Eighth-Grader Arrested, Charged With Cybercrimes for Changing Teacher

[Authentic X]

What ever happened to NOT charging kids,as we do adults? A child in 8th grade, surely doesn't have the sense of an adult.

 Giving an 8th grader a felony charge for changing simple crap on a computer is going way too far.We should start charging politicians and white collar criminals for the felonies they commit!!!

[adrynalyne]

What ever happened to NOT charging kids,as we do adults? A child in 8th grade, surely doesn't have the sense of an adult.

 Giving an 8th grader a felony charge for changing simple crap on a computer is going way too far.We should start charging politicians and white collar criminals for the felonies they commit!!!

How do you know he is being charged as an adult?  Felony charges are not limited to adults.

[spenser.d]

Did you not read the article?

Let me help you...

Yes I read that. So what. It doesn't fit his actual crime.

You are still hung up on the wrong details. The act was that he hacked into a secure private school computer. No other info necessary.

I wouldn't consider what he did 'hacking'. I'd say you're hung up on the wrong details.

[Astra.Xtreme]

Yes I read that. So what. It doesn't fit his actual crime.

I wouldn't consider what he did 'hacking'. I'd say you're hung up on the wrong details.

How do you figure?  Using somebody's password unknowingly is called unauthorized access, which is against the law.  The law is the law, and this case is as straight forward as it can possibly get.  These are facts...

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

man, i did so much more stuff when i was 15.    i was a teen that was interested in tech and security, and in my boarding school

i hacked into phone lines to use my modem to access internet privately,

figured out how magnetic locks works and how to circumvent them for our of hours access to the labs etc etc.

 

i did it out of natural curiosity, and i to think i deserved a felony charge...  that would most likely affect my who life after that...

once i was out of school and into serious university, i never did any of that again.  since i was in computer science, and there was plenty of computer related stuff to play with.

 

do you really think at 15 i understood the consequences and deserved the felony charge for my curiosity and their lackluster security that was blatantly easy?

the school tightened up the security after that, so i think i was doing them a favor    while learning stuff myself.

 

so i think to call the cops on the kid is total overkill.   yes, some disciplinary action would be ok, but not real police and a felony, no!

[SoCalRox]

Lots of haters here. Sad to see.

[daorbed9]

How do you figure?  Using somebody's password unknowingly is called unauthorized access, which is against the law.  The law is the law, and this case is as straight forward as it can possibly get.  These are facts...

 

 

Facts seem to elude people these days.

[daorbed9]

man, i did so much more stuff when i was 15.    i was a teen that was interested in tech and security, and in my boarding school

i hacked into phone lines to use my modem to access internet privately,

figured out how magnetic locks works and how to circumvent them for our of hours access to the labs etc etc.

 

i did it out of natural curiosity, and i to think i deserved a felony charge...  that would most likely affect my who life after that...

once i was out of school and into serious university, i never did any of that again.  since i was in computer science, and there was plenty of computer related stuff to play with.

 

do you really think at 15 i understood the consequences and deserved the felony charge for my curiosity and their lackluster security that was blatantly easy?

the school tightened up the security after that, so i think i was doing them a favor    while learning stuff myself.

 

so i think to call the cops on the kid is total overkill.   yes, some disciplinary action would be ok, but not real police and a felony, no!

 

I did stuff much worse than this as a kid and I'm very lucky I never got caught.  But the difference was I knew I was breaking the law.  I just thought I was too good to get caught.  We need to stop pretending we can't teach kids about right and wrong and consequence at a young age.

 

http://phys.org/news192693376.html

[theyarecomingforyou]

I cannot fathom how anyone could think this is the appropriate response for changing someone's wallpaper on their computer. It's fascism, plain and simple.

 

Heck, when I was in school I managed to change the school report from 'Community College' to 'Communist College' and was suspended - if I lived in Florida I'd have probably got the death sentence. 

[fusi0n]

 

 

"Green says that his peers frequently use the admin password to video chat or screenshare on school computers. The code is easy to remember because it's just a last name"

uhh, the school should go to jail for lack of network security. 

[adrynalyne]

I cannot fathom how anyone could think this is the appropriate response for changing someone's wallpaper on their computer. It's fascism, plain and simple.

 

Heck, when I was in school I managed to change the school report from 'Community College' to 'Communist College' and was suspended - if I lived in Florida I'd have probably got the death sentence. 

You didn't read the article either.  When in school did you steal someone's password and log into their account?

[fusi0n]

You didn't read the article either.  When in school did you steal someone's password and log into their account?

The article doesn't say the "stole" the password.. It just says it's easy to remember.. That password probably gets passed around from teachers to kids and he just remembered it.. 

[ramesees]

So if I leave my front door key under the mat or a flower pot at home and someone else finds it and comes into my house they cant be charged with trespassing ?

