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Bakari45

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2010
227
2
It's great to see responses by of those who see the taking of the laptop was wrong. I was at first bothered earlier responders who so easily concurred with the "rules". It's interesting how some people will give up their civil rights, or the rights of others. Anyway, glad you got your computer back.
 

MacRuler

macrumors 6502
Apr 16, 2010
287
0
It's great to see responses by of those who see the taking of the laptop was wrong. I was at first bothered earlier responders who so easily concurred with the "rules". It's interesting how some people will give up their civil rights, or the rights of others. Anyway, glad you got your computer back.

+1 many believe that because he is a kid, he doesn't know much and that he is a danger to society. lmfao... :rolleyes:
 

Bakari45

macrumors regular
Jun 17, 2010
227
2
Take this advise. Don't retain anything from High School. Nothing you will learn there makes any difference at all in the real world. Nothing.

Sadly, this recommendation has a lot of merit. I don't know about the UK, but here in the states, the pre-college school system is systemically boring. Hardly a day goes by that my kids are not skilled-drilled and tested so schools can prove they are "teaching" the kids.
 

mrsir2009

macrumors 604
Sep 17, 2009
7,505
156
Melbourne, Australia
Sadly, this recommendation has a lot of merit. I don't know about the UK, but here in the states, the pre-college school system is systemically boring. Hardly a day goes by that my kids are not skilled-drilled and tested so schools can prove they are "teaching" the kids.

Well here in New Zealand you need to get NCEA levels from high school in order to get any job, so studying to get those NCEA levels is pretty important :)
 

Pracht

macrumors member
Jul 22, 2010
53
0
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8F190 Safari/6533.18.5)

In my tiny private HS if your phone was out / rang in class they confiscated it until "the next school day" even if that meant a 2 week long break.

Even then, a parent had to come retrieve it for the student.

I asked the principal once what we were to do in the event of an emergency over break without our phone and she said "I'd recommend staying home"
 

Onimusha370

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 25, 2010
1,042
1,516
thanks for all the help and advice everyone, its great to see that i'm not the only one who thinks this IT guy was out of order. i'll continue to take my laptop, and look forward to college in a few months time!
 

gri

macrumors 6502a
Jul 17, 2004
845
183
New York City, aka Big Apple
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.

Ever been to any of the Ivy leagues - they offer network (encrypted) so people can do exactly that: work. And a open guest network outside off the firewall... Maybe they need to update their approach
 

FX4568

macrumors 6502
Sep 6, 2010
315
0
Thats totally bogus.
If they thought you having a laptop around school is a threat to a network and took it away from you, it is a pre-emptive "attack" in order to make their network safe, but according to law, you can't do something pre emptive UNLESS it was told by the rules at your school when the school started that laptops were not allowed at all.
If you knew that, you should go ask nicely :p
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,525
19,693
If the school confiscates your laptop, you go to the police and file charges. And the school is in big trouble. Technically what they did was stealing. They have absolutely no right confiscating anything. What they can do is prevent your access to the building if your are carrying something which they deem "against the rules". But taking away a $1000+ notebook? That's a serious offense and I wouldn't let it go so easily. File a complain with the school administration, if they don't react, go to the police. I am serious. There are some things which you just can't let slide.

On the other note, why the hell they even have a campus network if students are not allowed to access it? And how incompetent is the IT department if they are not able to set up a secure network?
 

Beanoir

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2010
571
2
51 degrees North
I have to say I find it incredible these days what people think should and shouldn't be allowed to do. A school is run with a set of rules governing how children should and shouldn't behave. If the school sets the rules then it's up to them what they allow and don't. A child choosing to attend that school does so under the acceptance that they abide by that schools rules. It's as simple as that.

Its not about human rights or what you think is right and wrong. Children these days believe they know everything and won't accept being told what is wrong or right by adults with far more experience.

I agree they can't permanently confiscate (or steal) your laptop, but they CAN confiscate it and return it to you until the end of the school day or when you vacate the premises, and they CAN stop you using your own laptops/mobile phones on THEIR premises.
 

Beanoir

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2010
571
2
51 degrees North
If the school confiscates your laptop, you go to the police and file charges. FOR WHAT, ENFORCING SCHOOL RULES?

And the school is in big trouble. Technically what they did was stealing. They have absolutely no right confiscating anything. THEY HAVE EVERY RIGHT TO CONFISCATE ON THEIR PREMISES IF THEY BELIVE ITS A RISK TO THEIR INFRASTRUCTURE.

What they can do is prevent your access to the building if your are carrying something which they deem "against the rules". But taking away a $1000+ notebook? That's a serious offense HARDLY

and I wouldn't let it go so easily. File a complain with the school administration, if they don't react, go to the police. I am serious. There are some things which you just can't let slide. THE POLICE WILL TELL YOU EXACTLY WHAT I HAVE, FACT.

You don't have a clue what you're talking about do you...?
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,525
19,693
You don't have a clue what you're talking about do you...?

If a teacher somewhere here in Europe would allow himself to seize private property, it would be a scandal and the teacher will most likely loose his job - rightly so. If it isn't like that in USA - then I am, frankly, shocked that a country which is supposed to be build on democracy is permitting such crude violation agains the basic constitutional order.

There are things like laws and basic rights (one of which is private property ownership). The school should not and can not "enforce school rules" by committing crime such as illegal property seizure. If using a laptop is agains the rules: you put the child out of the class and call his/her parents. If the child is playing with his phone during his exam, you fail him and call his/her parents. This is how the things should be done in a democratic, law-governed order.

