Follow up on LMSD laptop case April 16, 2010 1:36 PM Subscribe
Follow-up on Lower Merion High School laptop debacle. Previous post. Substantial number of pictures. LMSD Statement.
I wonder what, if anything, is going to happen to the teacher who issued the punishment that led to the lawsuit. I wonder how they feel about opening such a giant can of worms.
posted by amethysts at 2:14 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by amethysts at 2:14 PM on April 16, 2010
Their taking his photo is creepier than the way that kid's haircut has become so popular among high school males.
posted by anniecat at 2:15 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by anniecat at 2:15 PM on April 16, 2010
Back at district offices, the Robbins motion says, employees with access to the images marveled at the tracking software. It was like a window into "a little LMSD soap opera," a staffer is quoted as saying in an e-mail to Carol Cafiero, the administrator running the program.Source
"I know, I love it," she is quoted as having replied.
posted by fixedgear at 2:17 PM on April 16, 2010
Increasingly, I believe that authorities who overstep their bounds are incapable of understanding what it is like to be on the other side. I think the people involved ought to be punished with having streaming video feeds in their bathrooms, showers, cars, bedrooms, and offices for a few months. Send it right to the kids' latops. Might give the adults a healthy respect for privacy.
posted by adipocere at 2:24 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by adipocere at 2:24 PM on April 16, 2010
A much more likely scenario is that the kid took a picture of himself with the webcam, doing something stupid/illegal and the school found that picture on the computer's HD and now wants to discipline him for the infraction.
True, that would be not as bad. But I would still be thrilled to see the teacher get fired and the school forced to pay a settlement.
posted by bingo at 2:24 PM on April 16, 2010
True, that would be not as bad. But I would still be thrilled to see the teacher get fired and the school forced to pay a settlement.
posted by bingo at 2:24 PM on April 16, 2010
Holy shit.
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 2:25 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by Doublewhiskeycokenoice at 2:25 PM on April 16, 2010
..."the plaintiffs' Motion suggests that the LANrev tracking feature may have been used for the purposes of "spying" on students. While we deeply regret the mistakes and misguided actions that have led us to this situation, at this late stage of the investigation we are not aware of any evidence that District employees used any LANrev webcam photographs or screenshots for such inappropriate purposes."
If no spying was involved, then exactly what mistakes and misguided actions are they referring to?
posted by longsleeves at 2:29 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
If no spying was involved, then exactly what mistakes and misguided actions are they referring to?
posted by longsleeves at 2:29 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
A Motion filed yesterday by the plaintiffs ostensibly was against Carol Cafiero, but instead appears to be a vehicle to attack the District. We do not feel it is appropriate for anyone other than the investigators to dictate the timing of the investigation and the release of complete findings.
Methinks these folks don't know anything about litigation. It is the Judge who will decide all of this. "Anyone other than the investigators?" This is a contested matter, my friends.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:36 PM on April 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Methinks these folks don't know anything about litigation. It is the Judge who will decide all of this. "Anyone other than the investigators?" This is a contested matter, my friends.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:36 PM on April 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
More than once, the motion asserts, a laptop camera took photos of Harriton High School sophomore Blake Robbins as he slept in his bed.
But he's so dreamy!
posted by Ironmouth at 2:37 PM on April 16, 2010
But he's so dreamy!
posted by Ironmouth at 2:37 PM on April 16, 2010
I'd like to see that whole email trail.
posted by empath at 2:38 PM on April 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
posted by empath at 2:38 PM on April 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Methinks these folks don't know anything about litigation. It is the Judge who will decide all of this. "Anyone other than the investigators?" This is a contested matter, my friends.
Sounds like they were taking notes from the Bushies, honestly.
posted by empath at 2:39 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sounds like they were taking notes from the Bushies, honestly.
posted by empath at 2:39 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
..."the plaintiffs' Motion suggests that the LANrev tracking feature may have been used for the purposes of "spying" on students. While we deeply regret the mistakes and misguided actions that have led us to this situation, at this late stage of the investigation we are not aware of any evidence that District employees used any LANrev webcam photographs or screenshots for such inappropriate purposes."
If no spying was involved, then exactly what mistakes and misguided actions are they referring to?
I would not believe any statements to the press of any litigant.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:44 PM on April 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
If no spying was involved, then exactly what mistakes and misguided actions are they referring to?
I would not believe any statements to the press of any litigant.
posted by Ironmouth at 2:44 PM on April 16, 2010 [2 favorites]
Thanks for posting this, I was thinking of doing the follow up myself but wasn't sure it was worthy enough at this point.
The district has said it turned on the camera in Robbins' computer because his family had not paid the $55 insurance fee and he was not authorized to take the laptop home.
Ok, no problem. You maybe should have just called the parents first but now that you know the kid has it you can stop and just call the parents.
