The latest on the school spycam case (Mike & Ike candy)

[pokerfan]

Blake Robbins told KYW-TV on Friday that a school official described him in his room and mistook a piece of candy for a pill.

"She described what I was doing," he said. "She said she thought I had pills and said she thought that I was selling drugs."

Robbins said he was holding a Mike and Ike candy, not pills.

Holly Robbins said a school official told her that she had a picture of Blake holding up what she thought were pills.

"It was an invasion of privacy; it was like we had a Peeping Tom in our house," Holly Robbins told WPVI-TV. "I send my son to school to learn, not to be spied on."

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100220/ap_on_hi_te/us_laptops_spying_on_students

[bobburgster]

1. This whole thing just boggles my mind!

"The audacity"....doesn't begin to describe this outrageous behavior.

[Rhiannon12866]

2. +1

Couldn't have said it better... :wow:

[woo me with science]

24. "Criminal" is a better word than audacious. nt

[bobburgster]

43. Seems like the FB of I is sniffing around this case.

Sure as hell should!

[Wapsie B]

3. Gosh I always wanted to strip a school administrator of their pension.

Makes me all misty-eyed just thinking about it. The lawsuit I'd have against them wouldn't even begin to be paid off by their 401k, but I'd settle for it just to prove a point.

[leftofcool]

5. And a few teachers as well...

God only knows who has been watching these kids.

[leftofcool]

4. Good Grief! How about if a laptop goes missing, we charge the parents for it.

You know, kind of like they do library books? This is complete and utter bullshit on the part of the school. I would be stark raving mad if it was my child.

[Nay]

6. Many ppl on the threads here on this subject didn't believe a school

admin would be "so stupid" as to film kids in their bedrooms remotely from the kids' school-issued computer webcam, so they thought the whole story was fishy.

Looks like we got the answer to that one. Yes, they are that stupid, and one wonders how on earth such ppl got through school without understanding something about the Constitution. Since the FBI has stepped in, I'd say a good number of these admins are going to be arrested shortly.

Being a cynical old bitch, I was pretty sure right away that the story was true, and further, that the FBI was going to uncover a lot more filming than just this one. Next up: young teens undressing in their bedrooms.

[redqueen]

9. I'm surprised anyone would find it fishy.

Plenty of school administrators really are that stupid. Plenty.

[Fumesucker]

10. Good chance they are Limbaugh, Hannity or Beck listeners..

In which case they know very little about the Constitution.

[WeDidIt]

11. Never undersetimate the capability of any person in power to be a complete idiot

I participate on another board with a small politics section. The Brits on that board were convinced this was a hoax story.

[Hannah Bell]

34. or of people in general to be complete idiots.

[Forkboy]

45. We can see that.

[pokerfan]

49. +1

[pipi_k]

12. Yep, and there's a whole list of other people who wouldn't be

"so stupid" as to do something idiotic...

Like...oh....cheating politicians

politicians accepting bribes

politicians soliciting sex in public toilets

priests molesting little kids


just to name a few...



I'm a cynical witch myself. Wish I had been back when my kids were young, though. Then a certain trusted relative would not have been able to violate my trust by doing disgusting things to my daughter.

[Hannah Bell]

32. it's been proven that school personnel filmed kids in their bedrooms?

& undressing?

where is that, i hadn't heard?

[Lyric]

7. All I have to say is God help these people

if the FBI uncovers any pictures of students in a state of undress, or in bed, or in a post-shower towel, or other potentially provocative state. And if this turns out to be anything close to what it seems, I suspect that there are going to be some people spending time in the pokey.

[etherealtruth]

8. One has to wonder at what point this sounded like a good idea to them

any one with 1/2 a brain would find this morally repugnant and would see that it would be a debacle legally.

What could "they" have been thinking?

[MilesColtrane]

13. In another article a spokesman for the school district implied that the kid's laptop..

had been reported stolen, thus justifying the snooping.

Not sure I believe that.

[RainDog]

15. still doesn't justify it

they could use tracking software to locate the computer. there was no need to be able to spy on students in their homes.

...and as various students have already noted, the cameras came on randomly, not when a theft was involved, no matter what the school says. let them deal with the testimony of students and parents who witnessed this.

[MilesColtrane]

17. I should have added, "thus justifying the snooping in the minds of the administrators."

I happen to think it's completely criminal, disturbing, and they all deserve what's coming.

[Nay]

19. Exactly. Are they in a bubble? With the sexting stories and the perennial

stories of male school employees drilling peepholes into the girls' showers, one would think that these idiots would have been able to draw a parallel and thought, "Gosh, maybe spying on kids AT HOME in their BEDROOMS isn't such a good idea, legally or morally!" It doesn't seem like much of a stretch to me, but then...

That's why I suspect there have been lots of filming of kids in their bedrooms, and that there are a couple of peeping Toms who started all this off.

Another point -- if the school system is going to claim that someone reported the laptop stolen and that's why they turned the webcam on, then one assumes the parents already knew filming was to take place -- either through the fact that they and their child reported the stolen laptop or the school admin called them to confirm with the parents that the laptop was stolen. Why, if this is what happened, isn't there a paper trail? At the very least, a signed statement from the parent(s) that it had been stolen? And why, if you're webcamming to discover the location of the laptop, wouldn't you just show the parents the film to inform them that the laptop wasn't lost, but was in the kid's room somewhere? Better yet, if the admins feel the kid had drugs, why not call the parents in and show them the film that they had taken when looking for the lost laptop, and let the parents draw their own conclusions or tell the admins, "Oh, those are his Ike and Mike candies, not drugs"? These sleazebags are trying desperately to cover their asses, but it won't work.

