Over 91% of parents and educators believe it is necessary to adopt online educational technology to prevent students from accessing harmful or explicit content
Los Angeles, October 4 April 2022 /PRNewswire/ — As the 2022-23 school year begins, parents and educators are showing support for online tools that can protect students from harmful content and help detect mental health issues in students.A new survey by decision intelligence firm Morning Consult 2,500K-12 Parents, teachers and administrators. Survey respondents expressed significant concerns about student mental health and high levels of support for schools using online technology to help keep children safe.
Key overall findings from the survey related to content moderation include:
- The Internet is a useful learning tool: 93% of parents and 98% of teachers and administrators agree that the internet is a useful learning tool and schools should use it as part of the learning process.
- Harmful or explicit content is a problem: 74% of K-8 and 68% of 9-12 parents are concerned about students accessing explicit or harmful content while using school-issued devices. For teachers and administrators, this increases to more than 80 percent.
- Content moderation is necessary and is the responsibility of the school: Over 91% of respondents believe it is necessary to employ online education technology to prevent students from accessing harmful or explicit content. Of those who felt it was necessary, more than 95% said schools had a responsibility to implement these tools.
- It is also important to keep students focused on tasks: More than 88% of respondents also believe there is a need for online educational technology to keep students focused on tasks and away from digital distractions. This is especially important as educators address unfinished learning related to the pandemic.
“These findings validate across the country what we’ve been hearing directly from our customers for a long time: parents and educators believe in the value of learning through the Internet, they trust schools to make the right decisions to keep students safe online ,”Say Patricia Bothwell, Vice President and General Manager of Safety and Productivity at GoGuardian. “With nearly 9 out of 10 students in the U.S. using a device as part of their daily instruction, it’s more important than ever to provide schools with a thoughtful and comprehensive approach to student safety, privacy, and security.”
The need for cybersecurity is especially evident given the urgency of the U.S. teenage mental health crisis underscored by recommendations from U.S. surgeons. The Morning Consult survey found that parents and educators recognize the role the internet may play in exacerbating mental health problems.
Key findings from the survey related to student mental health and safety include:
- High focus on student safety: Over 83% of K-12 parents, educators and administrators are highly concerned about student mental health and school violence.
- Internet plays a role in influencing self-harm or violence: Over 72% of respondents agree that the internet plays an important role in influencing students to harm themselves or others.
- Unrestricted access can be harmful or harmful: More than three-quarters of respondents agreed that unrestricted internet access on school-issued devices could harm students’ mental health.
- Online tools to support student safety: Nearly 90% of respondents support online educational technology that can help detect signs that students are considering harming themselves or others.
Nearly all respondents agreed that schools have a responsibility to deploy educational technology to prevent students from accessing harmful or explicit content, thus also agreeing on trust in the school system. More than 83% of respondents said they trust school systems to make informed decisions about which online technologies are suitable for schools to use. When measuring comfort with online educational technology, ensuring that student data is not shared or sold is a key priority for survey respondents.
Additional details and visual representations of Morning Consult’s key findings can be found here.
About the survey: GoGuardian commissioned Morning Consult to conduct a blind third-party investigation.The survey collected online data from July 16-29, 2022, without mentioning any specific education technology company or product.Morning Consultation Poll 500K-8 parents, 500 9-12 parents, 1000 thousand-12 teachers etc. 493 thousand-12 administrators. The research is part of a larger ongoing effort by GoGuardian to gather candid insights from its key stakeholders, including parents, educators, and administrators. The margin of error for the full survey results is between +/- 4% and 5%, depending on the question and demographic group.
About GoGuardian
GoGuardian provides simple, proven solutions to help create an effective, engaging and safe learning environment. Designed for K-12 and trusted by school leaders, our award-winning system of learning tools promotes effective teaching and equitable participation while empowering educators to help keep students safe. Learn more at goguardian.com.
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