"In the filing, the Penn Valley family claims the district's records show that the controversial tracking system captured more than 400 photos and screen images from 15-year-old Blake Robbins' school-issued laptop during two weeks"
*sigh* But after those two weeks, you contacted the parents and the kid to let them know about the STOLEN LAPTOP right?
Robbins and his parents say they first learned of the technology on Nov. 11, when an assistant Harriton principal confronted the teen with an image collected by the tracking software.
Robbins has said one image showed him with a handful of Mike and Ike candies - which the administrator thought were illegal pills.
/facepalm
posted by furiousxgeorge at 2:48 PM on April 16, 2010 [10 favorites]
The district has said it turned on the camera in Robbins' computer because his family had not paid the $55 insurance fee and he was not authorized to take the laptop home.
Ok, no problem. You maybe should have just called the parents first but now that you know the kid has it you can stop and just call the parents.
"In the filing, the Penn Valley family claims the district's records show that the controversial tracking system captured more than 400 photos and screen images from 15-year-old Blake Robbins' school-issued laptop during two weeks"
*sigh* But after those two weeks, you contacted the parents and the kid to let them know about the STOLEN LAPTOP right?
Robbins and his parents say they first learned of the technology on Nov. 11, when an assistant Harriton principal confronted the teen with an image collected by the tracking software.
Robbins has said one image showed him with a handful of Mike and Ike candies - which the administrator thought were illegal pills.
/facepalm
posted by furiousxgeorge at 2:48 PM on April 16, 2010 [10 favorites]
And now we have it: the perfect post (and follow-up) to reference whenever someone says "blah blah authority figure blah blah no reason to behave badly blah blah assume victim deserved it"
posted by davejay at 2:55 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by davejay at 2:55 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
an assistant Harriton principal confronted the teen with an image collected by the tracking software.
Robbins has said one image showed him with a handful of Mike and Ike candies - which the administrator thought were illegal pills.
I'm glad to see that in the 30 years since I graduated from high school, [some] assistant principals have continued in their fine longstanding tradition of clueless jackbooted prickdom.
[NOT ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL-IST]
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:13 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
Robbins has said one image showed him with a handful of Mike and Ike candies - which the administrator thought were illegal pills.
I'm glad to see that in the 30 years since I graduated from high school, [some] assistant principals have continued in their fine longstanding tradition of clueless jackbooted prickdom.
[NOT ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL-IST]
posted by FelliniBlank at 3:13 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
Robbins has said one image showed him with a handful of Mike and Ike candies - which the administrator thought were illegal pills.
Have you ever had a Mike and Ike? Jesus. I'd give the kid a worse punishment for supporting the manufacture of that terrible candy than if he'd been taking Vicodin by the handful.
posted by Copronymus at 3:15 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
Have you ever had a Mike and Ike? Jesus. I'd give the kid a worse punishment for supporting the manufacture of that terrible candy than if he'd been taking Vicodin by the handful.
posted by Copronymus at 3:15 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
FUCK YOU. MIKE AND IKE ALSO MAKE HOT TAMALES, WHICH ARE LIKE A CINNAMON MIKE AND IKE. SOMETIMES I DON'T WANT THE FIERY HOT DELICIOUSNESS OF HOT TAMALES SO I GET MIKE AND IKES INSTEAD.
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:22 PM on April 16, 2010 [15 favorites]
posted by spikeleemajortomdickandharryconnickjrmints at 3:22 PM on April 16, 2010 [15 favorites]
If they got images of kids sleeping, what are the odds that on at least one occasion they got images of a teen, say changing his/her clothes, or even engaged in some kind of sexual behavior? That seems to 1) open a whole 'nother potential legal can of worms, and 2) even if the adults were not wanting to see that kind of stuff, it's still VERY creepy that they knowingly snooped on kids via the webcams knowing that this sort of thing could be captured.
I know of a school IT person who was able to view whatever the kids were choosing to record on their webcams, (the school didn't have the webcams on, but if the kids used the webcams, the IT people could see what they recorded), and saw some pretty inappropriate stuff. Stuff that adults want to avoid seeing kids do if at all possible.
Just another reason why if my theoretical future kids' school issues laptops, I'll be opting out and purchasing them one myself (not an option for all families, I know).
One really easy way to prevent this is to put a sticker over the webcam. I hope the parents do this to prevent this from happening any further, whether it was intentional or not.
posted by ishotjr at 3:22 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
I know of a school IT person who was able to view whatever the kids were choosing to record on their webcams, (the school didn't have the webcams on, but if the kids used the webcams, the IT people could see what they recorded), and saw some pretty inappropriate stuff. Stuff that adults want to avoid seeing kids do if at all possible.
Just another reason why if my theoretical future kids' school issues laptops, I'll be opting out and purchasing them one myself (not an option for all families, I know).
