted to shoot up the school, and I didn't. I didn't want to at all."
Eric was recommended for expulsion. His parents fought it, explaining that he didn't take the picture, caption it or send it to anyone himself. Ultimately, he was moved CONTINUE READING: School Safety Tech Raises Questions About Student Privacy : NPR
