Government Assistance Comes with Strings Attached: Are Schools Spying on Kids?

This story has gotten quite a bit of play over the last few days. But I think that some aspects go beyond the privacy matter.  For the background, see this from FOX.

Harriton High School student Blake Robbins and his parents, Michael and Holly Robbins, filed a federal civil rights lawsuit Tuesday against the district, its board of directors and McGinley. They accused the school of turning on the webcam in his computer while it was inside their Penn Valley home, which they allege violated wiretap laws and his right to privacy.

The suit, which seeks class-action status, alleges that Harriton vice principal Lindy Matsko on Nov. 11 cited a laptop photo in telling Blake that the school thought he was engaging in improper behavior. He and his family have told reporters that an official mistook a piece of candy for a pill and thought he was selling drugs.

Neither the family nor their attorney, Mark Haltzman, returned calls this week seeking comment. A listed number for Matsko could not be found.

Lower Merion, an affluent district in Philadelphia’s suburbs, issues Apple laptops to all 2,300 students at its two high schools. Only two employees in the technology department, not administrators, were authorized to activate the cameras, which captured still images but not sound, officials said.

“While certain rules for laptop use were spelled out … there was no explicit notification that the laptop contained the security software,” McGinley said. “This notice should have been given, and we regret that was not done.”

The FBI is looking into whether any federal wiretap or computer-intrusion laws were violated, according to an official who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the official was not authorized to discuss the investigation. Montgomery County District Attorney Risa Vetri Ferman has said she might also investigate.

The parents made a mistake in this situation, and they don’t even know it.  The main point is this; they let the government give them something.  And as we all know, government assistance of any kind comes with strings attached.  Every level of assistance has a cost attached to it.  Requirements, limitations, stipulations, and mandates are universally part of government programs.  When people fail to recognize that fact, they are made victims.

Some will say that citing this situation is splitting hairs.  It is not.  The schools, especially since they are part of the government indoctrination machine, are based on control.  The officials at this district obviously felt entitled to turn on webcams remotely, after NOT informing the recipients of this feature.  Obviously, they were not thinking of the privacy rights of the students.  Or, they were, and that’s why the parents were not informed of the security function.  At any rate, who knows what they watched, or what they deleted once the story came out.  Given the recent history of school personnel committing sexual offenses, it’s not a stretch to imagine that something inappropriate was happening.

As the story suggests, the school used this to allegedly accuse one student of inappropriate behavior.  This, if established as fact, would clearly show that the school was violating the privacy of students.  This leads to a final point, and one that we all need to recognize.  If the government, or an agent of the government, is given power, that power will be abused.  It not a question of if, it is a question of when.