PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — A middle school student arrested on a felony charge for allegedly using his teacher's computer to change his reading assignment grades during lunch time is unlikely to get jail time, prosecutors said Wednesday.
The 11-year-old sixth-grader at St. Lucie West Middle was arrested Monday on a second-degree felony charge of offense against intellectual property. Authorities are not releasing the student's name because of his age.
The boy faces a 10-day suspension from school and a principal's recommendation that he be expelled. If convicted of a crime, he likely would get probation if he has no prior criminal record, but could be sentenced to a juvenile detention facility, said Ellen Mancini, an assistant state attorney in the St. Lucie County juvenile division.
The student was booked into the St. Lucie County jail, then released to his father. The father did not immediately return a phone call Wednesday seeking comment.
The student told reading teacher Susan Seal he left his lunch in her room, a sheriff's report said. Instead of getting his food, the boy sat down at his teacher's computer, changed his grades on five reading assignments and saved them, the report said.
Math teacher Tanya Schmidt saw the boy at the computer and asked what he was doing. He told her that another teacher sent him to get a floppy disk.
When Schmidt asked the other teacher, she discovered the student was lying. He was sent to the office, where the dean called the school resource deputy.
Sheriff Ken Mascara said it is the first such case he has seen.
Mancini said the boy was engaged in a "scheme to defraud."
"It's cheating. It's depriving other students of the fairness of the system," Mancini said. "It's as much a fraud as anything else. Sometimes, you have to do things as an example of the authority of both the school system and the legal system."
I can understand the suspension and expulsion, but arrested and possibly juvenile detention??? That seems a bit excessive.
Wow, little Johnny tries to change his grade when teacher is not looking. When he is caught, he of course gets suspended. Whoopdy Fucking Doo!
This is why I dislike cable news networks and their websites. Don't they have anything of national interest to report on, or do all their stories come from the St. Lucie West Middle School Gazzette? It's one thing to report this crap, but it's another thing to report it while claiming to be a legitimate news agency. You know, I wouldn't be suprised if this makes it onto the O'Reilly Factor tonight.
The most basic assumption about the world is that it does not contradict itself.
Why an arrest? So he was trying to change his grade. Boo hoo. I'd try that too, if I had no other choice.
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Wicked Pilot wrote:Wow, little Johnny tries to change his grade when teacher is not looking. When he is caught, he of course gets suspended. Whoopdy Fucking Doo!
This is why I dislike cable news networks and their websites. Don't they have anything of national interest to report on, or do all their stories come from the St. Lucie West Middle School Gazzette? It's one thing to report this crap, but it's another thing to report it while claiming to be a legitimate news agency. You know, I wouldn't be suprised if this makes it onto the O'Reilly Factor tonight.
So, you dont think the school over-reacted by calling the police and having the kid charged with a crime?
Except for getting the police involved, the school did what it should have done.
Brotherhood of the Monkey @( !.! )@ To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. ~Steve Prefontaine Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
Computer hacking is considered breaking and entering.
Let's suppose this is before the computer age. Little Jimmy picks a lock, breaks into the school at night, rifles through his files, and changes his grade. Breaking and entering is a criminal offense. He's suspended, expelled, and they consider laying criminal charges.
Would there be the same reaction? Probably not. He did a B&E, he could be charged if the authorities want to do that.
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Darth Wong wrote:Computer hacking is considered breaking and entering.
Let's suppose this is before the computer age. Little Jimmy picks a lock, breaks into the school at night, rifles through his files, and changes his grade. Breaking and entering is a criminal offense. He's suspended, expelled, and they consider laying criminal charges.
Would there be the same reaction? Probably not. He did a B&E, he could be charged if the authorities want to do that.
How does the law define computer hacking?
I was under the impression that the kid just sat down at the teachers computer, ran her grading software and changed his grades. I dont think he broke into her computer by cracking the password protection (if there was one), or doing anything that is normally associate with the term "hacking." If accessing an unprotected computer still consitutes breaking and entering, then why not charge him with that? Instead they charge him with "offense against intellectual property."
Anyway, i only posted this article because I thought you people would enjoy another parental/schoolboard overreaction story.
Macross wrote:So, you dont think the school over-reacted by calling the police and having the kid charged with a crime?
Obviously you have missed the point.
Did you just not read my post before opening your mouth? My beef is with a self-touted legitimate national news network reporting on such a trivial crime that really deserves no attention outside the immediate local area. I made no comment about what the fate of the offender should be.
The most basic assumption about the world is that it does not contradict itself.
