They are allowed to, they should be allowed to, school is not meant for Facebook, you probably have plenty of time at home for that, I do not wish to be a killjoy but you have to realize that there is a time and a place for everything.
Is My School Allowed to Do This?
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Thats exactly like my school. we have to sign a contract and my parents have to sign it to say you accept the terms. prity much they can monitor what you do on the computers and if you bring your own laptop you have to serender it when a teacher asks to make sure there is no porn or an exes amount of games as well as other illegal stuff.
if you are caught with a cell phone you they confiscate it and you need a parent to get it from the office. if they catch you 3 times you loose your cell for the rest of the term.
if you are caught with a cell phone you they confiscate it and you need a parent to get it from the office. if they catch you 3 times you loose your cell for the rest of the term.
OT: I am going to echo most of the poster's sentiment here. If you want to access their wifi or other forms of internet access, you must deal with their policies. Internet access isn't a civil right. If you don't want to play by their rules, then just wait to access the internet when you get home.
Not in the least bit. In my time teaching, I've given a few dozen stern warnings, and when I've ran into egregious cases, I've confiscated a few phones. A school staff member can confiscate a phone, or similar objects, if their usage or possession is banned by school rules.Starke said:
That depends on the rules of the school. If you signed some sort of form in which you agree to comply to their rules, and those rules forbid electronic devices on the school grounds, then it's your own damn fault if you take your phone to school and they confiscate it.Starke said:
Oak's words echoed... "Ash! There is a time and place for everything! But not now!"Adrian Neyland said:
[sub]I had to do that...[/sub]
But yeah, they're allowed to. I wouldn't say they should, but they can.
Taking peoples' phones, on the other hand, is theft. You can report them to the police if you're really desperate for your phone, I guess.
When I was a senior in high school I took a Web Page Design class, with an awesome teacher. He let us use proxies to go on Facebook and stuff. Also he played Unreal Tournament with us 
. But it's kinda lame that they're allowed to monitor you.
. But it's kinda lame that they're allowed to monitor you.
One solution might be to get a USB wireless dongle. Lets you connect to the internet without the school wireless OR a phone, and if anyone asks you can say it's a USB memory stick.
Why shouldn't they? It is a place of education. The computers should be used for work and work purposes only. It's also the school's WiFi system that the tax payers are paying for, Why shouldn't people have to say "This is my laptop and what is done on it is done by me while on this network"Chibz said:
Blocking Facebook/youtube does not work. There are proxy's that get around it and if you don't update the website block list EVERY DAY it's useless and any website can be accessed. Also the ability for the teacher to take control of the students computer / watch what all students are doing while they are on computers for their work is a good thing. It allows teachers to help students without having to say "move over give me the mouse" and can just show them right there with access to any others students computer as well.
Actually, according to the United States Supreme Court, school teachers do indeed act as in loco parentis [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_loco_parentis]. Seeing as how they set the laws of the US, if the OP is in the US, the teachers are paid to act as Big Brother, or more accurately, Big Mother. And Mother has every right to monitor your behavior. The Supreme Court has held that people under the age of 18 do not have the same rights as those over, including certain aspects of free speech and privacy (if you are really interested, Tinker v De Moines [http://www.bc.edu/bc_org/avp/cas/comm/free_speech/tinker.html] discusses exactly what free speech rights students have, and New Jersey v T.L.O. [http://www.law.cornell.edu/supct/html/historics/USSC_CR_0469_0325_ZS.html] goes into detail about what rights to privacy students can expect) The court has pretty much stated that if conduct by a student disrupts the normal classwork of the institution, then that conduct is not protected by the constitution. It really depends on whether or not the OP is in the US. I am not familiar with the laws of other countries regarding this.FalloutJack said:
Does that make it right? Well, that's another issue entirely.
But internet access is provided through the school computers. The school's covered on this: they aren't obliged to allow any machine to connect to their internet and are fully within their rights to register and monitor any user connected to their network. At my school we had to sign a code of conduct for the use of the computers stating what we were and were not allowed to do and on top of that there was a stringent filter; it's their network, it's their rules. At uni they even made us use one of three anti-viruses before we were allowed to connect, and even though I was using Comodo (tested to be more secure than any of the solutions they required) I wasn't allowed access until I'd installed AVG as well. Their network, their rules.FalloutJack said:
Honestly, it's a little simpler than that. If it's a private institution, constitutional rights simply don't apply. If the OP is in a public school, then it's a slightly different situation, but a simple waver signed by the student's parents would also wipe privacy concerns on the subject.meganmeave said:
EDIT: Hell, when it comes to internet access, you wouldn't even need a waver.
