Cali School District Runs Snitching Database to Report ‘Racism,’ ‘Microaggressions’

A California school district operates a reporting system students can use to report on one another for offensive incidents, according to its website.

The Acalanes Union High School District’s (AUHSD) Bias Incident Reporting System works to promote “safe environments” for students by creating a system where “incidents of harm” can be anonymously submitted for review, its website reads. It clarifies that while the Bias Incident Team does “not tell people how to think or talk,” students can use the system to report incidents of racism, bias, sexism and microaggressions.

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The AUHSD Bias Reporting Procedures document also lists sexual harassment, homophobia, cyberbullying, discrimination and hate speech as potential offenses. {snip}

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A 2022 report by free speech watchdog Speech First found that over half of colleges in the United States use similar systems to monitor biased incidents on campus. CeCe O’Leary, a Southeastern Legal Foundation attorney who often challenges such systems, told the DCNF that they are “prevalent” on high school campuses, as well.

“No matter the student’s age, bias reporting systems violate their First Amendment rights because they scare students into silence out of fear of being reported to administrators for saying the ‘wrong’ thing,’” she said.

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