Why can students delete OTHER students' comments in a discussion board?

I had a student delete another student's comment in a discussion board. That removed the comment entirely and neither I (the teacher) nor the original student author can now see the original comment. This seems like an ethical issue—having the ability to delete another student's work and the original author and the teacher not being able to re-access it.

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Accepted answers

Hi @CURTISNEWBOLD

I am wondering if the student "reported" the discussion?

Here's the Canvas Instructor Guide on How do I allow users to report a reply in a discussion as an instructor?

This may help you clarify the situation. I hope it helps!

Best wishes for a successful year!

All comments

Hey @CURTISNEWBOLD ,

Thanks for reaching out on the Instructure Community.

I just wanted to confirm -- how are you verifying that it was in fact a user with a student role in your course that deleted the comment? This behavior is very, very strange as it's usually impossible for students to delete other student's discussions.

To recover it, I recommend adding /undelete to the end of the URL when you're on the home page of the course, and seeing if it appears in the menu. While there is no guarantee that this will work, it's certainly worth a shot.

Best,
Noah

Hi @CURTISNEWBOLD

I am wondering if the student "reported" the discussion?

Here's the Canvas Instructor Guide on How do I allow users to report a reply in a discussion as an instructor?

This may help you clarify the situation. I hope it helps!

Best wishes for a successful year!

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