One really easy way to prevent this is to put a sticker over the webcam. I hope the parents do this to prevent this from happening any further, whether it was intentional or not.
posted by ishotjr at 3:22 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
And any more anti-Mike and Ike comments and I'm going to start a new MeTa thread about how I don't appreciate all of the Mike and Ike bashing and how it's offensive and we need to be more sensitive about others' candy preferences, mmmkkay?
posted by ishotjr at 3:24 PM on April 16, 2010 [12 favorites]
posted by ishotjr at 3:24 PM on April 16, 2010 [12 favorites]
If they got images of kids sleeping, what are the odds that on at least one occasion they got images of a teen, say changing his/her clothes, or even engaged in some kind of sexual behavior?
SEXTING SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SEXTING TONIGHT ON FOX NEWS DID WE MENTION IT INVOLVES KIDS AND SEX AND NEW TECHNOLOGY SOME OF YOU MAY FIND STRANGE AND CONFUSING ALSO WEATHER AND A HORSE THAT THINKS ITS A PENGUIN
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:45 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
SEXTING SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SEXTING TONIGHT ON FOX NEWS DID WE MENTION IT INVOLVES KIDS AND SEX AND NEW TECHNOLOGY SOME OF YOU MAY FIND STRANGE AND CONFUSING ALSO WEATHER AND A HORSE THAT THINKS ITS A PENGUIN
posted by drjimmy11 at 3:45 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
Thanks very much for following up on this. I don't want to hope it but a substantial part of me wants there to be a picture of an underage person in a state of undress sufficient to yield a perp walk by the entire administration with "SCHOOL PEDOPHILE RING BUSTED IN PA ARE YOUR CHILDREN SAFE FROM THEIR PRINCIPAL?" scrolls on the chyron.
And I'd totally stick around to see the horse that thinks its a penguin.
posted by Skorgu at 3:53 PM on April 16, 2010 [6 favorites]
And I'd totally stick around to see the horse that thinks its a penguin.
posted by Skorgu at 3:53 PM on April 16, 2010 [6 favorites]
I've been seeing the stories come in about this today on the blog of a Philly resident. The more I read, the more I facepalm.
posted by immlass at 4:08 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by immlass at 4:08 PM on April 16, 2010
If the kids were caught naked on camera I wouldn't be surprised if some whacko D.A. tried to get the kids for kiddie-porning themselves. Like that D.A. who told teachers he'd get them for teaching safe sex.
posted by amethysts at 4:15 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by amethysts at 4:15 PM on April 16, 2010
Robbins has said one image showed him with a handful of Mike and Ike candies - which the administrator thought were illegal pills.
This very much reminds me of a vastly entertaining incident in high school wherein my mother self-righteously confiscated the tiny paddle and plastic tray that comes with the Jolen cream bleach I use to lighten the hair on my fuzzy monkey arms. She lay in wait for me to return home from swim practice, and then pounced like a crazed, accusatory ninja.
mom: OH MY GOD I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU ARE DOING DRUGS.
me: o_o ...lolwut
mom: I found this COKE TRAY AND SPOON in your bathroom!
me: ...it's for mixing bleach. I use it on my arms. anyway, if it was for drugs, why would I leave it out where you could find it?
mom: OBVSLY IT WAS A CRY FOR HELP.
It was at that point when I realized that SHE was the crazed addict, and her drug of choice was the dreaded After-School Special.
posted by elizardbits at 4:30 PM on April 16, 2010 [32 favorites]
This very much reminds me of a vastly entertaining incident in high school wherein my mother self-righteously confiscated the tiny paddle and plastic tray that comes with the Jolen cream bleach I use to lighten the hair on my fuzzy monkey arms. She lay in wait for me to return home from swim practice, and then pounced like a crazed, accusatory ninja.
mom: OH MY GOD I CANNOT BELIEVE YOU ARE DOING DRUGS.
me: o_o ...lolwut
mom: I found this COKE TRAY AND SPOON in your bathroom!
me: ...it's for mixing bleach. I use it on my arms. anyway, if it was for drugs, why would I leave it out where you could find it?
mom: OBVSLY IT WAS A CRY FOR HELP.
