Help handing down M1 MBA

[ericg301]

Greetings! I'm typing this on my new M3 Midnight MBA (512gb/16gb). This means I can now hand down my January 2020 256/8 M1 MBA to my 11-year-old daughter, who will attend a BYOD private middle school starting this summer. They mainly use web-based apps, so it'll essentially serve as an overpowered Chromebook. I hope it'll last her all 3 years of middle school. Current battery health is at 87%

But I could use some help preparing to hand it down to her:

1). Looks. It's Space Gray. She's mad about that because her sister has the rose gold one. I know there's an entire world of skins out there that I've never needed to research before. Can anyone fill me in on how they work or if they're worth it? Otherwise, I would let her cover the top with Taylor Swift stickers. Can she do both? She's also very tactile so if a skin can be easily picked off, she'll pick it off.

2). Protection. This is my ADHD girl who's a bit clumsy. Her iPad has always been in a "baby case" until recently we switched to Zugu. I know Apple advises against any sort of cases on the laptop itself. Besides a padded sleeve or wrapping it in bubble wrap, is there anything else I can do to minimize the chances of it breaking?

3). Locking it down. I want her only to access her school apps, at least initially. She'll have her iPad at home for games and streaming. I don't think I'll even associate her Apple ID with her user account as I could see her iMessaging me and her mom all day long. The dock may literally only have Chrome on it. I'll create a separate "DADMIN" user account where I can install updates and such.

Is there anything else I'm not think of?

 

[steve123]

Turn on some sort of content filtering and only allow her account to connect to WiFi spots you have approved.

 

[ericg301]

Turn on some sort of content filtering and only allow her account to connect to WiFi spots you have approved.

Yeah, content filtering has been on my mind. Up to now, I've relied on Safari's built-in content filtering, but as she enters middle school, I do need to look at a third-party system.

and good to know re: wi-fi!

 

[FreakinEurekan]

Protection. This is my ADHD girl who's a bit clumsy… is there anything else I can do to minimize the chances of it breaking?

Not much. Do you have AppleCare on this Mac? If not… after she destroys it 😬 get AppleCare on the replacement.

 

[ericg301]

Not much. Do you have AppleCare on this Mac? If not… after she destroys it get AppleCare on the replacement.

It expired after two years and I never needed it.

I guess I’ll start saving $699 for a replacement at WalMart.

 

[Mainsail]

I think you can control content from Settings > Screen Time. Also, if you create a separate Administrator account for yourself, then you can setup your child's user account that restricts adult content. The problem is this will sometimes block legitimate content because the filters aren't perfect.....maybe they have improved....don't know.

Anyway, when our kids were in middle school, we enrolled them in the laptop program, and we never had a serious problem. However, this was more than 15 years ago. And, there was not as much social media back then. This would be my biggest concern today. Social media for teens and pre-teens is a hell scape.

 

[ericg301]

Oh yeah there’s no way this child will have social media for a long time. My older child has a TikTok account but we monitor it pretty closely. It’s a hellscape for sure.

 

[Le Big Mac]

You've thought this through, but I would be inclined to keep messaging turned on, restricted to specified contacts, and just deal with messages. Have a discussion with her that she can't message you all day. Better that she be able to get in touch with you if needed.

 

[steve123]

Also, be mindful that her peers could attempt to circumvent your controls. For instance, a peer could create a personal hotspot and allow her to connect and thereby circumvent the content filters the school put in place on their WiFi network.

 

[raythompsontn]

The school system in which I sub provides every student with a Chromebook. When I was subbing one time, the students were taking a test in which they were not allowed to talk. I watched very closely. I discovered that the students were opening a shared google document and writing questions in the document. Others would then write the response and the text would be erased. Clever little brats they be.

I informed the school administration of what I witnessed. I was told that action was not strictly against district policy and there was nothing the school could do. I said the students were cheating. The school administration said there was no proof and thus their hands were tied.

Students can be clever and will spend more time and energy to get around a rule to find an answer to a question than they would have exerted actually finding an answer. Locking a system down completely will be difficult.

 

[Mainsail]

The school system in which I sub provides every student with a Chromebook. When I was subbing one time, the students were taking a test in which they were not allowed to talk. I watched very closely. I discovered that the students were opening a shared google document and writing questions in the document. Others would then write the response and the text would be erased. Clever little brats they be.

I informed the school administration of what I witnessed. I was told that action was not strictly against district policy and there was nothing the school could do. I said the students were cheating. The school said there was no proof and thus their hands were tied.

Students can be clever and will spend more time and energy to get around a rule to find an answer to a question than they would have exerted actually finding an answer. Locking a system down completely will be difficult.

I must say, I am both saddened by the cheating and impressed by the ingenuity.

 

[BanjoDudeAhoy]

The school system in which I sub provides every student with a Chromebook. When I was subbing one time, the students were taking a test in which they were not allowed to talk. I watched very closely. I discovered that the students were opening a shared google document and writing questions in the document. Others would then write the response and the text would be erased. Clever little brats they be.

I informed the school administration of what I witnessed. I was told that action was not strictly against district policy and there was nothing the school could do. I said the students were cheating. The school administration said there was no proof and thus their hands were tied.

Students can be clever and will spend more time and energy to get around a rule to find an answer to a question than they would have exerted actually finding an answer. Locking a system down completely will be difficult.

Well, back in school (and I'll date myself in a second, wait for it) in computer science class, people were passing around floppy disks that contained the correct code. "Just change the variable names and indentation, dude."