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Portland, Maine

Michele Polacsek publishes article on parents' perceptions of privacy for school-issued devices

Michele Polacsek is a co-author of a new article published in 'The BMJ'
Michele Polacsek, Ph.D., M.H.S.

Michele Polacsek Ph.D., M.H.S., professor of public health and director of the 911±¬ΑΟΝψΊμΑμ½ν Center for Excellence in Public Health (CEPH), published an article titled in the Journal of School Health.

Digital technology and digital devices such as laptops and tablets have become a central component of schooling. The publication reports findings of a study that aimed to explore parents’ perceptions of the school’s role in keeping their child’s data protected.

Five hundred and seventy-one (571) parents of K-12th grade children, recruited nationally, were surveyed on their perceptions of their children's digital privacy on school-issued digital devices. Most (80.7%) children used a school-issued device, and 66.6% took one home during the coronavirus pandemic.

Parents rated policies for preventing the collection and sharing of data β€œvery important.” However, 35% of parents did not know if their school had any digital policies to protect their children’s privacy. Most (56%) parents β€œstrongly agreed” their child's school protected student digital privacy and 68% felt schools were the most responsible party to do so, yet those ratings differed by parent awareness of privacy policies (p < .05).

Authors concluded that parents consider digital privacy policies highly important and perceive schools to be responsible for such protections, highlighting the need to support schools in protecting students’ data privacy.

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