Google Docs are a fabulous tool, I use them all the time, they are free unlike Office 365...
Business and Education has come a long way, where via an instant cloud autosave feature, you have a powerful sharing tool. You can access on any device and share with your business colleagues and or schoolfriend and teachers. Like the increasing use in Business, in education Google Docs has become the goto tool because they also integrate with classroom management services like Google Classroom and Moodle.
These tools are so convenient, however sharing and collaboration could open itself up to misuse.
So you bar your kids from Facebook, Instagram Twitter and the numerous other Social Media Sphere apps! however the kids are now starting to use Google Docs as an informal social network...
How?
Ok so lets look at Chatting
A shared Google Doc is open, this starts like having a blank piece of paper but for multiple users.
As a user types in the document, other shared users see this text on their screens instantly (in real time). So this shared Google Doc can be shared with tens or hundreds of thousands of people, just like writing in a text chat.
The Doc can be shared with just one other person so this makes it a two-way private chat.
So you as a conscientious parent block at home some social media Sphere sites and Schools tend to block social media sphere platforms with a firewall!!! but allow Google Docs as these are to be used for school study and school work.
Downside is it also disguises the fact that it is used as a very good chat platform but sadly can also be used for potential bullying which is why as a conscientious parent you bar them from Facebook etc... and as an educator the schools are leaving the pupils in school time open to abuse