PASCO COUNTY, Fla. — Well, you can thank social media for a big policy change adopted in Pasco County schools on Tuesday.
Starting immediately, there will be no more videotaping allowed on campus without special permission.
Calling it a matter of privacy and safety, The Pasco County School Board voted to ban video recording on its campuses.
Not just students and faculty - but parents and visitors too.
“There is a new era of safety, obviously, since Parkland. Certainly, with social media, it’s killing us,” said Pasco Schools Superintendent Kurt Browning.
Browning says we live in an age of social media that can often lead to evolving policy changes.
In this case, a family with a YouTube channel audience of more than a million came to Mitchell High School at the beginning of the year to document their own child’s first day of class.
But other kids were shown and some got upset. Not just over privacy issues - but the fact that the campus layout became public too. It raised safety issues in light of the attack in Parkland two years ago, Browning said.
“That is troubling to us. Because if someone wanted to attack kids or find out were kids were gathering in large spaces, that’s just another avenue to do it,” he said.
Parents had a mixed reaction to the new rule.
"I mean, they offer the floorplans and everything online anyways,” said Mike Lopez, whose child attends Mitchell. “Are they going to take those out to?”
“I wouldn’t want somebody coming on campus and now they know the layout of the school. You know, we’ve got to protect our kids,” said Candi Brook, also a parent. But Brook also wondered whether the policy would lead to confusion. “Like, pretty soon are they going to end up stopping, like they can’t videotape at games? We can’t videotape at - whatever?”
Browning says the new policy does not extend to public events.
“At a school football game, at a graduation ceremony, at a school performance in the cafeteria, there is not an expectation of privacy. All moms and dads, grandparents have their iPhones out, their phones are recording their child, that’s fine,” said Browning.
Five years ago, Browning says, this wouldn’t have even been a discussion. But changes in social media - and profiting from it - is now something they have to address, he said.
The new policy takes effect immediately. Violators could be kicked off campus. If parents or visitors have any questions about an event, administrators say they should check first with their student’s school.
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