Glendale, California - A Southern California school district is trying to stop cyberbullying by watching what students post on social media sites like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
The Los Angeles Times reported on Sunday that Glendale Unified School District hired the company Geo Listening last year to track postings by about 14 000 middle and high school students.
Chris Frydrych, the founder and CEO of the Hermosa Beach-based company, says he expects to be monitoring about 3 000 schools worldwide by the end of the year.
The Glendale district is paying $40 500 (about R365 000) and in exchange, the company's computers scour public posts by students and alerts school administrators when they find something they think should spur an intervention.
So far, no students have been disciplined, but some say the program infringes on their privacy. - Sapa-AP