[...] For readers just tuning in, here the background: In February the Robbins family of Penn Valley sued the Lower Merion School District after it discovered MacBooks issued to all 2,620 students in the district were equipped with Web cams that could be turned on remotely by school officials. How did they found out? Because the Robbins’ 15-year-old son Blake was called into a meeting with the school vice principal, during which he was (they say) shown an image of himself at home working on his school supplied laptop, and questioned about possible inappropriate behavior. According to one report, the school apparently thought Blake was popping pills when he was really just eating candy. [...] 

[...] According to one report, the school apparently thought Blake was popping pills when he was really  just eating candy [...] 

"Hey Blake ask your dad what your Grandmother SELMA found in his closet? When he was your around your age." - hey smitty, she found what your grandma put in there

Hey Blake ask your dad what your Grandmother SELMA found in his closet? When he was your around your age.

There is no indication that the school ever thought the laptop had been stolen. No one even claims that.

This reeks too much of Big Brother.  This is an Orwellian nightmare come true.  We all know what kids with raging hormones do in their rooms.  To know that a high school administrator might be watching would scare the hell out of me!  If I discovered one of them watching my son or daughter in his/her room I would scream and, you can rest assured, sue them beyond avarice!

Meanwhile, there's an ad for Nana's Naughty Knickers at the top of the page of this blog.

It amazes me that these administrators had the gall to do this and were so stupid they admitted it to Blake.  These people make hefty salaries...why?  The are obviously too dumb to be working at any school.

I go to lower merion

[...] High School Assistant Principal Lindy Matsko to confront him in the first place. No surprise: It's hilarious. School officials thought they had captured an image of Robbins holding illicit pills, plotting to [...] 

how is it the school district's responsibility to investigate supposed drug use in a child's home? how is it o.k. for them to spy on a child in his home?

[...] A picture of some candy, if they are to believed. Great. Some IT technician, proud of his leet skilz, spots a Mike and Ike candy and reports the student to the vice[principal for drug dealing. [...] 

Really, we have to start testing teachers compentency,and discontinue any education for profit.  Civics is no longer taught or understood.

gk-"Really, we have to start testing teachers compentency,and discontinue any education for profit."
Really, you are writing this at 4am?
Maybe you should get some more of that FREE education so you can either get a better job, or a job at all!
For-profit educators are held to much higher standards and rarely have UNIONS keeping their sorry asses in the system for decades. If they dont perform, they are simply GONE!

Really, was my previous comment too much for the City Paper to handle? Too conservative for a liberal, union loving,rag and their apparently idiotic, know nothing followers. I would have thought otherwise by the tone of this article, but I guess I was wrong to attack stupidity. I'll watch to see how long this one stands and post it on my blog.

How long has it been since Halloween ??  NOBODY buys Mike and Ike candies.  You only get them from folks who don't want you back trick or treating next year.  All the Mike and Ikes have been eaten already.

You won;t see them again until next November.

[...] the school district be able to protect their investment? Well, the reason this all came up was that a kid in the district was caught eating Mike-n-Ikes at home. The principal called him in for eating candy and, presumably, this school watching this [...] 

Before everyone starts jumping on the school for spying, how bout this kid taking responsibility for "STEALING" the computer which is why the camera was activated, and has anyone seen the footage, because I have a real hard time believing that any principle, vice principle, tech person etc... wouldn't be able to tell a mike and ike from a pill.  Something tells me that this kid did in fact have drugs.  The proof is in the footage.  And wtf is up with parents, what, anytime anything happens now they have to run off and sue?  Their kid is a douche and so are they, and we wonder why kids aren't learning anymore.

This is why we are choosing to home school our child. Teachers are people too, and it seems like everyone is going postal to their own varying degree.

Expect more parents to home school because of increased insane incidents like this one.

How stupid can the kids be? I thought that all of the younger generation was supposed to be technologically savvy? Apparently not. Yay, free computer! Uh huh. You know that the school district makes the kids sign user agreements, agreements amongst which are warnings about appropriate usage. If a student gets caught messing up, it is that little moron's own fault. Duh.

[...] the school district be able to protect their investment? Well, the reason this all came up was that a kid in the district was caught eating Mike-n-Ikes at home. The principal called him in for eating candy and, presumably, this school watching this [...] 

Many people are insinuating that the claim that only IT people could use the system was a falsehood.  This may or may not be the case.  That aside, the laptop belonged to the student.  The school has some reserve laptops for students who can't afford to pay whatever is involved in owning one; however, Blake's laptop is apparently his.  When asked if Blake's laptop was reported missing, school officials declined to comment.  Additionally, Blake is still using the laptop today(now that school officials have deactivated the spyware).  This all seems strong evidence that he owned the laptop.  I think you might sue if this happened to you.  The laptops were given as a gift, essentially.  they were free to the students except for some insurance and other fees.  But they were trojan horses!  They took pictures of students in their bedrooms.  This is serious for god's sake.  The computers were not stolen.  I think YOU, sir, need to consider the fact that the news is...dun dun dun....ACCURATE.

something

So you are saying that the kid OWNED the laptop ?  That they are GIFTS??   I do not think that is at all accurate, my friend.

Yes, Mike and Ikes are available all year long. We have several stores here that have them, and they're also sold in concessions at the movie theater. It's not a huge shock to me that he might have been eating them. My husband and son love them, and we get large bags of the candies at warehouse stores. A 6 pound bag can last the good part of a year.

That said, a 1.3 megapixel video camera on a laptop, and no, macbook webcams are NOT better than that, can't identify clearly what the child has in his hand. It would be thrown out as evidence in a court of law.

That said, children don't have rights in this country, do they? I recall being a kid, and pretty much being told that until I was legally an adult and able to vote, I wasn't even a human being. 

This country continues to support the idea that kids are pets. When will it stop? And how far will we allow the government and schools to take all parental rights? Might as well ship them directly from the hospital to training camps if we're going to allow them to punish kids for activities not taking place during school or on school grounds.

The teachers and staff are going to learn a very, very tough lesson, in federal prison.  How about that? :)

[...] Blake Robbins' crime? Popping Mike-and-Ike's, he says.  [...] 

[...] Webcam on the 16 year old’s free Mac laptop caught him in February, popping what he says were Mike and Ike’s candie. (Fruit-flavored little sugar bombs shaped like pills and made in the [...] 

[...] Matsko thought Blake was popping pills. According to Robbins, he was merely eating candy: Mike-N-Ikes. (A classic gateway drug — before you know it, he’ll be deep into Good-N-Plenty and [...] 

The laptop was stolen he did not pay the insurance fee to have it.  If there are picture of any other kid who did pay the fee to have the computer. The kid who paid to have the computer may have a case if they weren't notified of the ability of the school to activate the webcam.  But the kid who didn't pay the fee's to have it really stole it. Therefore he does not need to be notified, he shouldn't have had it.

So ... Now the school admits to taking over 58,000 images. And can't figure out why it took some of them. Or who ordered it. And it also triggered the spying on 10 teachers. Creepy.