Student ‘technology misuse’ sparks alarm
Parents have questions about what content kids easily access on board-supplied Chromebooks
When Genevieve Kenny received a notice from her eight-year-old child’s school about an incident involving “technology misuse,” she was concerned about how much time he was spending online — and what he was doing.
To her shock, she later found out the letter was related to an incident where, while in class with a supply teacher, a group of kids were watching a YouTube video of people simulating fellatio on a hot dog in class.
Asked specifically about this incident, the TDSB said in an email that it has a robust set of online tools that filters out inappropriate content. “Regarding the video on YouTube ... we understand that it was discussed at the classroom level, as teachers work collaboratively with principals to address such concerns as they arise ... We are continually exploring additional measures to ensure a safe online environment for our students.”
Kenny’s child, like thousands of others at the Toronto District School Board, accesses the internet on school-provided Chromebooks. She started to wonder what was in place to block and filter content on these devices.
Other parents at Equinox Holistic Alternative School in Toronto’s east end shared her concerns.
“We feel like we don’t have control over what they’re accessing in the classroom,” said fellow parent Mandy Wintuck. “Yet at home, I’m quite in control of it and very tightly regulate content and access to screens.”
While the board’s Chromebook program is viewed as a success for helping ensure students have equitable access to technology, it has raised questions around what kind of content they are accessing in class — and at home — and how much time they are spending on these devices doing non-educational things.
This is against a backdrop of Ontario introducing a new ban on cellphones and school boards launching lawsuits against popular social media sites alleging they’re deliberately hurting students.
The Star brought some of these concerns to the board to try to find out.
What is TDSB’s Chromebook program?
In 2021, the TDSB started the Student Device Program, which provides every Grade 5 student with a Chromebook that they can take home, and then another in Grade 9. Younger students use Chromebooks in class. Some 86,783 Chromebooks have been distributed to students over the first three years of the program.
What can students access on these Chromebooks at school?
After the hot dog video incident, Kenny, an engineer who teaches at Sheridan College, wanted to know about the TDSB’s online content filters and whether she could gain more access and control to what her sons were doing on the device. She looked at her older son’s computer and realized she needed an IT administrator’s level of permissions to add additional software.
“I was told by school administration that all they could do was enforce the Online Code of Conduct,” says Kenny, referencing the agreement that states how students should take care of and use the devices.
Chromebooks are laptop-like devices that are built around Google’s Chrome browser, and for most things need to be connected to a network to function. She was also assured there are many filters in place. When asked about the school’s response the TDSB did not answer specifically.
When connected to the TDSB network, Bradbeer says there are many safeguards in place including a service from a company called Palo Alto Networks, which has a firewall that blocks out inappropriate content based on categories, including adult-oriented, or hateful and racist sites.
Many streaming services and social networks are also blocked. Unfortunately, he adds, no online filtering system is perfect.
The TDSB can request websites, videos or other questionable content to be added to the filter.
What happens when they bring Chromebooks home?
While there are plenty of online filters at the network level at schools, when the devices are taken home, it all depends on what online filters people have on their networks.
Can parents monitor what their kid is doing on their Chromebooks?
Despite being told that there weren’t further ways to monitor her children’s devices, Kenny learned on the TDSB site about Blocksi, which is a Chrome extension parents can request. It offers additional layers of online filters and monitoring software but must be requested by school administration and then installed on the account by IT staff.
According to Bradbeer, Blocksi has only been requested by 126 parents in the past three years, and Kenny said her school’s administration seemed to be unaware it was an option, particularly before the YouTube incident.
Bradbeer says the school administrations have been made aware that it is available, but with the relatively low requests, it’s not something many have had experience with and that administrations have a lot to deal with, particularly at the beginning of the year, when the Chromebooks are given to students. Kenny says it took about three weeks to get it set up.
Beyond monitoring, she can also now block sites, and has let other parents at her school know. She also likes that she gets a weekly report about what her children are doing on the devices.