School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
1–10 of 114 posts
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#2I don't have a smart phone but surely there must be an app that creates a fake text messaging UI and locks the real messages behind a unique password?
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#3American schools are so authoritarian, it's no wonder we are having such a problem preserving faith in our system of democracy in the United States. In public schools, the word of unelected random adults is law, the rules are completely arbitrary, students have no right to privacy, no freedom of movement, sometimes not even control over how they dress or who they speak to. If an American public school was a country, it'd be Putin's Russia, and that only because of the pretense of meaningless "student government".
Maybe if we wanted people to believe that the political system of this country made sense and was worth protecting, we would structure our education system to reflect its alleged values.
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#4Send them back with a legal-looking note "I paid for this phone, legally it is mine and not the child's. As you are a government institution, any request to view it either comes with a warrant, or pre-reading payment of $1,000,000 for every character in the message which you intend to read. Your receipt and acknowledgement of this letter counts as a binding agreement to these terms."
If they want to play a foolish game, play it right back and watch them falter. My father had lots of fun doing this when I was in school, as most admin-level people don't know what truly is legal and what is not.
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#5I don't have a smart phone but surely there must be an app that creates a fake text messaging UI and locks the real messages behind a unique password?
Or, you know, you don't hide stuff and pretend the problem doesn't exist, but instead fix the issue. The kids have a right to due process, and to privacy as they are, after all, human. What is required here is for the adult parents, and students to push back together and to let the school know that this is unequivocally a bad approach.
The author points out that in different words that if the school is worried about bullying, etc, then the appropriate response is to protect first, not work out who to punish first.
Trying to come up with fake guis and hiding stuff is not how this sort of issue should be approached. The issue needs to be squashed, and firmly, so that it doesn't occur in the first place. Prevention is better than cure, or in the case of a fake gui, less than half a cure.
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#6American schools are so authoritarian, it's no wonder we are having such a problem preserving faith in our system of democracy in the United States. In public schools, the word of unelected random adults is law, the rules are completely arbitrary, students have no right to privacy, no freedom of movement, sometimes not even control over how they dress or who they speak to. If an American public school was a country,…
I almost got kicked out of school over a computer related issue. I refused to admit to it and they threatened to call the police. It honestly would have been preferable as the police have due process.
Kids reading this, don't give them a confession, police or school admins, take the 5th.
Don't Talk to the Police - https://youtu.be/d-7o9xYp7eE They want to take your money or put you in a cage.
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#7Send them back with a legal-looking note "I paid for this phone, legally it is mine and not the child's. As you are a government institution, any request to view it either comes with a warrant, or pre-reading payment of $1,000,000 for every character in the message which you intend to read. Your receipt and acknowledgement of this letter counts as a binding agreement to these terms." If they want to play a foolish ga…
I really like this because it cuts to the heart of the matter of somebody at that school deeply misunderstanding the limits of their authority, and having it thrown back at them could help them learn, or at least be an amusing way to deal with the situation.
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#8I don't have a smart phone but surely there must be an app that creates a fake text messaging UI and locks the real messages behind a unique password?
Thinking that there is a technical solution to invasion of basic rights is a fallacy that many hackers believe, that I also fall for quite often. In the end you might win the "this policy is ineffective, because there is a way to get around" argument short-term, but you loose the stronger "this policy is a violation of my (kids) established rights" argument long-term.
At the end the only way to win this cat & mouse game is to stand your ground before it starts.
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#9American schools are so authoritarian, it's no wonder we are having such a problem preserving faith in our system of democracy in the United States. In public schools, the word of unelected random adults is law, the rules are completely arbitrary, students have no right to privacy, no freedom of movement, sometimes not even control over how they dress or who they speak to. If an American public school was a country,…
I almost got kicked out of school over a computer related issue. I refused to admit to it and they threatened to call the police. It honestly would have been preferable as the police have due process. Kids reading this, don't give them a confession, police or school admins, take the 5th. Don't Talk to the Police - https://youtu.be/d-7o9xYp7eE They want to take your money or put you in a cage.
What was the issue? Just curious, if you're comfortable elaborating.
Re: School demands search of text messaging, outside of school
#10Earlier quoted context omitted.
I almost got kicked out of school over a computer related issue. I refused to admit to it and they threatened to call the police. It honestly would have been preferable as the police have due process. Kids reading this, don't give them a confession, police or school admins, take the 5th. Don't Talk to the Police - https://youtu.be/d-7o9xYp7eE They want to take your money or put you in a cage.
What was the issue? Just curious, if you're comfortable elaborating.
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