In 2010, Blake Robbins was a 15-year-old sophomore in Pennsylvania. He, along with about 2,000 other students, received school-issued laptops to help with their studies at home.
The purpose behind this initiative was to provide students with constant access to school resources, as stated by the Lower Merion School District.
However, things took a dramatic turn for Robbins when he was called into the principal’s office at Harriton High School. There, he was accused of dealing drugs, backed up by a photograph taken from the webcam of his school laptop while he was in his own bedroom.
To his shock, the “drugs” he was alleged to be selling turned out to be Mike and Ike candy.
This laptop incident has now been transformed into a four-part documentary series titled Spy High, produced by Mark Wahlberg, which is set to stream on Amazon starting April 8.
Wahlberg expressed his concerns as a parent, highlighting the threats to children’s privacy, stating, “This docuseries is a shocking reminder that our kids’ digital lives are constantly under surveillance.”
The documentary mainly focuses on Robbins and another student, Keron Williams. Director Jody McVeigh-Schultz mentioned how Robbins had a reputation as a troublemaker, which led to the misuse of images against him. In a similar case, Williams, an honors student, faced scrutiny after being racially profiled when his laptop was monitored.
McVeigh-Schultz emphasized that the series goes beyond the topic of digital privacy. It delves into how communities make choices for their students and who gets to make those decisions, raising questions about the balance between child protection and control.
The situation attracted significant media attention when Robbins and other families sued the Lower Merion School District, claiming that the school was spying on students through the webcams on their laptops at home. The district admitted to using security software but denied that it monitored students.
Assistant Vice Principal Lynn Matsko stated she never oversaw student monitoring through webcams, asserting, “At no time have I ever monitored a student via a laptop webcam, nor have I ever authorized such monitoring.”
The district clarified that the program was intended to help recover lost or stolen laptops and had taken images every 15 minutes, occurring 42 times during the 2009-2010 school year.
Reports suggested that over 56,000 photos were taken through the laptops, leading to an FBI investigation for privacy violations. However, no charges were pressed against the school district.
Eventually, the Robbins family settled their lawsuit for $610,000. In a recent statement, the Lower Merion School District indicated that they did not partake in the making of the docuseries and referenced a previous independent investigation which found no evidence of spying on students.
The documentary Spy High will be available for viewing on Amazon starting April 8.
