Student teacher arrested for private Snapchat message
A student teacher was arrested after an automated Snapchat algorithm flagged a private, frustrated message about a student as a potential threat. The incident highlights the speed and lack of human oversight in AI-driven safety reporting systems.
Why it matters
It raises significant concerns regarding the intersection of private digital communication, automated surveillance, and civil liberties in school safety policies.
Sixty minutes. That’s how long it took for a private Snapchat message to travel from Kristen Volpe’s phone to the FBI to the deputies standing in her elementary school hallway. On January 29, 2025 , the 22-year-old student teacher at John L. Hensey Elementary in Washington, Illinois, vented to her boyfriend and two roommates — three people total — after a student closed her laptop mid-class and wiped her lesson plan. She referenced shooting the student or the school. She meant it as a frustrated joke. Snapchat’s algorithm didn’t get the humor.
A student’s prank, a dark joke to three friends, and an automated system that moved faster than anyone expected.
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