I don’t see what the students did as “worthy” of criminal charges. The machines were locked down to prevent them from installing any programs- they couldn’t even install educational software. The kids were “disciplined” but, since they still had their laptops to hack, obviously they laptops hadn’t been taken away. Since they were served arrest notices in school, obviously they hadn’t been suspended for any real period of time.

I see a school district and teachers who want little robots who do nothing but parrot what the books say, who only think the “right” thoughts, and who have no curiosity. I see the type of teacher who tells a student who asks a question that contradicts what is in the book to sit down and shut up. I see educators afraid of anyone who challenges them and their authority.

The school district got suckered into a contract with Apple that cost them millions to provide laptops (why do kids need laptops), and they promised that they would keep these machines secure and “safe”. Instead they probably should have had desktop computers in the school and subsidies for parents to buy their kids their own machines. Now the school board is trying to cover their butts and avoid looking stupid for saying they’d do something that wasn’t practical to begin with (I.E.: issue high school students ‘free’ laptops to take home, but somehow keep them identical and pristine).

A good school and good teachers would have done a better job disciplining the kids before invoking the legal recourse- I ask again, why the heck did the kids *still* have laptops once they had broken the rules repeatedly? Why were they *still* in class if they were such dangerous criminals? Good educators/technologists would have had a simple boot image to reformat the drive and install the standard image (takes 30 minutes without human intervention). They would have had courses where kids would be encouraged to build new programs and try new things. If they broke their config, they would have been required to restore it to original operating condition with the boot image themselves. They would have had sessions on security and computer ethics.

I got the job I have today because I experimented with computers when I was young. I broke the machines I don’t know how many times, and fixed them all. I learned far more than anyone could without having gone through this process. My teachers encouraged me to try new things, to explain what I did, to write up papers on my work. I’m absolutely certain that my questioning of the accepted truth would have gotten me expelled from the school district in question here. Just to learn something new that wasn’t in the curriculum, I’d have to break the rules. That’s stupid. There is direct cause and effect. People who open a book and do exactly what it says, then close that book and turn off their computer, never learn anything tangible.

By the way, Doom came into it because the kids originally “broke the law” to install instant messaging software and a few games. Not much different than an employee installing “Doom” on their work laptop.

Unlike you, I actually deal with “script kiddies” and “bad” hackers every day. I have a real reason to dislike them and what they do. But I don’t see what these students did in the same light as that at all. A script kiddie has no intent but to damage and destroy. These students were not destructively messing with their computers or the schoolboard. Yes, they broke rules, but again- I think the schoolboard was out of line with their “call the cops” response.

Unlike a work environment, students are *supposed* to be learning, not just performing a strictly structured task. But even in a work environment, installing an “unauthorized” program or violating security rules might get you fired- it won’t get you a criminal record.

You see irritating hackers and script kiddies. I see kids *given* machines that can do all sorts of neat things, but restricted from doing *anything* not approved by the schoolboard. The fact that the students spent some energy figuring out ways around those restrictions isn’t surprising to me at all and, without destructive intent or result, is not a crime. We agree to disagree 😉