To make things clear: the only cases when the property can be seized are: a) the property caries a clear and immediate danger (weapon, etc.), b) the property is not legal (drugs, alkohol in hands of a minor etc.), c) there is a court order permitting the seizure. Confiscation of a laptop is illegal and a criminal act under ANY law known to me. Sadly, people still insist on that "teachers can take stuff" thing, which is nothing more then a relic from old european teaching system. Interestingly enough, Europe has long moved ahead, yet judging from responses in this thread the USA still seem to miss the times of parental despotism.
 

Onimusha370

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Aug 25, 2010
1,042
1,516
I have to say I find it incredible these days what people think should and shouldn't be allowed to do. A school is run with a set of rules governing how children should and shouldn't behave. If the school sets the rules then it's up to them what they allow and don't. A child choosing to attend that school does so under the acceptance that they abide by that schools rules. It's as simple as that.

Its not about human rights or what you think is right and wrong. Children these days believe they know everything and won't accept being told what is wrong or right by adults with far more experience.

I agree they can't permanently confiscate (or steal) your laptop, but they CAN confiscate it and return it to you until the end of the school day or when you vacate the premises, and they CAN stop you using your own laptops/mobile phones on THEIR premises.

So when you were young, you just blindly followed what older people said to you, even if they were completely wrong? Kids don't think they know everything, they just don't like being accused (and treated) wrongly.
 

Beanoir

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2010
571
2
51 degrees North
If a teacher somewhere here in Europe would allow himself to seize private property, it would be a scandal and the teacher will most likely loose his job - rightly so. If it isn't like that in USA - then I am, frankly, shocked that a country which is supposed to be build on democracy is permitting such crude violation agains the basic constitutional order.

There are things like laws and basic rights (one of which is private property ownership). The school should not and can not "enforce school rules" by committing crime such as illegal property seizure. If using a laptop is agains the rules: you put the child out of the class and call his/her parents. If the child is playing with his phone during his exam, you fail him and call his/her parents. This is how the things should be done in a democratic, law-governed order.

To make things clear: the only cases when the property can be seized are: a) the property caries a clear and immediate danger (weapon, etc.), b) the property is not legal (drugs, alkohol in hands of a minor etc.), c) there is a court order permitting the seizure. Confiscation of a laptop is illegal and a criminal act under ANY law known to me. Sadly, people still insist on that "teachers can take stuff" thing, which is nothing more then a relic from old european teaching system. Interestingly enough, Europe has long moved ahead, yet judging from responses in this thread the USA still seem to miss the times of parental despotism.

I'm sorry to have to re-iterate my previous comment, but you're wrong and don't understand what you are talking about. I live in Europe (UK) and the law is very clear in that teachers have the power to confiscate items irrespective of its legal status, they also (believe it or not) have the power to search a students bag if they suspect inappropriate or illegal items are being taken on to school premises.

You may or may not like it, but i'm afraid what I state above is fact, it's law, in fact it was even re-itterated recently by the schools minister during the height of the mephedrone fad (prior to it being banned), in that teachers could confiscate pretty much anything if they possessed good reason. It has also been contested many many times by angry parents demanding their child's phone is not to be confiscated by the teacher, in the end the parents have no leg to stand on, the law is not on their side.
 

Beanoir

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2010
571
2
51 degrees North
So when you were young, you just blindly followed what older people said to you, even if they were completely wrong? Kids don't think they know everything, they just don't like being accused (and treated) wrongly.

No, i would refer the matter to another adult like I advised you to do in another of my posts, so they can then make a judgement call.
 

JKK photography

macrumors regular
Jul 14, 2009
239
21
I have used my MBP multiple times to give presentations in my high school. The first time I did it, one IT "expert" did have a problem with it. I basically confronted him on it (this was in front of the Principal, who was attending the presentation) and told him straight out that he was wrong. His argument was the typical, "Macs aren't Windows, they can't be used in a network because they are insecure" argument. I told him he was wrong. And he stopped.

They only have as much power as you give them.
 

Apple OC

macrumors 68040
Oct 14, 2010
3,667
4,328
Hogtown
So when you were young, you just blindly followed what older people said to you, even if they were completely wrong? Kids don't think they know everything, they just don't like being accused (and treated) wrongly.

lol ... give a kid a Macbook ... next thing you know ... he's hacking into the network at school
 

leman

macrumors Core
Oct 14, 2008
19,525
19,693
I I live in Europe (UK) and the law is very clear in that teachers have the power to confiscate items irrespective of its legal status, they also (believe it or not) have the power to search a students bag if they suspect inappropriate or illegal items are being taken on to school premises.

So they did in fact pass the 2011 Education Bill? What a shame...
 

Beanoir

macrumors 6502a
Dec 9, 2010
571
2
51 degrees North
So they did in fact pass the 2011 Education Bill? What a shame...

Yes they did. Even before that teachers had the power to confiscate, but the Bill took it one step further with the power to search.

A shame or not, I told you it was fact. You'll find most teachers approve, most (although not all) parents approve and most students probably don't, but hardly a surprise there really.
 

rookiezzz

macrumors regular
Mar 21, 2011
116
1
WA,USA
No teacher has ever had a problem, and the same person who confiscated the MBA has seen me using it multiple times without issue.
no problem with the teacher, then WHY??? :mad:
There is no policy that restricts the use of personal laptops, although phones are banned. In fact, most of my teachers reccomend and encourage to use of our laptops because they are much better and have better software.
Call your lawyer lol.. :p
It seems to me that he was just very jealous about the fact he is too low paid to afford a mac and felt the need to try and confiscate it.
you're right :eek:, some people are jealous with people who can afford that they can't afford..
 
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