A high school student in the Lower Merion School District in Pennsylvania, was surprised when he was chewed out by school officials for "engaging in improper behavior in his home". He was even more surprised when shown the evidence of his improper conduct -- a picture taken by the webcam of the computer he had been given by the school (all 1800 high school students had been issued computers by the school).
To put it bluntly, some employee at the school had activated the student's webcam remotely and spied on him in his own room in his own home! I'm pretty sure this was not the intention of the school board when they authorized giving all students a computer, and if it was, it violates all the boundaries of privacy and common decency.
The school has no authority over a student unless the student is on school property or on a school-sponsored trip. Anything the student does at any other time and place is solely the business of his parents (or the law if he/she does something illegal). But in no way is it the business of the school. This school stepped way over the line. And who knows how many students were spied on. I'm sure this student isn't the only one.
The school said the remote capability was only intended to be used to locate a stolen or lost computer, but this excuse sounds very weak. Can't a lost (or stolen) computer be located by means of a GPS tracking device? Why is it necessary to have remote webcam viewing capabilities? Frankly, it isn't necessary. In fact, I can't think of a single legitimate reason for the school to have this capability.
The school has apologized and says they have disabled the remote viewing capability, but that's not good enough for the parents of this student. They have sued the school district for invading their privacy. They say this covert surveillance of students is nothing less than "wiretapping".
The legal papers they filed say, "As the laptops were routinely used by students and family members at home, it is believed that many of the images captured and intercepted may consist of images of minors and their parents or friends in compromising or embarrassing positions, including in various stages of dress or undress."
This is shockingly inappropriate behavior for a school to engage in. They deserve whatever award or penalties a court deems proper, and I personally hope that court deals with them harshly.
(The picture above was found at the web site Freaking News.)
Related to this is the idea that what a teacher or student does in his or her home from own computers on the internet is somehow the school's business. I saw an article about a teacher who complained about students harrassing her and did so on her own facebook page.. and was suspended. http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/PlanetAtheism/~3/mt74GPDK8ZI/high-school-teacher-victim-of-modern.html. Where's the MYOB in all of this?
ReplyDeletewhat a crock!...lawsuits will be coming.
ReplyDelete