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Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

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Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#151

Post by em-bee »

neom wrote: post #136

My high schools IT manager got so sick of me he eventually just gave me creds and told me if I abused his trust he'd be really disappointed in me. I never bypassed a single filter system once, just made sure whatever computer I was on was functioning, up to date, didn't need any attention and fixed anything broken. In retrospect, Weird way to get me to stop fucking around, but worked extremely well for him.

this is the way.

my sons teacher made him class monitor, that means he had to report if other kids broke rules. i found that somewhat strange to have such a role, but the teacher said that it would stop my son from trying to break rules, because he would have to report himself.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#152

Post by prepend »

gnicholas wrote: post #75

A school IT specialist told me about a clever student hack. Their school blocks all sorts of traffic, but teachers can allow exceptions via a password. One student installed a keylogger onto his BYOD laptop (many schools allow kids to bring their own, or use a mediocre school-provided device), and then made up a plausible excuse to hit the firewall (e.g., doing a report on anatomy, but innocuous site was blocked beca…

I run a pihole and clients can request an exception and then I grant it on my own device.

Having root type into someone else’s machine that they control is a total noob move and it’s funny the teacher fell for it.

Of course since the student is using a custom machine it’s likely they have a specific ip, host name, and traffic pattern that can identify them (eg, look at the requests across 7 different classrooms and find the single student that’s in all of them before the password spreads too much). Then they can intervene and punish the kid.

Keyloggers aren’t particularly clever or “hackery” and are just a social engineering hack so it’s more malicious than exploratory.

But I’d hope the school doesn’t crack down too hard and instead uses it to teach kids that if you want to be clever you have to be very clever.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#153

Post by prepend »

gnicholas wrote: post #103
switch007 wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of better ways. You make the student auth in some manner then grant an exception from your own computer. Entering the password on the student’s BYOD is pretty stupid

> Entering the password on the student’s BYOD is pretty stupid I wouldn't say it was stupid of the teacher to enter the password, given the amount of technical expertise that elementary school teachers can be expected to possess. The blame should probably go to the person who set up the exception-granting system, who should have used a system that doesn't involve authenticating on a non-trusted device.

If teachers are to be trusted with the password then they need training on how to protect the training. And a simple “only enter this password in secure locations” is necessary.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#154

Post by somethingreen »

kleiba wrote: post #113

There's a big political agenda where I live to push laptops, tablets and other IT into schools, but so far no-one has been able to explain to me why this is thought to be necessary or even a good idea. The common answer that kids need to be able to us information technology as a way to prepare them for challenges of their later life is laughable: most kids are already way more tech-savvy when they enter grade 4 or so…

> most kids are already way more tech-savvy

What about those who aren't? Public education is designed to pull those struggling to average level, not leave them behind.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#155

Post by laurels-marts »

ihatepython wrote: post #61
adriand wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We do take the devices at bedtime, in fact, I have a reminder on my phone that goes off at 9:30 pm every night (which I started after discovering the problem). But it’s not just about the late night usage, which is mostly curtailed but not perfectly given I’m not a perfect authoritarian. It’s more generally what he’s doing with it. I don’t want him going down YouTube rabbit holes, developing a body image complex via…

What if he is watching videos about quantum physics, and he might have been the next Einstein, if his parents didn't restrict his access to the information superhighway?

YT has a watch history so this “what if” can be easily tested. In case it’s true you can then supplement the internet superhighway with some relevant books on the subject.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#156

Post by prepend »

adriand wrote: post #5

This relates to something that has been bugging me lately, which is as a parent I have zero parental control over the devices that our school board issues to my children. My kids have iPhones and iPads, which are part of my Apple family account, and I can both monitor what they are doing and also set limits on screen time including hours of usage and for particular apps. However, I recently became aware that my son w…

This was a big issue for me. My school wouldn’t give me visibility into the laptop, they wouldn’t let me set screen time controls, wouldn’t let me tune content filters when they were out of school, wouldn’t let me install apps that I purchased, wouldn’t let kids message parents, and wanted me to sign these blanket “we can capture all data, including camera and microphone, sell it to whomever we want, and do whatever we want with it” waivers.

