UPDATE 2/13/24: More information on this topic can be found in Ashlyn Wagner’s story On GoGuardian, You can find the link at

In 2014, Co-founders Aza Steel, Advait Shinde, and R. Todd Mackey created a program that allows teachers to monitor, filter, and manage student activity on Chromebooks. This program, Go Guardian, was designed to spot and alert schools of suicidal intentions or self-harm among students, and it is being utilized more each year at Canyon Ridge High School. 

“Teachers are able to track student progress and minimize distractions by using Go Guardian,” said Dennis “DJ” Gilbert, Vice principal of CRHS. 

Go Guardian allows teachers to view individual student activity and analytics in real time. Teachers can also restrict access to specific websites such as YouTube, Twitter, Facebook, etc. to keep students on track. 

“Education is at a critical inflection point. Schools have returned to normalcy, yet many students are struggling to catch up with pandemic-related unfinished learning,” said Advait Shinde, Co-founder and CEO of Go Guardian in a press interview introducing Ya Xu to the company’s board of directors.

Go Guardian is used in schools worldwide as of 2016 and has become more popular post-pandemic for online and in-person teachers alike.

“Yes, I would recommend it. Especially during testing time if you use Chromebooks during testing,” said Tarin Dawson, CRHS science teacher and Go Guardian user. 

In terms of whether or not students would choose to keep Go Guardian in use, there were differing opinions.

Ahndrea Worden, a junior at CRHS, was asked for her opinion on the program along with fellow students.

“I think it’s okay when testing, but in everyday use, it’s a bit invasive and unnecessary,” said Ahndrea.

“I think I would keep it, to help teachers with cheating on tests and to stop suicidal students from attempting anything,” said Moraya Munoz, a sophomore at CRHS.

Go Guardian’s design provides teachers the ability to keep a closer eye on students, and a learning environment for students to stay on task. Research shows that 10,000+ schools have chosen to use Go Guardian since 2016.