By Paulina Leskow, ’24

Staff Writer

Students at Hanover High School deal with censorship and flagging of emails more often than one would expect, yet for reasons that might come as a surprise.

“I was joking with my friend about killing her pet inchworm if she didn’t Venmo me,” recalled senior Ian MacDougall. “I’m assuming the word ‘kill’ was what got flagged.” As a result, Ian’s message was blocked from going through, and he was called to the office for a warning about what is okay to send on school email.

Another student who asked to remain anonymous said an email she sent to her doctor about her mental health led to a call home and a meeting with the principal about the misunderstanding. “I will not be sending any more emails to my doctor through my school email,” she said. “When I was called down to the office, I started crying as it was an emotional and private email, and I was afraid of being in trouble when I was told to meet with the principal.” The HHS administration was very supportive of the situation and there were no consequences, the student reported.

These situations cause stress among students who have not been flagged as well. Senior Baylor Speckmann said he generally feels uncomfortable sending emails under his school account. “My information is personal and I do not need staff managing my privacy,” he said. “Although I believe school email management is beneficial to safety, there are phrases that I do not believe should get flagged, especially with context.” 

Thomas Nee, the Assistant Director of Technology Operations for Hanover Public Schools, explained that a third-party system from Google is responsible for flagging emails. “If there are any emails sent in foreign languages, or containing a term that could be harmful to the well being of our students, Google flags the account, and alerts the principal about the student email,” said Nee, who has dealt with the issue many times. “We cannot monitor every email, so there are many false positives that occur among student emails.”

According to an article from Everyday Health, “Censorship in schools seems to come from a desire to ensure that our children grow up making the choices and following the beliefs that we desire for them by removing any other options.” As Mr. Nee stated, student safety is the district’s concern. As a result, third-party artificial intelligence systems now ensure a close monitoring of emails sent by students in schools across the nation.

When asked how email flagging can be limited, Mr. Nee advised students to “Go slowly, take your time when sending an email, and, please, read before you send. You never know what information can be flagged out of context.” 

Speckmann suggested students use school email just for school-related purposes. “If you are sending a personal message through email, use a personal account.”