 

Nonsense - yes I've been an idiot about it but that doesnt give someone the right to use the key to come in because they feel like it.

 

Same logic applies here

[SierraSonic]

Why does it matter what laws he broke? This was a simple in school disciplinary action made a legal matter. Zero tolerance and actions like this are only going to succeed in destroying an already weak system. Anyone who supports legal action in this case is just morally bankrupt. There's a reason why we treat people under 18 differently than those who are over, it's to prevent stupid little things that don't matter from affecting the person future, we even leave room to try them as adults if they do something serious. This situation is neither, and people need to quit being so quit to side with the wording of the law, and not the spirit of the law.

 

Everyone who is arguing for punishment here, should realize that they are supporting applying the law without applying logic. Imagine if anything you did during your teenage years was applied against today.

[Showan]

man, i did so much more stuff when i was 15.    i was a teen that was interested in tech and security, and in my boarding school

i hacked into phone lines to use my modem to access internet privately,

figured out how magnetic locks works and how to circumvent them for our of hours access to the labs etc etc.

 

i did it out of natural curiosity, and i to think i deserved a felony charge...  that would most likely affect my who life after that...

once i was out of school and into serious university, i never did any of that again.  since i was in computer science, and there was plenty of computer related stuff to play with.

 

do you really think at 15 i understood the consequences and deserved the felony charge for my curiosity and their lackluster security that was blatantly easy?

the school tightened up the security after that, so i think i was doing them a favor    while learning stuff myself.

 

so i think to call the cops on the kid is total overkill.   yes, some disciplinary action would be ok, but not real police and a felony, no!

 

 

You think you deserved a felony charge for a "How does that work?" mentality?...

 

Little harsh on yourself there, don't ya think...

[seta-san]

lol. over 10 years ago i signed my teacher up for every spam service i could find on the internet. one day while talking to her about an assignment i looked over and saw 120,000 emails in her inbox. 

[siah1214]

You are still hung up on the wrong details.  The act was that he hacked into a secure private school computer.  No other info necessary.

TIL entering a password constitutes hacking. 

 

Get real.  It was a stupid prank, not felony worthy.  Stick him in detention for a week and get over it. 

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

You think you deserved a felony charge for a "How does that work?" mentality?...

 

Little harsh on yourself there, don't ya think...

actually my whole point of that post is a reply to all the people in this thread who think felony charge is correct treatment! according to them i deserved it!

according to me, i obviously did not, and this kid does not deserve one neither.

 

 

unless you being funny, i though it would be obvious from my post

[theyarecomingforyou]

You didn't read the article either.  When in school did you steal someone's password and log into their account?

I stole the English teacher's password (it was 'english') and deleted some boot files on several computers, which required the school to call out a computer technician to fix them. I was suspended for that too. However, it was dealt with by the school rather than involving the police. I can understand involving the police if you're talking about serious harassment or violence but not for harmless mischief like this.

 

So if I leave my front door key under the mat or a flower pot at home and someone else finds it and comes into my house they cant be charged with trespassing ?

 

Nonsense - yes I've been an idiot about it but that doesnt give someone the right to use the key to come in because they feel like it.

 

Same logic applies here

Where's the harm? We're talking about a desktop wallpaper. Going back to your example, it would be like someone finding your key, entering your house and rearranging your furniture. It's a prank. You'd have to be an extreme authoritarian to believe that criminal charges are the appropriate response. Imagine if every fight that happened in school resulted in criminal charges and/or jail sentences - you'd have lots of people with criminal records but it wouldn't achieve anything. What happened to common sense? School's have a mandate to instil discipline and they are failing if they have to call the police for such an unbelievably petty thing as this.

 

It's scary that anyone could think that involving the police is the appropriate response. It's that sort of dogmatic, authoritarian mentality that lead to people like Hitler and Mussolini.

[daorbed9]

TIL entering a password constitutes hacking. 

 

Get real.  It was a stupid prank, not felony worthy.  Stick him in detention for a week and get over it. 

 

https://it.ojp.gov/default.aspx?area=privacy&page=1285

 

Using a password that you gained through non-approved methods is illegal.  Wake up.

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

Why does it matter what laws he broke? This was a simple in school disciplinary action made a legal matter. Zero tolerance and actions like this are only going to succeed in destroying an already weak system. Anyone who supports legal action in this case is just morally bankrupt. There's a reason why we treat people under 18 differently than those who are over, it's to prevent stupid little things that don't matter from affecting the person future, we even leave room to try them as adults if they do something serious. This situation is neither, and people need to quit being so quit to side with the wording of the law, and not the spirit of the law.

 

Everyone who is arguing for punishment here, should realize that they are supporting applying the law without applying logic. Imagine if anything you did during your teenage years was applied against today.

 

TIL entering a password constitutes hacking. 

 

Get real.  It was a stupid prank, not felony worthy.  Stick him in detention for a week and get over it. 

