Spying on student devices, schools aim to intercept self-harm before it happens

Dawn was still hours away when Angel Cholka was awakened by the beams of a police flashlight through the window. At the door was an officer, who asked if someone named Madi lived there. He said he needed to check on her. Cholka ran to her 16-year-old’s bedroom, confused and, suddenly, terrified.

Cholka did not know that artificial intelligence-powered software operated by the local school district in Neosho, Missouri, had been tracking what Madi was typing on her school-issued Chromebook.