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laptop not allowed in school?

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Onimusha370

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 25, 2010
1,042
1,516
just had my MBA taken off me in school, despite the fact i was doing schoolwork on it. the reason that it was taken off me was because 'i was a threat to the network'. so my school doesn't trust its high achieving pupils to do work in lessons? the IT technician who took it off me said he was 'keeping the network secure' by taking it off me. i had little choice but to give it him.
what are your thoughts on this?
 
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wpotere

Guest
Oct 7, 2010
1,528
1
Probably should have checked to see if it was ok to bring a laptop to school in the first place. Most have pretty strict rules in this area.
 
Satori

Satori

macrumors 6502a
Jun 22, 2006
761
6
London
Onimusha370 said:
just had my MBA taken off me in school, despite the fact i was doing schoolwork on it. the reason that it was taken off me was because 'i was a threat to the network'. so my school doesn't trust its high achieving pupils to do work in lessons? the IT technician who took it off me said he was 'keeping the network secure' by taking it off me. i had little choice but to give it him.
what are your thoughts on this?
Click to expand...

Keeping the network secure from what?

Are you sure the Tech doesn't just want to spend the day trying out your MBA? If you have Back to My Mac activated as part of a mobile me account have a little look to see what they are up to with your MBA!
 
M

MacRuler

macrumors 6502
Apr 16, 2010
287
0
thats bullcrap! they could have asked you to turn it off, disconnect from the network. its rediculous how much power we give people in our schools. if this was a person at a job and they had a laptop that they were working on and a person in power said give me that. i doubt it would be given up so easily. its like our high school students have no rights. they can make up any rule and we must obey. :mad:
 
Z

ZombieZakk

macrumors 6502
Feb 23, 2011
353
25
im fine with their network their rules but i would not have handed my air to anyone! i would have just left and dont bring the air back but i would not trust it with anyone!
 
O

Onimusha370

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 25, 2010
1,042
1,516
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

That's the thing, I wasn't even on the network, airport was off, but he said 'I might have software to hack in'.
Not happy
 
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wpotere

Guest
Oct 7, 2010
1,528
1
Did you get it back? He has a right to hold it but it must be returned at some point. As for people yelling it is BS, rules are rules. The OP should have asked BEFORE bringing it in, simple enough. I think it is pretty lame as they should have an IT team that is capable of detecting a system being hacked but I can also respect their stance. As for having the card off, there is nothing that would keep you from turning it on once he left.
 
J

JoshAlder

macrumors member
Apr 6, 2011
65
0
unlucky. like most people have said you should have really asked for permission. my school and college were fine with me bringing in mine.
 
O

Onimusha370

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 25, 2010
1,042
1,516
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Every other teacher in the school is fine with it, it's just that one guy. By taking it off me, I couldn't get my coursework finished. Pretty annoying. I see everyones point that it's his network, but it's a pretty big assumption to assume that a student is 'hacking the network' because he's on a laptop.
 
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wpotere

Guest
Oct 7, 2010
1,528
1
Onimusha370 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

Every other teacher in the school is fine with it, it's just that one guy. By taking it off me, I couldn't get my coursework finished. Pretty annoying. I see everyones point that it's his network, but it's a pretty big assumption to assume that a student is 'hacking the network' because he's on a laptop.
Click to expand...

So they should make an exception for you because you weren't doing anything and some teachers didn't care? Also, if it is "every other teacher", it is not just the IT guy that has a problem with it. The rules are in place for a reason and he has every right to enforce it. Ignorance of the rules is no exception. This is the way life is; a good lesson learned here.

Is this college or high school? (My guess is high school)

Also, did you get it back or get instructions as to when/how you would get it back?
 
O

Onimusha370

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 25, 2010
1,042
1,516
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

The point is, I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was getting on with work. I accept they may have rules against this, I'm not denying what I was doing was against his rules.
 
benhollberg

benhollberg

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2010
2,170
7
Your biggest problem is that you gave them your computer. Never give it to anyone, just say ok I'll stop and be done. They cannot make you give it to them, they aren't the police. It is their rules on their own network so you should follow the rules and if they ask you to stop then stop. Just remember, don't give up your computer. I hope you get it back and all goes well.
 
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wpotere

Guest
Oct 7, 2010
1,528
1
Onimusha370 said:
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

The point is, I wasn't doing anything wrong, I was getting on with work. I accept they may have rules against this, I'm not denying what I was doing was against his rules.
Click to expand...

