Privacy & Access: Advocating and Raising Awareness for Student Rights
Abstract: This paper discusses the digital and analog issues surrounding student privacy in public schools during the formative adolescent years, and identifies what school librarians and library support staff can do to help alleviate them. The developmental range from grades five through eight is characterized by a desire to explore interests and define personal identity. Using technology to satiate this is becoming the norm for the current generation. Several privacy and access issues arise, unique to this particular age group, in a public school library setting. This paper explores the tension between providing a safe space for students to fulfill their developmental needs and addressing privacy issues from parents and school administration. Further difficulties arise from a variety of factors, including students impacted by the digital divide for whom the school library provides the only access to explore topics, school policies enabling parents to opt their children out of internet access, confusing or non-existent policies regarding the distribution of student circulation records, and so on.
Vague federal laws, coupled with inconsistent state and district policies, compound the issues and leave elementary and middle school librarians in a precarious position. Without explicit guidelines to safely act within, information experts are hesitant to act authoritatively when confronted by parents, staff or administration demanding student information. Increasing awareness of privacy issues, providing education for students and families, and collaborating with administration to create clear policies will enable school librarians to more effectively serve their students.
Slides available here.
Full paper available upon request.