Aside from teaching kids to be slaves to sysadmins and kind of crushing the coolest part of computers, they were basically making kids take care of these expensive bricks. And that’s a lot of work for an 8 year old.

I think it’s more due to stupidity than any agenda, but still not something I want to be involved with.

I bought cheap refurbed macbookairs that sync to screen time controls with other devices, have pretty decent privacy controls, I have root school doesn’t, they can message me and other family members, and the battery lasts two days. The school didn’t like it, but I had to make a stink and said either this or do special paper assignments. My kids were embarrassed but now appreciate just putting their laptop into their backpack instead of laptop plus charger and charging it all day.

The school still issues their laptops some days for exams that will only run on their equipment. Whatever that means.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#157

Post by prepend »

laurels-marts wrote: post #155
ihatepython wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What if he is watching videos about quantum physics, and he might have been the next Einstein, if his parents didn't restrict his access to the information superhighway?

YT has a watch history so this “what if” can be easily tested. In case it’s true you can then supplement the internet superhighway with some relevant books on the subject.

Kids know how to clear the watch history. YouTube has been a real struggle for me.

My kids cleared the watch history then I would notice the history was empty so I’d talk to them about it.

Then the started clearing and then leaving playlists of “educational” stuff running over night to poison the history.

Kids are smart.

I haven’t found a real solution yet other than banning YouTube on everything but the tv in the family room.

It’s funny because classes assign YouTube videos and the kids have to sit there and watch ads before their assignment.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#158

Post by prepend »

marssaxman wrote: post #46
wildzzz wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Easy, no devices in their hands after bedtime. Your child isn't some busy tech professional that needs to be on call for work emails. They can live without having their iPad and iphone in their room. When I got caught as a kid playing my Gameboy when I should have been asleep, I lost my free access to it and could only use it when homework and chores were completed. Once play time was over, they took it back because…

> Easy, no devices in their hands after bedtime. This is no longer so easy after your kid realizes they can simply wait until you fall asleep, then sneak into your room and filch the machine from wherever you've stashed it.

My router turns off all kid device internet at 930. So devices still have power but no connectivity.

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#159

Post by prepend »

1letterunixname wrote: post #64
jonhohle wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Coincidentally, I just emailed our school board about this. Our district claims to support BYOD, but has no documentation. As parents, we should be able to determine what our kids have access to based on our own family values. No two families will be the same. The idea that elementary or middle school children can handle having unrestricted (or minimally restricted) devices is absurd.

BYOD is partially a terrible idea. They shouldn't be sending kids home with devices. What about parents who object to technology screen time? Could we not invent a religion, say Reformed Mennonites, that objects to children using screen devices? How could they argue with that?

I was able to use unspecific religious and cultural preferences to get my school to allow BYOD, after many other attempts failed.

I think there’s some value in having a modern, atheist, philosophical church to yield positive bureaucratic results. It reminds me of the early internet’s Church of the Subgenius [0] and people playing around for lulz. I had friends who were ironically Satanists and still have some who claim to be Discordians, but I think that’s just to mess with census takers.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_the_SubGenius

Re: Kids trying to play video games on school laptops

#160

Post by prepend »

bearmode wrote: post #106
1letterunixname wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

BYOD is partially a terrible idea. They shouldn't be sending kids home with devices. What about parents who object to technology screen time? Could we not invent a religion, say Reformed Mennonites, that objects to children using screen devices? How could they argue with that?

>What about parents who object to technology screen time? As in, completely? Then those parents should realise that they're severely hampering their kid's education and development in a screen-focused world, and set more reasonable restrictions.

I’m guessing the Amish have way higher SAT and lifetime income stats.
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