NationStates

KenKenpachi wrote:

Laerod wrote:

Maurepas wrote:Doesnt really surprise me, why would the students trust that sort of thing anyway?

When I was in High School, I never touched a computer without hitting a proxy-site first...

I just didn't visit porn sites on school property. Played Quake on it, though. That was fun.

Ahh the joys of playing unreal, DOOM and Quake when the computer lab teacher was gone, good times, good times.

I did it when the teacher was there.

Though while most cared we had one who wasn't too fussed in fact we had him the last lesson on Friday he knew very little work would get done anyway so his rule was "Do whatever you want"

Darkaddia wrote:

Neesika wrote:

Laerod wrote:Huh?

Because the webcam can capture anything happening in the room where the laptop is, district personnel could illicitly observe plenty more than a student's online activity, the lawsuit alleges.

I'm assuming the webcams were integrated into the laptops, so it would be pointing away from the screen. How would they be able to use the webcam itself to monitor the online activity in the first place?

So was the computer monitoring keystrokes, and online usage? Were the webcams controlled remotely? So bizarre. I can't imagine how something like this would even pass the fantasy stage.

My school issued laptop does monitor key strokes... thankfully, it does not have a webcam.

What does this mean? They monitor what you type?

Axis Nova wrote:

Tsaraine wrote:Somewhere in Philadelphia, one school administrator has just smacked another school administrator upside the head. "Damnit, Jenkins! I told you we should just have gone with chastity belts!"

I see I'm not the only one who thinks the pic is of the kid pounding it.

Which is why the school administrators and teachers who have seen this and passed it around should be sent to gaol for possession and distribution of child pornography.

Blouman Empire wrote:

Darkaddia wrote:

Neesika wrote:

Laerod wrote:Huh?

Because the webcam can capture anything happening in the room where the laptop is, district personnel could illicitly observe plenty more than a student's online activity, the lawsuit alleges.

I'm assuming the webcams were integrated into the laptops, so it would be pointing away from the screen. How would they be able to use the webcam itself to monitor the online activity in the first place?

So was the computer monitoring keystrokes, and online usage? Were the webcams controlled remotely? So bizarre. I can't imagine how something like this would even pass the fantasy stage.

My school issued laptop does monitor key strokes... thankfully, it does not have a webcam.

What does this mean? They monitor what you type?

Yes, keystrokes = what you type. Coincidentally, a while ago, a company began making a memory stick that is completely unnoticeable, and when plugged in will record everything typed, sold for about £30.

Neesika wrote:

NERVUN wrote:Oy vey... Someone really, really, REALLY wasn't thinking.

Stop watching me, Mod!

I'm spying on you!

In all seriousness though, this really does go beyond any reasonable boundries that a school might have towards its students behavores.

just another example of how out of control the school system has become...

NERVUN wrote:

Neesika wrote:

NERVUN wrote:Oy vey... Someone really, really, REALLY wasn't thinking.

Stop watching me, Mod!

I'm spying on you!

In all seriousness though, this really does go beyond any reasonable boundries that a school might have towards its students behavores.

What do we do? Do we punish everybody? Becuase it seems like quite a number of people knew what was happening.

Korigburg wrote:just another example of how out of control the school system has become...

That's what happens when Education is run by sociologists and bureaucrats, and not educators.

How horrible..... Crap, makes me really want to rethink my priorities.

And 'unacceptable behavior at home'? What the fuck?! Damnit am I glad our school has zero funding....

United Dependencies wrote:What do we do? Do we punish everybody? Becuase it seems like quite a number of people knew what was happening.

Doesn't have to be. The principal, obviously, but few people know how to install stuff like that or find it, so it shouldn't be too hard to keep the amount of conspirators limited.

Helertia wrote:Yes, keystrokes = what you type. Coincidentally, a while ago, a company began making a memory stick that is completely unnoticeable, and when plugged in will record everything typed, sold for about £30.

http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/security/c49f/

Been out for years.

United Dependencies wrote:

NERVUN wrote:

Neesika wrote:

NERVUN wrote:Oy vey... Someone really, really, REALLY wasn't thinking.

Stop watching me, Mod!

I'm spying on you!

In all seriousness though, this really does go beyond any reasonable boundries that a school might have towards its students behavores.

What do we do? Do we punish everybody? Becuase it seems like quite a number of people knew what was happening.

The district gets its pants sued off, and hopefully new laws get passed to make this a criminal matter.

The fact that someone thought it was a good idea speaks volumes for the quality of education that school delivers.

Niur wrote:And 'unacceptable behavior at home'? What the fuck?! Damnit am I glad our school has zero funding....

That's another thing. My school can't afford new books... Why should this school be handing out laptops exclusively for this reason?

Flameswroth wrote:

Antilon wrote:

philly.com wrote:The family first learned of the embedded webcams on Nov. 11, when Harriton High's Assistant Principal Lindy Matsko reprimanded Blake Robbins for "improper behavior in his home," according to the lawsuit. Matsko cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam on the boy's school-issued laptop.

Words fail me... I'm literally crying right now.

Crying with laughter, I hope

I'm crying from sadness...

Blouman Empire wrote:

KenKenpachi wrote:

Laerod wrote:

Maurepas wrote:Doesnt really surprise me, why would the students trust that sort of thing anyway?

When I was in High School, I never touched a computer without hitting a proxy-site first...

I just didn't visit porn sites on school property. Played Quake on it, though. That was fun.

Ahh the joys of playing unreal, DOOM and Quake when the computer lab teacher was gone, good times, good times.

I did it when the teacher was there.

