Schools all across Canada and the United States have been implementing a software known as GoGuardian. GoGuardian is a software used by many schools which allows you to filter search terms, block certain websites, and most importantly, monitor students activity in real time on their devices. These tools should seem like a benefit to most people. Schools are able to make sure that students are on track, and working on their assignments. However, students across Canada and US have been feeling restricted, and even more restricted from anything online.

First point, GoGuardian allows teachers to monitor students activity in real time. This seems alright, but the problem is that GoGuardian runs 24/7. It allows you to track your students activity, anywhere, anytime, and it does not matter if they are on a different Wi-Fi connection. It never stops running. I have been having this problem myself. On holidays like Winter Break, if it was a weekday, I was unable to access sites like Discord, or Reddit. Another problem with this is that whatever you send, whatever you click on, someone could be watching. Students are unable to do anything without the risk of somebody watching them.

Second point, GoGuardian keeps the data of students browser history in a database, and the data doesn't get erased until six months have passed. Deleting your search history won't work, as they already have the data.

Thirdly, the GoGuardian search terms filtering is terrible. If a website name contains a word that has been blocked by your teachers, no matter the intentions of the site, it will get blocked. There are many reports of these instances on platforms like Reddit, of review sites. Random sites are getting blocked, yet students could still access much more explicit content, and schools are claiming that students are safer when they are under GoGuardian.

In summary, GoGuardian is a school software that allows teachers to view their students screens lock their devices, and control your device. It is a digital tool that allows you to view pretty much anything on a students device, anytime, anywhere, on any network. It is a software that students are claiming to endanger their digital activity. Students are going on various websites on their school devices, and anyone could watch them. Students don't want privacy because they have bad intentions. They want privacy because without it, everything suddenly becomes a dead end. This post may seem like just a rant, but it is a problem with people covering this topic on platforms like YouTube.