You have made no point. You WERE doing something wrong by bringing a laptop on to campus which is forbidden. Whatever else you were doing is pointless. Nobody is saying that you were up to anything malicious, but you broke the rules and there is a price for that. As for "his" rules, I think you mean the "schools" rules. By bringing it down to this one person you are minimizing the severity of it. This is a campus policy that was likely put in place by the school board, he was just enforcing it.

If you don't like this rule, then you should go to the board and try to fight it.
 
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wpotere

Guest
Oct 7, 2010
1,528
1
benhollberg said:
Your biggest problem is that you gave them your computer. Never give it to anyone, just say ok I'll stop and be done. They cannot make you give it to them, they aren't the police. It is their rules on their own network so you should follow the rules and if they ask you to stop then stop. Just remember, don't give up your computer. I hope you get it back and all goes well.
Click to expand...

Very wrong there and that will only cause more problems. They do have the right to confiscate it. Just give it up and get it back at the end of the day but don't bring it back again.
 
O

Onimusha370

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 25, 2010
1,042
1,516
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/532.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0.5 Mobile/8B117 Safari/6531.22.7)

benhollberg said:
Your biggest problem is that you gave them your computer. Never give it to anyone, just say ok I'll stop and be done. They cannot make you give it to them, they aren't the police. It is their rules on their own network so you should follow the rules and if they ask you to stop then stop. Just remember, don't give up your computer. I hope you get it back and all goes well.
Click to expand...

Thanks, just gone and got it back. All looks fine
 
rdowty

rdowty

macrumors 6502a
Oct 5, 2008
675
118
My office doesn't allow personal equipment in the building for the same reasons.
 
benhollberg

benhollberg

macrumors 68020
Mar 8, 2010
2,170
7
wpotere said:
Very wrong there and that will only cause more problems. They do have the right to confiscate it. Just give it up and get it back at the end of the day but don't bring it back again.
Click to expand...

Schools always have police around so it could easily be taken away but why would a school have the right to take something away. I never had this problem in college but in high school they tried to take my iPhone and I wouldn't let them. I said they have no right to take it, they called the police down to the class I was in but by the time they arrived the school days just barely ended. Everything turned out ok.
 
Z

ZipZap

macrumors 603
Dec 14, 2007
6,112
1,467
JoshAlder said:
unlucky. like most people have said you should have really asked for permission. my school and college were fine with me bringing in mine.
Click to expand...

Your college has no say in the matter.

As for high school. Its up to the school to secure their network. Not allowing portable computers for high school students is just stupid. I would bring your parents to school and take the matter up with the principal. If your parents are behind your use of the computer at school to do homework, that should extact pressure on the principal to justify the schools position more fully to the parents.

I would have said no to that IT tech forcing the issue to the principal office.

wpotere said:
So they should make an exception for you because you weren't doing anything and some teachers didn't care? Also, if it is "every other teacher", it is not just the IT guy that has a problem with it. The rules are in place for a reason and he has every right to enforce it. Ignorance of the rules is no exception. This is the way life is; a good lesson learned here.

Is this college or high school? (My guess is high school)

Also, did you get it back or get instructions as to when/how you would get it back?
Click to expand...

That does not sound like a rule. I would force the issue to the principal and bring in your parents and even supporting teachers.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cleric

cleric

macrumors 6502a
Jun 7, 2008
533
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_2_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8C148 Safari/6533.18.5)

School district IT guys sighhhh, that being said I only ever use my laptop in school when it's really needed excel or something mostly use it when I'm stuck between classes to do homework.

PS next time don't nmap the entire network ;-)
 
W

wpotere

Guest
Oct 7, 2010
1,528
1
benhollberg said:
Schools always have police around so it could easily be taken away but why would a school have the right to take something away. I never had this problem in college but in high school they tried to take my iPhone and I wouldn't let them. I said they have no right to take it, they called the police down to the class I was in but by the time they arrived the school days just barely ended. Everything turned out ok.
Click to expand...

For you it turned out fine... That time... If you are asked to give it up, be reasonable and ask if you may retrieve it at the end of the day. If you put up a fight they may think you are up to something and it can get worse. The OP stated he did nothing wrong, so just give it up until the end of the day and then simply take it home. Pick your battles wisely. If you want to change that policy, do it the right way.
 
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