It was at that point when I realized that SHE was the crazed addict, and her drug of choice was the dreaded After-School Special.
posted by elizardbits at 4:30 PM on April 16, 2010 [32 favorites]
It's unfortunate that the parents are such bad poster people, because I think the case has much merit. You can imagine the joy at a school admin being told that this technology existed. Of course they would want to use it.
posted by fixedgear at 5:38 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by fixedgear at 5:38 PM on April 16, 2010
i love how everybody favorited that comment.
posted by sgt.serenity at 6:00 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by sgt.serenity at 6:00 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's unfortunate that the parents are such bad poster people
What?
posted by furiousxgeorge at 6:06 PM on April 16, 2010
The whole laptops for schoolkids is fraught with issues. You give kids a laptop to take home, but they're kids, so it may get broken, stolen, used by a parent, etc. Add a camera, and the ability to remote to the laptop, and of course stupidity will result. Maybe it's the parents who should have the camera access. Both as a parent and as someone who did IT in a school, gradeschool and highschool educators have really impressed me with their reluctance to grasp technology. Somebody please make the administrators and teachers clue up.
posted by theora55 at 6:12 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by theora55 at 6:12 PM on April 16, 2010
One of the comments in the previous thread is a link to an Inquirer story that talks about the parents various lawsuits and large-ish debts to PECO and others.
posted by fixedgear at 6:13 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by fixedgear at 6:13 PM on April 16, 2010
I'm not going all "OMG BIG BROTHER", but I wanted to ask you USians something in the original thread then I forgot it and the thread got closed. So here it is, and I'm quoting a comment in the BB post:
posted by _dario at 6:50 PM on April 16, 2010
When I was in high school (2000-2004) we were required to take home a document for our parents to sign acknowledging that the school could punish us for any actions taking place at any time and any location starting with the beginning of the first school day of the year 24/7 until the end of the last school day of the year. If a classmate decided to tell my principal that they saw me smoking a cigarette outside a local convenience store I could be suspended in school and fined by the school district for violating its tobacco policy even though it wasn't on school property or during school hours or even at an extra-curricular school activity....really? I mean, this is Europe and all, but it was usual for me to meet my Lit teacher at the supermarket on Sat. afternoons while I was (16 or 17 and) stocking cartloads of beer for band practice and getting out of it with a grinning nod of approval and a pat on the back from him.
posted by _dario at 6:50 PM on April 16, 2010
I'm not saying the admins should be charged with child porn if they find some inappropriate images have been captured, but you'd think they'd be smart enough to know that this could be a potential problem with abusing the technology to snoop on underage people.
posted by ishotjr at 6:51 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by ishotjr at 6:51 PM on April 16, 2010
and I wasn't particularly good at Literature, either.
Also, sorry about the "USians".
posted by _dario at 6:52 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Also, sorry about the "USians".
posted by _dario at 6:52 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
ishotjr: I'm no lawyer, but it seems pretty easy to imagine a shit-bucket of charges if this was done by some dude who sold laptops only to/for teenagers on craigslist.
theora55: No, you just do what other schools have done in order to avoid exactly those liabilities: get laptops without cameras.
posted by rhizome at 7:06 PM on April 16, 2010
theora55: No, you just do what other schools have done in order to avoid exactly those liabilities: get laptops without cameras.
posted by rhizome at 7:06 PM on April 16, 2010
Sorry, forgot one: What kind of drugs are taken as handfuls of pills? This continues to be the most implausible part of the school's rationale so far. Even being generous and saying that the kid had four or five M&I's in his hand, for basically all of the drugs I know about, if anything the school should have been calling the amberlamps.
posted by rhizome at 7:10 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
posted by rhizome at 7:10 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
_dario:
That type of thing varies with state and district, but in general students have zero rights at all. The 24/7 thing is more of a private school thing though, I think.
Some places even do drug testing for all extra curricular activities and are pushing for it for all students.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:11 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
That type of thing varies with state and district, but in general students have zero rights at all. The 24/7 thing is more of a private school thing though, I think.
Some places even do drug testing for all extra curricular activities and are pushing for it for all students.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 7:11 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
Sorry, forgot one: What kind of drugs are taken as handfuls of pills?
And what kind of drug looks like a mike and ike? Obviously whoever thought it was drugs learned everything they know about drugs from watching cartoons.
posted by empath at 7:13 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
And what kind of drug looks like a mike and ike? Obviously whoever thought it was drugs learned everything they know about drugs from watching cartoons.
posted by empath at 7:13 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
what are the odds that on at least one occasion they got images of a teen, say changing his/her clothes, or even engaged in some kind of sexual behavior?
I'm gonna predict that more than one frightened kid will be outed as queer to family, the school and probably the world before this is over.
posted by mediareport at 7:14 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'm gonna predict that more than one frightened kid will be outed as queer to family, the school and probably the world before this is over.
posted by mediareport at 7:14 PM on April 16, 2010 [1 favorite]
ishotjr: I'm no lawyer, but it seems pretty easy to imagine a shit-bucket of charges if this was done by some dude who sold laptops only to/for teenagers on craigslist.
I'm not a lawyer, but I'm in school to be one, and yeah, there are plenty of things they could be charged with. I was clearing up my previous comment to say that I don't think these people are pedophiles, just that they're really stupid for not thinking about the possible implications of anything that involves basically being computer peeping tom on underage people.
posted by ishotjr at 8:06 PM on April 16, 2010
I'm not a lawyer, but I'm in school to be one, and yeah, there are plenty of things they could be charged with. I was clearing up my previous comment to say that I don't think these people are pedophiles, just that they're really stupid for not thinking about the possible implications of anything that involves basically being computer peeping tom on underage people.
posted by ishotjr at 8:06 PM on April 16, 2010
Thousands of pictures, huh? A schoolwide epidemic of stolen laptops?