Macross wrote:I was under the impression that the kid just sat down at the teachers computer, ran her grading software and changed his grades. I dont think he broke into her computer by cracking the password protection (if there was one), or doing anything that is normally associate with the term "hacking." If accessing an unprotected computer still consitutes breaking and entering, then why not charge him with that? Instead they charge him with "offense against intellectual property."
So if I leave my door unlocked and someone comes inside and robs me that is not breaking and entering?
Anyway, i only posted this article because I thought you people would enjoy another parental/schoolboard overreaction story.
Parents/ school board did not overreacted. The only reason that I think getting the police involved is not necessary is because he is still in elementary school.
Brotherhood of the Monkey @( !.! )@ To give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift. ~Steve Prefontaine Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at an Elingsh uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht frist and lsat ltteer are in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae we do not raed ervey lteter by it slef but the wrod as a wlohe.
While within the law, I don't think the school should have brought the police into it, not at that age anyway.
Teachers should at least use screen locks however. If we relayed on trust and honesty to keep the law with theoretically more mature adults most of the world would turn into Mogadishu or Grozny clones.
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956
Wicked Pilot wrote:
Did you just not read my post before opening your mouth? My beef is with a self-touted legitimate national news network reporting on such a trivial crime that really deserves no attention outside the immediate local area. I made no comment about what the fate of the offender should be.
Yes I did read your post, and you didnt comment at the issue at hand. So I will say it again, you missed the point of the post.
Macross wrote:Yes I did read your post, and you didnt comment at the issue at hand. So I will say it again, you missed the point of the post.
I don't believe I have to argue this with you. You cannot say I missed the point of the post because I made no comment about the issue. Did it never occur to you that perhaps, just perhaps, I didn't go looking for an issue to address because I thought the whole story was trivial and not worth posting?
The most basic assumption about the world is that it does not contradict itself.
Wicked Pilot wrote:I don't believe I have to argue this with you. You cannot say I missed the point of the post because I made no comment about the issue. Did it never occur to you that perhaps, just perhaps, I didn't go looking for an issue to address because I thought the whole story was trivial and not worth posting?
Yes you did miss the point.
The whole point of this thread is discuss whether or not the school overreacted. I think the school over-reacted in this situation, some people agree with me, some people dont. Thats what I wanted to know and discuss. I did not start this thread to discuss your opinions on the news media. And if you think this story is so trivial and not worth posting, then why did you respond to it in the first place? And why do you still continue to respond? If you see a discusion that you dont want to participate in and you have nothing relevent to add, then you dont have to respond! Its really a simple concept.
Could a Mod please close this thread before it degrades any further into a flamewar.
Wicked Pilot wrote:I don't believe I have to argue this with you. You cannot say I missed the point of the post because I made no comment about the issue. Did it never occur to you that perhaps, just perhaps, I didn't go looking for an issue to address because I thought the whole story was trivial and not worth posting?
Yes you did miss the point.
The whole point of this thread is discuss whether or not the school overreacted. I think the school over-reacted in this situation, some people agree with me, some people dont. Thats what I wanted to know and discuss. I did not start this thread to discuss your opinions on the news media.
You do not have control of what is stated within a thread you create, and as you didn't specific any specific form of discussion you have even less of leg to stand on. Its quite clear that your very new to the internet.
"This cult of special forces is as sensible as to form a Royal Corps of Tree Climbers and say that no soldier who does not wear its green hat with a bunch of oak leaves stuck in it should be expected to climb a tree"
— Field Marshal William Slim 1956
Sea Skimmer wrote:You do not have control of what is stated within a thread you create, and as you didn't specific any specific form of discussion you have even less of leg to stand on. Its quite clear that your very new to the internet.
Why do you think that? I know I have no control over what is said in this thread, but I do expect that people would actually discuss the topic presented, not deride it. If I see a thread that I find questionable or trivial, and I do not want to participate in it, I move on to the next thread. I do not go in and question the validity of the topic.
Anyway, im finished with this discussion. I thought I found a news story that people would get a kick out of, and at least discuss. Instead this thread is getting way off topic and will only get nastier. Discuss what you want in here, I dont care anymore.
I have no password access to my personal computer. I leave my computer alone when I go to college. If my flatmate then decides to use my computer to alter my work, she is commiting fraud.
Why is this such a hard concept to grasp?
"I fight with love, and I laugh with rage, you gotta live light enough to see the humour and long enough to see some change" - Ani DiFranco, Pick Yer Nose
"Life 's not a song, life isn't bliss, life is just this: it's living." - Spike, Once More with Feeling
