In my opinion, the data mining of students must stop.
At 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 11, 2023, Hamilton County Schools sent me another text message urging me to opt into the Student Well-Being Survey. Nope, not going to do it, and here’s why.
The use of the controversial Social Emotional Learning (SEL) surveys created and distributed by Panorama Education Inc. has been the subject of conversation over the past few years in Tennessee. So much so that TN passed a law requiring schools to ask parents' permission before administering a survey to their children.
Examples of survey questions for K-2 include “How often is this student able to control his/her emotions”, and “During the past 30 days, how considerate was this student of his/her classmates’ feelings.”
Examples of questions for 3-5 grades include everything from “emotion regulation” and “self-management” to “Social Awareness” categories.
For the 6-12 grades examples include “How often are you able to pull yourself out of a bad mood?”, “How often were you polite to adults” and “How much do you care about other people’s feelings?”
This line of questioning aligns directly with surveys that are administered by behavioral health professionals who use them as a screening tool to measure and diagnose generalized anxiety disorder (GAD).
Panorama Education is a U.S.-based education technology company that engages in designing and administering social aptitude surveys and providing related training. Their website banner reads “Improve educational outcomes with a holistic view of student data.”
The company came under fire in 2021 after two key conflicts of interest were identified.
First, U.S. AG Merrick Garland’s Son-In-Law, Xan Tanner was a co-founder and board member of Panorama Education. AG Garland sent a memo to the head of the FBI, instructing him to work with local law enforcement “to address threats against school administrators, board members, teachers and staff.” This is the same FBI that collects intelligence from the Southern Poverty Law Center.
The Southern Poverty Law Center uses its “Hate Map” to target conservatives such as Marsha Blackburn, Matt Gaetz, Clay Higgins, and Josh Hawley. SPLC lists many liberty-minded groups on its map including prominent conservative advocacy groups and Christian ministries. On their website, SPLC describes Christian Identity as “…an antisemitic, racist theology that rose to a position of commanding influence on the racist right in the 1980s. “Christian” in name only, it asserts that white people, not Jewish people, are the true Israelites favored by God in the Bible. The movement’s relationship with evangelicals and fundamentalists has generally been hostile due to the latter’s belief that the return of Jewish people to Israel is essential to the fulfillment of end-time prophecy.” This is the same Southern Poverty Law Center that collaborated with the city of Chattanooga during Andy Berke’s administration.
The second conflict of interest with Panorama is the investment of Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. A whistleblower referenced specific programs designed by Facebook that gather data and target pre-teens and teens to engage them for longer periods of time.
Questions parents should ask themselves:
Why is the public school system so desperate to collect student data that they engage in multiple texts, emails, and phone calls urging parents to opt in? They didn’t do this when the surveys were opt-out. Where is the transparency?
What will this information be used for?
Will they share this information about my child?
Who will they share it with?
What is Panorama really up to with student data?
Will they share the information gathered with Parents?
Are they using this survey to reveal information about your child's beliefs and attitudes?
Is it the school's or the parent's responsibility to monitor a child's social and emotional health?
Are teachers and school administrators trained therapists?
Do we want psychological profiles to be built on our children? Is this a good idea gone bad?
Do you want your tax dollars spent on this program?