Increasingly, I believe that authorities who overstep their bounds are incapable of understanding what it is like to be on the other side.
When I first read about this all I could think was how violated I would feel.
But they don't really see the students as full human beings equal to themselves. They could not imagine anyone treating them this way and thinking it was okay, because it's bordering on sociopathic levels of contempt. But doing this to students? Well, I mean, but have you seen how kids are these days?
posted by Danila at 8:24 PM on April 16, 2010
Increasingly, I believe that authorities who overstep their bounds are incapable of understanding what it is like to be on the other side.
When I first read about this all I could think was how violated I would feel.
But they don't really see the students as full human beings equal to themselves. They could not imagine anyone treating them this way and thinking it was okay, because it's bordering on sociopathic levels of contempt. But doing this to students? Well, I mean, but have you seen how kids are these days?
posted by Danila at 8:24 PM on April 16, 2010
I'm not going all "OMG BIG BROTHER", but I wanted to ask you USians something in the original thread then I forgot it and the thread got closed. So here it is, and I'm quoting a comment in the BB post:
This was decidedly not the case at my large (~2000 students), urban public high school in the mid-80s. We had to get permission slips signed for things like field trips, but otherwise, no.
posted by rtha at 8:37 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
This was decidedly not the case at my large (~2000 students), urban public high school in the mid-80s. We had to get permission slips signed for things like field trips, but otherwise, no.
posted by rtha at 8:37 PM on April 16, 2010 [3 favorites]
mid-80s.
Ahh yeah, back before the video games were realistic enough to turn everyone into psycho-killers and possession of plastic knives was an expulsion worthy offense.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 8:40 PM on April 16, 2010
Ahh yeah, back before the video games were realistic enough to turn everyone into psycho-killers and possession of plastic knives was an expulsion worthy offense.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 8:40 PM on April 16, 2010
....And just after DARE (the anti-drug program, you know, the one that doesn't work) had been introduced, and we were just old enough to have missed it. So we snuck into bars (easy enough in Boston then) or drank beer that older siblings acquired or smoked a little weed. Hung out in pre-gentrified Harvard Square on Friday and Saturday nights, going to see the midnight showing of Rocky Horror. Innocent days. No cell phones, no (easily gettable) internet, no cameras that fit in a pocket or that stared at you from the top of a light pole. Sometimes the nostalgia is strong.
Speaking of DARE, did anyone see that Daryl Gates died today?
posted by rtha at 9:07 PM on April 16, 2010
Speaking of DARE, did anyone see that Daryl Gates died today?
posted by rtha at 9:07 PM on April 16, 2010
Heh, kids still do that, just more consequences if you get caught. It turns out kids aren't good at risk/reward math.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:19 PM on April 16, 2010
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:19 PM on April 16, 2010
I should've said just *before* DARE came into the systems.
Yeah, the kids still do it, and I'm glad - not so much about the consequences, though. For us, the crack epidemic was right around the corner, and the AIDS epidemic was getting underway. Not a lot of room for nostalgia, really. Fortunately. A little goes a long way.
posted by rtha at 9:45 PM on April 16, 2010
Yeah, the kids still do it, and I'm glad - not so much about the consequences, though. For us, the crack epidemic was right around the corner, and the AIDS epidemic was getting underway. Not a lot of room for nostalgia, really. Fortunately. A little goes a long way.
posted by rtha at 9:45 PM on April 16, 2010
If this had happened to one of my kids, I would be channeling my anger into a month or two worth of pro-bono research in support of the team who would be suing the district, not for the money, but to ensure that the entire school administration was fired and would also say an apology, in their last day at the school, to all the students.
posted by zippy at 12:26 AM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by zippy at 12:26 AM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
And since you're too polite to highlight it, the most-favorited comment:
Even at the end of the thread he was still victim blaming, accusing the kid of doing something shady:
posted by delmoi at 2:08 AM on April 17, 2010 [4 favorites]
Even at the end of the thread he was still victim blaming, accusing the kid of doing something shady:
This case reeks of bullshit and questionable behavior (on all sides). I still doubt that LMSD was actually truly spying on their student body (pun intended)....at least I really hope that that's the case. And if it turns out that they were (outside of trying to track a missing or stolen laptop), then clearly there should legal consequences. The "Mike & Ike's candy" angle just smacks of banal misdirection and doesn't ring true for me.I hope these people get jail time.
posted by delmoi at 2:08 AM on April 17, 2010 [4 favorites]
I bought drugs from my teachers. Which they bought from another student.
