Given that there are monitoring tools for the computer, it makes sense that there would be monitoring tools for smartphones as well, especially in today’s day and age where kids have access to mobile devices, which is why it doesn’t come as a surprise that the South Korean government has recently debuted an app called Smart Sheriff.
However what makes this endeavor interesting and somewhat controversial is the fact that it has been mandated that the app is a required install on the smartphones of users below the age of 18. Basically the app will monitor the smartphone habits of the users, like what kind of content they are consuming and what kind of conversations they are having.
In fact it will alert parents when certain keywords are used that might be cause for concern, such as “bullying”, “pregnancy”, and/or “suicide”, just to name a few. Unsurprisingly there are many who are on the fence about the app. Granted parents will want to know if their kids are up to no good or who might be facing difficulties in school and don’t know how to tell them, but there are those wonder if this could lead to more, like monitoring apps for adults.
Students are naturally opposed to it as they feel that such actions by the government are excessive, and that students should be given the freedom to decide what is right and wrong and come to their own conclusions, which some think will aid the learning process, but what do you guys think?