Kelly Hayes
Rep. Chris Latvala is requesting $2 million for a pilot program that would focus on statewide child suicide prevention.
The funding requested by Latvala would pay for the annual software subscription service “Gaggle,” which identifies indications of suicide, self-harm and abusive behaviors within student-issued, school-provided tools, according to the appropriations request.
The software uses machine learning and artificial intelligence, as well as a two-person review process to identify indicators of harmful behaviors.
If the request is approved, school districts participating in the pilot would have constant analysis and review of student content in school-issued Google and Microsoft environments including creation tools, chats and emails.
The program comes at a time where COVID-19 has led to a drastic increase in online education tools. Chat volume increased 5,967% for the Fall 2020 semester, according to the request. And, incidents of suicide have risen by 47%.
The program would also notify school districts and parents via school personnel of explicit images their students may be storing and sharing on school accounts, which has increased by 68%, according to the request.
The goal of this mental health pilot initiative is to “protect Florida youth from suicide and self-harm.” Suicide is the second-leading cause of death for school-aged children in the U.S.
According to the request, 48 other states already use the technology. The states cite success factors including early notification of self-harm, explicit content and violent incidents, as well as leading to immediate interventions by appropriate school personnel.
“While the state has invested considerable money to keep children safe in the classroom, no investment has been made by the state to keep kids safe in the ‘digital classroom’ they are now using,” the request reads. “This technology would inform districts & staff to incidents prior to tragic events.”
