On April 10th, the Youth Risk Behavior Survey was given to the students at Hillsboro Deering High School in Hillsboro, NH. The survey is a HIGHLY revealing questionnaire that many parents choose to opt their children out of. The survey was created by the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and is administered by The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), and the Department of Education. It seeks information about youth experiences. Unfortunately, some parents remain totally unaware of the depth of how personal the questions become. Questions about how old you were when you lost your virginity, or how often you are being molested, beaten, or driven drunk?
The children are asked highly sexual questions that most of us are never asked, or would ever answer. Adults would undoubtedly consider the questions sexual harassment in almost every circumstance. Having our public school children answer these questions is asking A LOT. It’s asking kids to do more than you’d be willing to do. It’s inexplicable. Parents who have taken the time to review the survey are shocked at how sexually explicit the questions become. Appropriate follow-up is not adequately provided to potentially traumatized teens. The most the survey does is provide resource phone numbers. If students reveal they are actively being abused, no one will rescue them. They take the survey and move on to their next class. It’s leaving parents concerned about their child’s potential reactions.
See the questions for yourself here.
Parents report that their parental boundaries have been broken, and they feel their children have been “used” in a sexual way. The teens themselves have made statements suggesting they have similar feelings. After the survey was given two years ago, one Hillsboro Deering High School student, a 15-year-old girl, said she felt “triggered and traumatized” by the questions. This year, the kids were ready. It did not go as planned. Several things interrupted the process.
First, in one advisory class, the survey was disrupted by several students urging the others, “DON’T DO IT!” The kids declared the questions were “sexual and inappropriate” and that doing it on their school-issued Chromebooks could potentially identify them. “They know your every keystroke!” they said. All the students in the advisory class closed their Chromebooks and refused to proceed. This wasn’t the only problem for the survey distribution that day. It got MUCH WORSE!
The students in other Hillsboro Deering advisory classes that attempted to complete the Youth Risk Behavior Survey were unable. The “Go Guardian” software meant to protect the students from dangerous content, BLOCKED THE SURVEY so that no one could take it. It was too sexual for the Chromebook’s safety safeguards to allow!
The distribution of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey was unable to proceed on April 10th. It has been rescheduled until next week, once they sort out the blocking software problems. The irony of the survey being too sexual for the Go Guardian blocking software was no surprise to parents. Apparently, it was a surprise to the school staff and administration. Many were highly frustrated with the inability to proceed. The school plans to ignore parents’ concerns, bypass the blocking software, and attempt a redistribution of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey next week. Parents are wondering if they will be properly notified. The students are wondering if their teachers will go back and look at their keystrokes.
Read about Go Guardian, a software solution to the blocking needs of schools.
The company’s data mining, maintaining, and sharing of student information is highly suspect, and can legitimately put students’ private data at risk. The software records every keystroke and can even be used to take over the Chromebook’s camera. Teachers or administrators could potentially spy on students 24 hours a day. The main feature of the software program is to block websites by keywords. There ARE ways for savvy students to use semantics to get to their desired website and access dangerous content. Go Guardian is also known for failing in its overall goals, due to blocking considerably more than planned, restricting the students from useful educational materials. Go Guardian software blocking the Youth Risk Behavior Survey is a perfect example of the program working against the user. It blocked something that the school considered “educational”. Clearly the Youth Risk Behavior Survey has some language within it that triggers the blocking software. That alone should be a RED FLAG to parents. The Youth Risk Behavior Survey IS highly sexual, and the Go Guardian software used to protect your children, is not as protective (or useful) as you think.
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