“Tim and his friends spend a lot of time working on computers
and they understand how to get around security features. Tim decides to see how
far he can get into the school’s computer system. Tim manages to get onto the
school’s server and decides to change a few grades for his friends, “Just for
the fun of it.” The next day a rumor is circulating that someone has hacked the
school’s server. That afternoon, Tim is called into the office to talk to the
principal. How should administration handle the situation?” (Ribble, 2015)
Source: Ribble, M. (2015) Digital Citizenship
in Schools (3rd Edition) International Society for Technology in Education ISBN
9781564843647
 |
| Kumar, 2010 |
When looking at this scenario, there are many problems going on
with the use of technology. Firstly, Tim’s actions are NOT used appropriately when
looking at the use of technology. With this generation, the children growing up
are becoming so technologically adapted and they know almost everything. The
point is to use the knowledge that they have correctly and not by hacking into
things and changing important documents. Tim used his knowledge of technology
inappropriately by hacking into the school’s compute system and changing his
friend’s marks. This is wrong in so many ways as the marks that his friends
have, they have earned themselves which is true and honest. Tim changing them
makes them unfaithful and deceitful which will not help him in his future
endeavors with employers. Once you have become dishonest, it is very hard to regain
trust.
I did some research on the internet and in doing so I have found
a report where a mother hacked into the school grading system and changed the
grades over her two children. She faced six felony charges for doing that as it
is illegal and wrongful use of technological knowledge (Grossman, 2012).
Source: Grossman, S. (2012). Mom hacks into school computer
system, changes her kids grades. Time Inc. Retrieved from http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/07/22/mom-hacks-into-school-computer-system-changes-her-kids-grades/
This also ties in with the digital rights and responsibilities
we have been talking about as Tim has disobeyed many of the rights and
responsibilities. He wrongfully used the right to privacy, the responsibility
to report wrongdoing (his wrongdoing), and the responsibility to act according
to law. With all of these in mind, I believe that the administration should let
Tim know what he has done and give him a second chance as everyone deserves a
second chance to redeem themselves. I believe he should also be penalized by
suspension.
Tim should have not hacked into the school system and changed
his friends grades to see “how far he could go” with his knowledge in
technology. Instead he should have just said no to his friends, not hacked into
the school computer system and just went on being a kid and not breaking any
digital laws, knowing the consequences can be very severe.
What would you do in this situation if you were Tim? What would you do if you were the administrations office?
Julia,
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you that this is an inappropriate use of technology. I do feel as though Tim to act safe in addition to the responsibility to respect one another. By hacking the schools computer system he broke the right to privacy that the other students had. I feel as though he broke his responsibility to respect one another online as he broke other students right to privacy over their marks. In addition he failed to respect the schools administration as he took it upon himself to act illegally by hacking into the system and changing his grades.
I feel as though Tim should have not attempted to hack the system therefore he wouldn't have had the ability to change his marks. Although, I do not condone his actions, if he by some chance attempted it and made it through. He could have made the appropriate decision to tell the administration that he hacked it and not make changes or view private documents. By doing so, he wrongfully hacked the administration but could prevent such things as changed documents from occurring in the future.
Kind regards,
Amberley
Julia,
ReplyDeleteThe additional research you did was so interesting. I can't believe a mother did that to boost her children's grades. As for Tim, he is a kid who has clearly grown up in the advancing technological world so he might not be completely aware of all of these digital rights and responsibilities. To be honest, some that we have learned in this course are new to me. I agree with your proposal of giving Tim a second chance. I think he must be well informed of the severity of this actions so that he can learn and no longer be naive to his inappropriate use of technology! At most I think he should get a suspension from school as punishment.
Great post!
Brooke
Hey Julia!
ReplyDeleteI also agree with you that it is a very inappropriate use of technology.
I think that the administration should return his mark back to the way they were or maybe even talk to the teacher to see if he should receive a mark of 0. The administration should also consiter an in school suspension as he also invaded other classmates privacy by looking at their grades.
Thanks,
Jess
Julia,
ReplyDeleteFirst off I love how you found a similar article and connected the two. If I were Tim I personally would not have touched the grades. That being said I think that is completely wrong and would not consider it. I do not know how old Tim is but maybe he does not realize that this is very wrong. If I were the administration office I would sit down with Tim and make sure he knows what he did is wrong and not allowed. I think they should change the marks all back to the original ones. Tim should either be given a 0 for the assignment like Jessica said or he should be given a short suspension from school.
Thanks,
Kate
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteI agree that I personally would have not touched the grades as Tim did.Therefore, I feel that this is using technology inappropriately because it is morally wrong. I feel that kids and youth should be educated on the consequence. The way that I take care of the situation is by sitting Tim down, as Kate and Jessica said Tim should have received a 0 on the assignment, and the marks should all be changed back to normal. Overall, this was inappropriate, thank you for the other article.
Thanks,
Tyra
Hi Julia,
ReplyDeleteI too completely agree with your points and your stance on this situation. Tim was in the wrong for what he did and should be reprimanded by the school because this is a large issue. In addition, the article that you discussed was very interesting and shocking, especially because a mother was the hacker! This mother should be setting a better example for her children and respecting other peoples privacy.
Great input,
Andrea
Hello!
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, this isn't just a tiny issue. Right away I was curious to know if actions like these are addressed by additional charges so it was nice to see that you were also curious and did some additional research. People will do anything these days without taking into account the consequences. The feeling of achieving well deserved grades that you work hard for will be rewarding in of itself. I think the school should penalize him. I know some schools do offer certain courses that students must take if they fail or misbehave, so maybe the school can enforce something like this as well. I like how you connected a lot of the aspects of digital responsibility we learned to your situation. Great Job!