High schoolers face felony charges for . . . . . . reconfiguring their laptops ?

[Proteus_MST]

This time they use a secret pawword to reconfigure their laptops
and when they are older they probably use secret passwords to break into NORAD and start an atomic war.
There can only be one way to prevent this:
Issue a lifelong prohibition on Computer use for all those students who took part in this criminal action

But to be honest:
Remembering other cases such as the case of a girl who was suspended from school just because she used an analgetic in school against their headaches and therefore became target to the "zero tolerance" the school had against any form of drugs ,
this current case is no real surprise to me.

Somehow as a student in many districts you seem to get criminalized for even the slightest forms of "inappropriate behavior" (just my view as a foreigner, who often reads about such cases)

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by reds4ever
There nothing wrong with basic classes in any of the important areas, numeracy, literacy, computing etc. ensuring that EVERYONE has a certain level of understanding.

Having a compulsory class in something the great majority of students already know is a waste of time and money.

If they wanted to ensure everyone had basic computer literacy, they could've adminstered a test, and required those who failed it to take the class.

[reds4ever]

Why not do it with all subjects? It'd cut down on class sizes!

When I was at school my teacher was programming computers with punch cards while I was writing games on my Sinclair , I didn't see the point at the time and thought the guy was a dinosaur. Didn't mean I didn't learn anything though.

[aneeshm]

First , a thank you to the mod who changed the title .



@ TLC

So true . The almost ten years of learning "Word , Excel , PowerPoint , MS-DOS , Windows" before I got to start on real CS were almost a total waste ( except when they taught us the fundamentals of BASIC , because that made clear the fundamentals of almost all languages ) . And because the sullabus was so specific for those ten years , all that info is useless to someone working on another platform - say GNU/Linux ( forget for a moment that to customise GNU/Linux , you have to be moderately tech-savvy in the first place , and also be comfortable with computers ) .

The result of such a policy is that if you pick up an average student from the CS class and put him on a Mac , he won't know where to start . Hell , most don't know even after said ten years , plus another of CS , how to invoke the compiler from the command-line with any desired options ( actually , they most probably don't know that there is any such thing as a compiler option ) , or how to effectively use the command line .



Basic computer literacy , yes . Concentrating ten years' worth of education on how to operate one application on one platform , with no concern as to the lifetime of said platform or product , or the level of comfort with computers in general , definitely no .

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by reds4ever
Why not do it with all subjects? It'd cut down on class sizes!

Why not, indeed.

In some classes - maths, for instance - you were allowed to take a test, and if you passed it, you passed the class without actually taking it. At the very least, this should've been done for the computers class.

[Tuberski]

What I find funny was these two statements:

"I don't think they knew what this could do to their future," said LeAnn Shoemaker, a parent of one of the accused.

Her 15-year-old son John, who will be a sophomore next fall, agreed.

"I knew it was against school policy," he said. "But I didn't know it was a felony."

Just because he didn't know it was a felony doesn't mean he can't be charged. Ignorance is no excuse.

That being said, it's still kind of overblown.

ACK!

[Mrs. Tuberski]

My 14 yo just got accepted to a digital campus for his freshman year where he will being doing his work on a district issued laptop. I guess Ill have to monitor him carefully now that they can be sent to prison for doing things like this.

[Urban Ranger]

Originally posted by Last Conformist
Back when I was in highschool, they tried to teach us basic computer literacy

Computer literacy != knowling how to operate Microsoft Windows

[Dr Strangelove]

I'd like to see the statute of the criminal code covering this. While destruction of public property may be a felony they didn't destroy anything. It should be possible to restore the original code. The only possible felony they might have committed would be copyright violations if they illegally downloaded copyrighted music. If they have bypassed the safeguards and were smart enough to erase the computer's history of where they downloaded the music I don't see how this could have been traced, unless it was traced at the source or along the path from the source.

The thing is that spyware and spam producers inflict damage on innocent internet users' computers without fear of retribution. Their programs often interfere with the function of the victim's computer. The law refuses to punish their behavior, so I don't see why it should excessively punish these kids. Expel them from the course for a year, thereby threatening them with the loss of future prospects for employment in the lucrative computer industry.

[Kuciwalker]

Don't do anything to the kids. Frankly, if their security is that bad, props to the kids for what they did.

[MarkG]

the parents should sue back for the emotional trauma theirs kids have suffered from their idiotic charge

[Zkribbler]

Skavinsky consulted with the Berks County District Attorney's office and recommended charges of "Computer Trespass," in violation of PA criminal code section 7615, which carries a third degree felony charge.

Oh yeah, prosecuting a case like this is a really good use of the taxpayers' money.

What the kids did was wrong.
The administration's reaction is wronger.

[Mrs. Tuberski]

i am talking to my son right now bout his future laptop. he claims they told him he has 30 gigs for personal time on his laptop. He will be able to download instant messaging and Music download called I tunes. And if they are caught downloading bad stuff the laptop will go in lock down mode. Does this sound right to any of yall??

[reds4ever]

No

[Last Conformist]

Originally posted by Urban Ranger


Computer literacy != knowling how to operate Microsoft Windows

Thanks for that totally pointless contribution.