Man, it's like the 80s were in another millennium or something.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:32 AM on April 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
Man, it's like the 80s were in another millennium or something.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:32 AM on April 17, 2010 [2 favorites]
And what kind of drug looks like a mike and ike?
Flintstones Chewable Morphine
posted by griphus at 9:45 AM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Flintstones Chewable Morphine
posted by griphus at 9:45 AM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
The white Mike & Ikes do look more or less exactly like Vicodin. Which is not to say that any bit of this is not stupid.
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 10:47 AM on April 17, 2010
posted by Dormant Gorilla at 10:47 AM on April 17, 2010
All I know is, when I was a junior high school teacher, I did everything I could to minimize this sort of risk. A student had a copy of the Sports Illustrated swimsuit edition, and I told him to put it into his bag. Why didn't I confiscate it? Because it would cause too many problems that would detract from my actual mission, which was to teach social studies. I studiously avoided getting into TMI situations where I knew that I would be forced to take some sort of disciplinary action that might result in a temporary tactical victory, but ultimately a strategic defeat.
Why these clowns decided to do this is, from my perspective of a former educator, completely bizarre. It's such a waste of time, not to mention a total invasion of privacy, violation of trust, and absolute disrespect of the humanity of the students.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:09 PM on April 17, 2010 [4 favorites]
Why these clowns decided to do this is, from my perspective of a former educator, completely bizarre. It's such a waste of time, not to mention a total invasion of privacy, violation of trust, and absolute disrespect of the humanity of the students.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:09 PM on April 17, 2010 [4 favorites]
SEXTING SCHOOL ADMINISTRATORS SEXTING TONIGHT ON FOX NEWS
Does Microsoft's New Kin Ad Promote Sexting?
posted by ericb at 1:14 PM on April 17, 2010
Does Microsoft's New Kin Ad Promote Sexting?
posted by ericb at 1:14 PM on April 17, 2010
Hung out in pre-gentrified Harvard Square on Friday and Saturday nights...
Ah, The Pit.
posted by ericb at 1:21 PM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Ah, The Pit.
posted by ericb at 1:21 PM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Does Microsoft's New Kin Ad Promote Sexting?
Even more worrisome, it promotes holding your phone above your head at a concert to take a picture. People who do that should be escorted to the back of the venue.
posted by desjardins at 1:59 PM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
Even more worrisome, it promotes holding your phone above your head at a concert to take a picture. People who do that should be escorted to the back of the venue.
posted by desjardins at 1:59 PM on April 17, 2010 [1 favorite]
I'll take the phone guys (whose ranks I belong to) over the unwieldy DSLR fuckers any day of the week.
posted by griphus at 6:55 PM on April 17, 2010
posted by griphus at 6:55 PM on April 17, 2010
Second, emails suggest that Carol Cafiero may be a voyeur. For instance, in one email, when one IT person commented on how the viewing of the webcam pictures and screen shots from a student's computer was like "a little LMSD soap opera," Cafiero responded "I know, I love it!"
posted by dirigibleman at 11:43 PM on April 17, 2010
posted by dirigibleman at 11:43 PM on April 17, 2010
As the owner of a Macbook I'm curious how the system works. The camera has a little "cue light" next to it, which I had been told was hardwired in such a way that it goes on whenever the camera is in use. But now it seems that's not really the case — unless the students in question just never noticed the mysterious green light that suddenly turned on one day. (Which is plausible; I've heard other cases where people put spyware on laptops and the targeted individual just never realized the significance of the cue light.)
The more I'm thinking about it though, I wonder if the light is just for video rather than for stills...?
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:27 AM on April 18, 2010
The more I'm thinking about it though, I wonder if the light is just for video rather than for stills...?
posted by Kadin2048 at 11:27 AM on April 18, 2010
As the owner of a Macbook I'm curious how the system works. The camera has a little "cue light" next to it, which I had been told was hardwired in such a way that it goes on whenever the camera is in use.
One of the articles I read quoted some students as saying that they had noticed the light going on kind of randomly and thought it was strange; some of them put tape over it because it creeped them out. The second page of this article mentions it:
One of the articles I read quoted some students as saying that they had noticed the light going on kind of randomly and thought it was strange; some of them put tape over it because it creeped them out. The second page of this article mentions it:
Their restraining order motion cites media interviews with other students who said they noticed a green light near their webcams turned on periodically – a sign they may have been in use, attorneys argue.It's mentioned in this article as well:
That contradicts anecdotal evidence compiled by Hax, who searched message boards used by Lower Merion high school students, and found many reports of iSight cameras powering up, as indicated by a brief flicker of the LED light next to the camera. Some students even put tape over their iSight cameras to prevent them from operating, but most were assured by the district that the light was a "common MacBook glitch." The LANRev software apparently disabled the cameras for all other uses; students were unable to use PhotoBooth or video chat, so apparently most of them believed that the camera did not work at all.posted by Blue Jello Elf at 2:22 PM on April 18, 2010 [2 favorites]
Christ, the levels of spiteful deception involved if Blue Jello Elf's link isn't lying...
posted by Dysk at 6:02 PM on April 18, 2010
posted by Dysk at 6:02 PM on April 18, 2010
Lower Merion School District employees activated the web cameras and tracking software on laptops they gave to high school students about 80 times in the past two school years, snapping nearly 56,000 images that included photos of students, pictures inside their homes and copies of the programs or files running on their screens, district investigators have concluded.