Though while most cared we had one who wasn't too fussed in fact we had him the last lesson on Friday he knew very little work would get done anyway so his rule was "Do whatever you want"

Lucky. IT lessons at high school were horrid for me as I had teachers that weren't that lenient. I mean, having to take typing lessons and repeating "ASDFJKL;" five thousand times, be instructed in how to turn the computer on, and code such wonders as:

[html]
[body]
[h1]This is my website![/h1]
[/body]
[/html]

Were really a waste of time when most of us had been using computers all our lives and it was patently obvious that the school only bothered with it because it was mandated by higher-ups. High school IT teachers are often bad because almost anyone with a tertiary IT qualification could earn more elsewhere and in more rewarding roles.

Buffett and Colbert wrote:Ignorance is strength? Awesome motto for a school.

Laerod wrote:Huh?

Because the webcam can capture anything happening in the room where the laptop is, district personnel could illicitly observe plenty more than a student's online activity, the lawsuit alleges.

I'm assuming the webcams were integrated into the laptops, so it would be pointing away from the screen. How would they be able to use the webcam itself to monitor the online activity in the first place?

definet child porn, someone should be going to jail for this...

I guess the most obvious questions to ask are - who owned the laptops in question? If it was the school or education department, then they have a right to dictate what they can be used for, and what they can't. And did the students sign any sort of terms of use agreement - if they did, the school has a perfectly legitimate right to punish them for violating it. I have a school laptop as an educator, and I am well aware of the rules governing it's use, including that the school can monitor what I do with it. Our students in Australia are subjected to the same terms as we are, and are not stupid enough to use school issued equipment to do things like this.

While I am a big advocate for protection of privacy, I really don't see that this is an issue, unless the laptops were gifted to the students or purchased by the families.

Buffett and Colbert wrote:Ignorance is strength? Awesome motto for a school.

You know what else is strong?

Body Oder.

Saint Jade IV wrote:I guess the most obvious questions to ask are - who owned the laptops in question? If it was the school or education department, then they have a right to dictate what they can be used for, and what they can't. And did the students sign any sort of terms of use agreement - if they did, the school has a perfectly legitimate right to punish them for violating it. I have a school laptop as an educator, and I am well aware of the rules governing it's use, including that the school can monitor what I do with it. Our students in Australia are subjected to the same terms as we are, and are not stupid enough to use school issued equipment to do things like this.

While I am a big advocate for protection of privacy, I really don't see that this is an issue, unless the laptops were gifted to the students or purchased by the families.

I'm trying to see where a school as the right to dictate behavor in a student's home or monitor student (AND non-student) actions without prior authorization.

It's one thing to say that a school laptop shouldn't be used to surf porn or to engage in a cyberattack on something, it is quite another to remotely turn on a webcam and watch students and their families in their homes.

NERVUN wrote:

Saint Jade IV wrote:I guess the most obvious questions to ask are - who owned the laptops in question? If it was the school or education department, then they have a right to dictate what they can be used for, and what they can't. And did the students sign any sort of terms of use agreement - if they did, the school has a perfectly legitimate right to punish them for violating it. I have a school laptop as an educator, and I am well aware of the rules governing it's use, including that the school can monitor what I do with it. Our students in Australia are subjected to the same terms as we are, and are not stupid enough to use school issued equipment to do things like this.

While I am a big advocate for protection of privacy, I really don't see that this is an issue, unless the laptops were gifted to the students or purchased by the families.

I'm trying to see where a school as the right to dictate behavor in a student's home or monitor student (AND non-student) actions without prior authorization.

It's one thing to say that a school laptop shouldn't be used to surf porn or to engage in a cyberattack on something, it is quite another to remotely turn on a webcam and watch students and their families in their homes.

Yeah, agreed.

NERVUN wrote:

Saint Jade IV wrote:I guess the most obvious questions to ask are - who owned the laptops in question? If it was the school or education department, then they have a right to dictate what they can be used for, and what they can't. And did the students sign any sort of terms of use agreement - if they did, the school has a perfectly legitimate right to punish them for violating it. I have a school laptop as an educator, and I am well aware of the rules governing it's use, including that the school can monitor what I do with it. Our students in Australia are subjected to the same terms as we are, and are not stupid enough to use school issued equipment to do things like this.

While I am a big advocate for protection of privacy, I really don't see that this is an issue, unless the laptops were gifted to the students or purchased by the families.

I'm trying to see where a school as the right to dictate behavor in a student's home or monitor student (AND non-student) actions without prior authorization.

It's one thing to say that a school laptop shouldn't be used to surf porn or to engage in a cyberattack on something, it is quite another to remotely turn on a webcam and watch students and their families in their homes.

My understanding is that an inappropriate picture was found on the laptop of a student. If the laptop belongs to the school, or the students are subject to an agreement on appropriate use, they have a right to check the contents of the laptop and what it is being used for.

I don't know enough technically about the webcam thing, but again if the school laptop is being used with a webcam, the school has a right to check what is being put onto it. Especially if the webcam is part of the package. Now if the school is found to be using the webcams to spy on students and families on a day-to-day basis, rather than confirming that the rules of use are being followed, that is a different story.

Saint Jade IV wrote:I guess the most obvious questions to ask are - who owned the laptops in question? If it was the school or education department, then they have a right to dictate what they can be used for, and what they can't. And did the students sign any sort of terms of use agreement - if they did, the school has a perfectly legitimate right to punish them for violating it. I have a school laptop as an educator, and I am well aware of the rules governing it's use, including that the school can monitor what I do with it. Our students in Australia are subjected to the same terms as we are, and are not stupid enough to use school issued equipment to do things like this.

While I am a big advocate for protection of privacy, I really don't see that this is an issue, unless the laptops were gifted to the students or purchased by the families.

They most certainly do not have the right to monitor their student's keystrokes without telling them they're doing so and the webcam watching is definitely out of question.