I think you'll find that they can take mobile phones, it is perfectly legal, and not theft. You will find that when you enroll to the school you will be made to sign a compliance form that covers all of this. Whilst I do agree that is probably not right that they should be able to confiscate your property, when you join the school you basically sign your soul away and allow them to do things like this.EternalFacepalm said:
There are 3G USB sticks which you pay for monthly. Using those, if not against the rules, shouldn't get you in trouble, because you're not using their connection, therefore they don't require registering. It will also only work if you bring your own laptop. Still, they might decide to put in a small bit in the school rules, banning their use and closing that loophole behind you.Starke said:
Yes they are allowed.
What do they register? Mac-address or do you need to install something on your laptop?
What they used to do on our campus is that you have to had certain Cisco client installed before you had access to the internet.
Now what they didn?t realize is that there were a lot nerd?s on our campus and that the code that the client gave was easily spoofed in linux ^^
What do they register? Mac-address or do you need to install something on your laptop?
What they used to do on our campus is that you have to had certain Cisco client installed before you had access to the internet.
Now what they didn?t realize is that there were a lot nerd?s on our campus and that the code that the client gave was easily spoofed in linux ^^
No waiver. It's a public middle school in the U S of A. The cell phone is written into our student policy (rules for the kiddies). The must sign the policy within a week of entering the school. Few kids even read it...shame, but most people tend to ignore reading through rules that can affect them.Starke said:
I did! You don't need the internet to teach the majority of what you learn in school.FalloutJack said:
Or any of it, when I was going.
The bottom line is that this is a case of the kids bringing in a distraction into the school. While is certainly can and should be used for school-work and studies, it can just as easily be used for non-school activities, making it more akin to a cell phone or a Nintendo DS. So the line is simple: If you want the internet (Not if you want your laptop, mind) at the school on your own personal laptop, you'll comply with our rules.
It's legal, and I think it's totally in the right.
Let's be honest: When I was in computer class, were me and my friends following the teacher's instructions? No. We were playing Doom, Quake, or whatever old game we could get (That could run on those crappy computers) to play with each other. While I'll admit it was fun, it certainly distracted us from our real work. I can't imagine having that distraction in all my classes.
So why take the risk?
School isn't a democratic society. You go there to learn the basics of reading, writing, mathematics, and history. You even learn the foundation of social interaction, and (What I think is the most important part) simple work ethic. Anything that can hinder or distract you from that learning in a very direct way, like video games, cellphones, or full, unmonitored access to the internet, should absolutely be banned or controlled.
Saying "But it's mine!!" doesn't mean a thing. Remember: school isn't a democratic society.
So either suck it up and just do your work.
Or don't bring a laptop.
Simple.
They do it at my school, i don't see anything wrong with it, as someone else said, I'm sure you can last without Facebook / youtube / Tumblr etc. for those hours. What i don't like about it is when the school has blocked websites that you actually need :S
My school did a similar thing. They used a program called Lanschool that they installed on every school computer which allowed them to restrict access to all sorts of things and it also allowed teachers to see what's on the screen and remote control the computer.
Then they started making everyone go to the tech guys so that they could install Lanschool on our laptops as well. The program would be running at school and at home. This meant that...
1. I couldn't access Task Manager (I key component to make sure I can fix numerous problems that arise when using windows)
2. A key logger was built into the program so if I did personal banking at home then they would have my log on details.
3. They have access to control my computer remotely and see all sorts of personal files.
This would have crippled the use of my PERSONAL computer, my main computer that I use everywhere and they would have invaded my privacy and had all sorts of details about me.
Me and my friends basically went screw you and never let them put it on there. They didn't bother going after and forcing us, although it may have been because we were only had about 3 or so months until we graduated and figured it wasn't worth the trouble.
It still makes me feel disgusted to this very day. They could have simply made us connect to their network and restricted what websites could be accessed from using the school network but, they were too stupid to think of that and instead tried doing the worst thing possible.
Then they started making everyone go to the tech guys so that they could install Lanschool on our laptops as well. The program would be running at school and at home. This meant that...
1. I couldn't access Task Manager (I key component to make sure I can fix numerous problems that arise when using windows)
2. A key logger was built into the program so if I did personal banking at home then they would have my log on details.
3. They have access to control my computer remotely and see all sorts of personal files.
This would have crippled the use of my PERSONAL computer, my main computer that I use everywhere and they would have invaded my privacy and had all sorts of details about me.
Me and my friends basically went screw you and never let them put it on there. They didn't bother going after and forcing us, although it may have been because we were only had about 3 or so months until we graduated and figured it wasn't worth the trouble.
It still makes me feel disgusted to this very day. They could have simply made us connect to their network and restricted what websites could be accessed from using the school network but, they were too stupid to think of that and instead tried doing the worst thing possible.