In an effort to continue education, a number of places have implemented online grade school classes. While it works (in a way), there are some issues that we weren’t expecting, like an invasion in privacy.
Recently, there was a report about a student in Maryland who had the police called on him after mistaking a BB gun in the background of their video feed as a real weapon.
While in a digital video class for school, a student’s BB gun collection could be seen in the background of the video feed. The mother claimed that the child never interacted with the items, and was likely not aware they were even visible. A teacher, likely confusing them for actual firearms, reported the weapons to the principal, who subsequently called the police on the home.
The principal claimed that this violated school rules of bringing guns to school, while the mother disagreed. She believes the lookalike guns were at home and not at all involved with the schooling.
All of this resulted in the police arriving at the child’s home. According to the mother, the policeman that arrived was very polite and explained the reason for his visit. After receiving consent to search the home, he found the BB guns. Once realizing the situation, the officer took his leave.
This brings a number of things to light, both in the home and in the school system. Virtual schooling has been a necessity due to the pandemic, but schools dictating their policies outside of the school and into people’s personal homes is a concerning disconnect from American freedom.
At the same time, this is a good example of how it’s important to teach children the full scope of what they share online. Had the child taken greater consideration into what they were revealing in their video feed, they might have noticed the BB guns and would have known to cover or relocate them while on a school-related video session.
But it doesn’t have to be one or the other; we can have both. By contacting local representatives and expressing discontent with situations like this and by participating in the conferences and bureaucratic decisions of your children’s school, you can ensure that a safe and secure boundary is set. Additionally, communicating with your children and ensuring they understand that the internet is a place to be careful with what they reveal about themselves is a tremendously valuable life skill in this ever digital world.
It’s a good thing that everything went down as smoothly as it has, though. There have been far too many reports of false weapon claims resulting in the death of innocent people. Our commendation goes to the local policeman that handled the situation with professionalism and awareness.