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Delaware schools are contracting with AI safety system GoGuardian

Schools and parents will have more control over students' internet usage, and will be alerted of at-risk behavior.

Delaware schools are aiming for tighter digital safety with a new system. (Photo by Pexels user Julia M. Cameron, used under a Creative Commons license)

Starting next year, Delaware public school students will have a new system on their devices that not only blocks dangerous and inappropriate content, but also has the ability to detect student safety and self-harm concerns, DETV reports.

The new statewide system is part of a $1.6 million content filtering and student safety project in partnership with the Delaware Department of Education and Delaware Department of Information and Technology, and is funded by CARES Act funds allocated to Delaware’s federal Elementary & Secondary School Emergency Relief Fund and Governor’s Emergency Education Relief Fund.

The system, GoGuardian, is uses artificial intelligence to continuously analyze content for warning signs, unlike many systems that use keywords that block entire blocks of content that they should have access to. (A famous example of this: the former Beaver College in Pennsylvania, which wound up changing its name to Arcadia University in part because content filters in schools blocked its website because its name was also found on sexually explicit websites.)

Parents and guardians will also have enhanced control over their children’s’ internet usage, with an app that allows them to limit internet access, block specific sites and receive alerts if the child exhibits at-risk behavior, such as visiting websites that encourage violence or self harm.

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