Loaner school laptops used to spy on kids, families

[futurebeachbum]

It's hard without all the facts to figure out exactly what's going on there. It certainly sounds hard to believe.

OTOH, school systems are the home of 'zero tolerance' policies. In my experience 'zero tolerance' equates to 'zero intelligence' and 'zero judgement'.

 

[30ashopper]

The big open issue seems to be that the school claims it only used this to track down stolen laptops, but the kid involved in the lawsuit apparently was reprimanded for being pictured in his bedroom "taking drugs" which he later claimed was just Mike and Ike candy.

My general argument against something like this is that it's open to potential abuse. First you're snapping shots of kids who supposedly stole laptops, next your peeping in on the troubled kids to help "protrect them", next your peeping in on all student just looking for anything wrong. Sounds like that's exactly what happened here.

There are plenty of ways to track stolen laptops that don't involve giving adults the power to peep through web cams at a child's activites. Honestly I don't know what these admins were thinking. You would think somebody who knew about this would have stood up at some points and said, "um, guys, maybe this isn't the brightest idea we've come up with."

 

[Matt J]

Note to concerned parents about laptop camera abuse. Included is a manual over ride device:

 

[futurebeachbum]

This just keeps getting stranger and stranger

Apparently, the 'bad behavior' of the student turned out to be eating candy as he worked on the computer. The article here mentions Mike & Ike candies which I am not familiar with.

There is still no really verified version of events. Its just a media frenzy. From this story:

But here's where it gets even odder. Apparently, the "improper act" that the student was disciplined for was an accusation of either drug use or drug selling. For what? Well, the image showed the student with Mike & Ikes candies, which do have a passing resemblance to pills, but (last we checked) do not appear to be controlled substances.

 

[Matt J]

They do kinda look like gel caps, although I gotta say that this is way over reaction.

 

[Will B]

Apparently, the 'bad behavior' of the student turned out to be eating candy as he worked on the computer. The article here mentions Mike & Ike candies which I am not familiar with.

There is still no really verified version of events. Its just a media frenzy. From this story:

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The kicker is that the school district denies doing it. The one thing they can't explain is how they managed to have a picture of the kid eating the Mike & Ikes! They are so busted. Admit to it, take your lumps, and do a software push to get rid of the program that allows them to do this. Bottom line is that their areses are in a huge sling, and now, the FBI is involved.

 

[Matt J]

Or it comes out that the kid had hacked it and got caught. I can guarantee if it were actually drugs this would have never made the news, and Junior would be in a rehab clinic somewhere.