 

Yes, I cannot believe there are so many people who think it is totally correct to report this kid to police for something that could have easily being dealt with by school

 

I would not want to work or even hang out with people who think this was the right course of action in this instance!

[daorbed9]

I stole the English teacher's password (it was 'english') and deleted some boot files on several computers, which required the school to call out a computer technician to fix them. I was suspended for that too. However, it was dealt with by the school rather than involving the police. I can understand involving the police if you're talking about serious harassment or violence but not for harmless mischief like this.

 

Where's the harm? We're talking about a desktop wallpaper. Going back to your example, it would be like someone finding your key, entering your house and rearranging your furniture. It's a prank. You'd have to be an extreme authoritarian to believe that criminal charges are the appropriate response. Imagine if every fight that happened in school resulted in criminal charges and/or jail sentences - you'd have lots of people with criminal records but it wouldn't achieve anything. What happened to common sense? School's have a mandate to instil discipline and they are failing if they have to call the police for such an unbelievably petty thing as this.

 

It's scary that anyone could think that involving the police is the appropriate response. It's that sort of dogmatic, authoritarian mentality that lead to people like Hitler and Mussolini.

 

If anyone bothered to read the article they are going to put him in a program that will expunge the charge.  Nobody also knows how the kid responded, how hes responded to authority in general.  They may have tried to work it out but we won't ever know this.  What we do know is he broke the law.  We also know it's illegal to use someone's password without consent.  These are facts.

[+E.Worm Jimmy Subscriber¹]

https://it.ojp.gov/default.aspx?area=privacy&page=1285

 

Using a password that you gained through non-approved methods is illegal.  Wake up.

 

and it is completely inappropriate to apply this law to a kid who used a well known ridiculously easy password to change pc wallpaper

this should be applied to serious cases of password theft with criminal intent.

 

simple detention and a warning of expulsion are fine for that.

 

wake up yourself!    you stickler.

[Astra.Xtreme]

I stole the English teacher's password (it was 'english') and deleted some boot files on several computers, which required the school to call out a computer technician to fix them. I was suspended for that too. However, it was dealt with by the school rather than involving the police. I can understand involving the police if you're talking about serious harassment or violence but not for harmless mischief like this.

 

Where's the harm? We're talking about a desktop wallpaper. Going back to your example, it would be like someone finding your key, entering your house and rearranging your furniture. It's a prank. You'd have to be an extreme authoritarian to believe that criminal charges are the appropriate response. Imagine if every fight that happened in school resulted in criminal charges and/or jail sentences - you'd have lots of people with criminal records but it wouldn't achieve anything. What happened to common sense? School's have a mandate to instil discipline and they are failing if they have to call the police for such an unbelievably petty thing as this.

 

It's scary that anyone could think that involving the police is the appropriate response. It's that sort of dogmatic, authoritarian mentality that lead to people like Hitler and Mussolini.

The problem is that the law is cut and dry.  Exceptions can't be made for pranks.  Are you seriously saying that it should be okay for somebody to break into a house as long as they only rearranged the furniture?  That's just ridiculous.  It's up to the victim whether they want to press charges.  Some people would be okay with being a victim in a minor case like this, and others wouldn't.  Personally I think it's better to be strict than allow flexibility which people could exploit.

 

Regardless of anything, if you break a law, expect there to be consequences. End of story.  Don't bi*ch and complain about why you don't think it's not right.  It's the law...  If you don't like it, run for office and then change the law yourself.   Good luck though...

[ramesees]

I stole the English teacher's password (it was 'english') and deleted some boot files on several computers, which required the school to call out a computer technician to fix them. I was suspended for that too. However, it was dealt with by the school rather than involving the police. I can understand involving the police if you're talking about serious harassment or violence but not for harmless mischief like this.

 

Where's the harm? We're talking about a desktop wallpaper. Going back to your example, it would be like someone finding your key, entering your house and rearranging your furniture. It's a prank. You'd have to be an extreme authoritarian to believe that criminal charges are the appropriate response. Imagine if every fight that happened in school resulted in criminal charges and/or jail sentences - you'd have lots of people with criminal records but it wouldn't achieve anything. What happened to common sense? School's have a mandate to instil discipline and they are failing if they have to call the police for such an unbelievably petty thing as this.

 

It's scary that anyone could think that involving the police is the appropriate response. It's that sort of dogmatic, authoritarian mentality that lead to people like Hitler and Mussolini.

 

Wheres the harm ? Absolute rot.

 

I'd love to see your reaction to such a "prank" if it was your house at 3am and you have no idea who is in your home.

No violation of privacy even if they came in and tidied up all your mess, did your laundry and repainted the downstairs walls ?

 

But of course its fashionable these days to absolve everyone of any responsibility for their actions and make those who have been wronged out to be the ones in need of attitude adjustment.

 

Oh and the comparison to Hitler ? Get over yourself