In most of the cases, technicians turned on the system after a student or staffer reported a laptop missing and turned it off when the machine was found, the investigators determined.
But in at least five instances, school employees let the Web cams keep clicking for days or weeks after students found their missing laptops, according to the review. Those computers - programmed to snap a photo and capture a screen shot every 15 minutes when the machine was on - fired nearly 13,000 images back to the school district servers.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 3:12 PM on April 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
In most of the cases, technicians turned on the system after a student or staffer reported a laptop missing and turned it off when the machine was found, the investigators determined.
But in at least five instances, school employees let the Web cams keep clicking for days or weeks after students found their missing laptops, according to the review. Those computers - programmed to snap a photo and capture a screen shot every 15 minutes when the machine was on - fired nearly 13,000 images back to the school district servers.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 3:12 PM on April 19, 2010 [2 favorites]
Oh wait. That was from the same article. Drrr nevermind.
posted by one_bean at 4:14 PM on April 19, 2010
posted by one_bean at 4:14 PM on April 19, 2010
Blake Robbins should have known better.
So says the official who ran the Lower Merion School District's controversial computer security system when it snapped Robbins' picture in his home and led to his invasion-of-privacy suit against the district.
Even in his own home, the Harriton High School sophomore had "no legitimate expectation of privacy" from the camera on his school-issued laptop, information systems coordinator Carol Cafiero contended in a court filing on Tuesday.
Sure, maybe if the cameras were used properly, two weeks of monitoring was clearly not a proper use. They keep bringing up the insurance fee as if that justifies them doing whatever they want, the law doesn't work that way.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:20 AM on April 21, 2010
So says the official who ran the Lower Merion School District's controversial computer security system when it snapped Robbins' picture in his home and led to his invasion-of-privacy suit against the district.
Even in his own home, the Harriton High School sophomore had "no legitimate expectation of privacy" from the camera on his school-issued laptop, information systems coordinator Carol Cafiero contended in a court filing on Tuesday.
Sure, maybe if the cameras were used properly, two weeks of monitoring was clearly not a proper use. They keep bringing up the insurance fee as if that justifies them doing whatever they want, the law doesn't work that way.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:20 AM on April 21, 2010
I'm sorry, but this is just crazy. I feel like I live in a different world. I really need the law to come down hard on these people. There is evil here, the mundane kind which is the worst.
posted by Danila at 11:03 PM on April 22, 2010
posted by Danila at 11:03 PM on April 22, 2010
Insurer balks and introduce L3 Communications, who I think of as a defense contractor, doing computer forensics.
posted by fixedgear at 4:58 AM on April 23, 2010
posted by fixedgear at 4:58 AM on April 23, 2010
School official says Lower Merion lacked laptop policy
posted by fixedgear at 7:34 AM on April 30, 2010
posted by fixedgear at 7:34 AM on April 30, 2010
Wow.
--Officials knew that the student had taken his school-issued laptop home, but activated the remote webcam anyway, taking hundreds of secret photos and screenshots, including him sleeping, partly dressed, his father, and IMs/photos of friends of his.
--The total number of pics secretly taken from the students' computers has gone up from 56,000 to 58,000...at a minimum; 50,000 of which were taken after the laptops had already been found and re-issued to students, showing the students, their friends and families.
On October 20, 2009, Blake J. Robbins brought his One-to-One laptop to the HHS Help Desk with a broken screen and was issued a loaner laptop. Later that morning, Building-Level technician Kyle O’Brien, Desktop Technician Chuck Ginter, and Rhonda Keefer, the teacher liaison to the One-to-One program, conferred and agreed that Mr. Robbins should not have been issued a loaner laptop in light of outstanding insurance fees.
Mr. Ginter then e-mailed Ms. Matsko and informed her that “we need to retrieve the laptop ASAP.”
On or about October 26, 2009, Mr. Perbix observed a screenshot from the loaner laptop. The screenshot included an on-line chat that concerned him.
On or about October 30, 2009, Mr. Perbix showed that image to Mr. Frazier. After consulting with Mr. Frazier, on October 30, 2009, Mr. Perbix set up a folder in the LMSD network home directories of HHS
Principal Steve Kline and Ms. Matsko to enable them to view the images captured from the laptop issued to Mr. Robbins.
They are fucked. REALLY fucked.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:59 PM on May 3, 2010
--Officials knew that the student had taken his school-issued laptop home, but activated the remote webcam anyway, taking hundreds of secret photos and screenshots, including him sleeping, partly dressed, his father, and IMs/photos of friends of his.
--The total number of pics secretly taken from the students' computers has gone up from 56,000 to 58,000...at a minimum; 50,000 of which were taken after the laptops had already been found and re-issued to students, showing the students, their friends and families.
On October 20, 2009, Blake J. Robbins brought his One-to-One laptop to the HHS Help Desk with a broken screen and was issued a loaner laptop. Later that morning, Building-Level technician Kyle O’Brien, Desktop Technician Chuck Ginter, and Rhonda Keefer, the teacher liaison to the One-to-One program, conferred and agreed that Mr. Robbins should not have been issued a loaner laptop in light of outstanding insurance fees.
Mr. Ginter then e-mailed Ms. Matsko and informed her that “we need to retrieve the laptop ASAP.”
On or about October 26, 2009, Mr. Perbix observed a screenshot from the loaner laptop. The screenshot included an on-line chat that concerned him.
On or about October 30, 2009, Mr. Perbix showed that image to Mr. Frazier. After consulting with Mr. Frazier, on October 30, 2009, Mr. Perbix set up a folder in the LMSD network home directories of HHS
Principal Steve Kline and Ms. Matsko to enable them to view the images captured from the laptop issued to Mr. Robbins.
They are fucked. REALLY fucked.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 9:59 PM on May 3, 2010
By an amazing chance, not a single photo showed a student in a "compromising position", according to the school.
By another amazing chance, at least a weeks' worth of photos still haven't "been able to be recovered", according to the earlier reports.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 10:01 PM on May 3, 2010
By another amazing chance, at least a weeks' worth of photos still haven't "been able to be recovered", according to the earlier reports.
posted by furiousxgeorge at 10:01 PM on May 3, 2010
As for DiMedio, she has not forgotten the years of work she and others devoted to launching the laptop project with the best of intentions for the district's 2,300 high school students. In a few weeks, she said, all that has been "just sullied by the kinds of things I've read in the newspaper."
She said no one who had worked on the project could have foreseen all this.
In hindsight, the e-mail looks eerily prophetic.
A high school student sent it to the Lower Merion School District's top technology administrator in 2008, weeks before the district began handing out laptops to students.
The teenager had done his homework, researching the software the district planned to load on every machine. He discovered the system would allow employees to remotely monitor students' laptops, and called it "appalling" that the district hadn't told anyone.
"I could see not informing parents and students of this fact causing a huge uproar," said the student's e-mail, which The Inquirer has reviewed.
In her reply, information systems director Virginia DiMedio told the student not to worry.
"If we were going to monitor student use at home we would have stated so," her e-mail said. "Think about it - why would we do that? There is no purpose. We are not a police state."
DiMedio ended her reply: "I suggest you take a breath and relax."
posted by furiousxgeorge at 10:04 PM on May 3, 2010
She said no one who had worked on the project could have foreseen all this.
In hindsight, the e-mail looks eerily prophetic.
A high school student sent it to the Lower Merion School District's top technology administrator in 2008, weeks before the district began handing out laptops to students.
The teenager had done his homework, researching the software the district planned to load on every machine. He discovered the system would allow employees to remotely monitor students' laptops, and called it "appalling" that the district hadn't told anyone.
"I could see not informing parents and students of this fact causing a huge uproar," said the student's e-mail, which The Inquirer has reviewed.
In her reply, information systems director Virginia DiMedio told the student not to worry.
"If we were going to monitor student use at home we would have stated so," her e-mail said. "Think about it - why would we do that? There is no purpose. We are not a police state."
DiMedio ended her reply: "I suggest you take a breath and relax."
posted by furiousxgeorge at 10:04 PM on May 3, 2010
You are not logged in, either login or create an account to post comments
A much more likely scenario is that the kid took a picture of himself with the webcam, doing something stupid/illegal and the school found that picture on the computer's HD and now wants to discipline him for the infraction. And instead of owning up to his misbehavior, he and his parents decide to sue based on a lot of assumptions about what the management software can and cannot do.
Boing Boing (and Cory Doctorow) have a long history of alarmist and sensationalistic journalism. That this story is being popularized there surprises me not at all. There is more to this story that we're not being told, as is so often the case with sensationalistic news stories. I, for one, would love to be in the courtroom during a trial for this case to watch the technical experts pick apart the allegations made in this lawsuit. There are just too many holes and assumptions being made about LANRev, the school district, and its monitoring policies (if these even exist).
What was that about assumptions?
posted by one_bean at 2:04 PM on April 16, 2010 [2 favorites]