Some ppl have been spying on these kids for a long time, have gotten so used to it (and so puffed up with authoritarianism) that they think it's OK -- to the point that they are brazen enough to haul a kid in and show him a pic of him in HIS OWN BEDROOM and accuse him of running drugs.

[pokerfan]

23. I expect that the school is going to claim

that the usage agreement the students are required to sign authorizes "monitoring" without going into any details. Which would still be a bull-shit argument.

It's worth noting that families did apparently have to sign an agreement prior to receiving a laptop from the school. A district spokesperson tells CNN that agreement explained the school's ability to remotely "monitor hardware" but did not go into any detail about the Webcam or how it might play into that process.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/pcworld/20100219/tc_pcworld/didaschoolusewebcamstospyonstudentsathome

[Nay]

26. Very much a bullshit argument. Courts long ago ruled that you cannot

give up your Constitutional or civil rights -- no "agreement" you might sign, whether freely or under duress, are valid. If they go with that argument, hello, jail...

[Hannah Bell]

37. Says the one whose idea of constitutionality is evidentally "guilty until proven innocent".

[Nay]

42. Hannah, we're simply discussing the points and counterpoints that

are emerging in this case. We aren't adjudicating from the bench, nor are we saying they should be thrown in jail without a trial. When anyone discusses a news story, it is hopefully understood that these people will get a fair trial, a lawyer to represent them, their day in court, etc., etc., and the rest of us hooligans can discuss among ourselves if, in our experience, the emerging facts or factoids are odd, human nature, perverted, normal, etc.

My only discussion of constitutionality was about whether Government representatives spying on other people's kids at their homes was constitutional or not. In my view, it is not. And if the FBI finds that school reps have been doing that very thing, then the courts will hopefully throw them in jail. Me hoping that such people will be thrown in jail if found guilty is hardly "guilty until proven innocent."

[Hannah Bell]

31. it certainly is astounding. "the perennial stories of male school employees drilling holes into the

girls showers"?

link me to one of these stories. you should have no trouble, since they're perennial.

oh, wait, here they are:

http://www.google.com/#hl=en&q=girls%27+shower+room+teacher+spy&aq=f&aqi=&oq=&fp=7da014c016d00ed9


yeah, they're perennial, all right.

[TorchTheWitch]

38. My high school pool shower/locker room had a WINDOW

The swim teachers had an office that faced the pool, and the other side of the office was the shared wall of the girls' locker room/shower with a HUGE window that anyone in that office could look into any area of the pool girls' locker room and showers... the curtains covering the window not only didn't close all the way leaving a hefty gap but they were also in the office side - not in the locker room side - of the window. ANYONE could go into that office (as it had to be open at all times because it was where emergency gear was stored) from the pool area and all of the swim teachers (mostly male) hung out in that office.

We did have one male pervert swim teacher that made it a point to hang out in the office after swim class was over and we all were in there showering and changing and Perv Man would be peeking through the gap in the curtains. Naturally, none of us ever showered without our bathing suits left on, and we all dressed in the bathroom stalls to avoid being spied on. The school thought we were being dramatic to complain about this set up and it remained that way all four years that I went to school there. For all I know it's still set up that way.

Incidently, my high school was in the wealthy district next door to Lower Merion. I graduated high school in the early 80's, and if they thought this window between the office and the girls' locker room/showers was perfectly normal, there's no doubt in my mind they would have never considered these spying webcams in the district next door any problem at all.

[Hannah Bell]

39. i asked for the perennial news reports of male teachers drilling holes to peep into the girls locker

room. all i find is porn with those keywords.

you tell me your school had a big window that looked into the girls locker room.

and anyone could get access to it.
and the male perverts hung out there watching.
and when you complained to the school about it, they called you drama queens and ignored you.
no administrator, none of your gym teachers, none of your regular teachers - no one would stand up for you. they were all fine with anyone being able to look at you nude.
and none of you girls ever considered taping paper over the window on the locker room side.
or complained to your parents.

well, i have to believe you, don't i?

[TorchTheWitch]

40. but of course you won't

because in your dream world all public school admins and teachers are saints. Sorry, doesn't work that way, and you KNOW it doesn't. I described exactly how it was set up and how it may very well still be and if you choose to pretend I just made it all up out of whole cloth because it doesn't fit your very obvious agenda that's your problem.

[Hannah Bell]

41. Nothing to do with all individuals being saints. More to do with not all of them being perverts &

morons.

[Bozita]

14. link to text and video from Friday's CBS Evening News

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/19/eveningnews/main6224726.shtml?tag=cbsnewsTwoColUpperPromoArea

[CoffeeCat]

16. Adults with the IQs of ping-pong balls...

These are school administrators. Really?

I just read this article to my husband, and he didn't believe it.

How much stupid can you pack into one person? First, they spy on
minors in their homes. The repercussions of this are so grave due
to the fact that they were spying on minors. Did they not think
about the child-pornography or exploitation charges that could happen
if they captured one of these kids changing clothes?

And the candy...OMG. Who in the hell are these ingrates? Do they
think drugs come in colorful boxes with smiley faces on them? Then,
to confront a student with these images--which reveal that they were
illegally spying...OMG.

I can't take the stupid. All of these fools need to be bankrupt
and ostracized beyond repair.

[olegramps]

18. What surprised me was the number of people who didn't believe it.

When the kids were reporting that their laptops were coming on I really became suspicious that they were being spied on. I can only hope that there is technology available to determine the extent of the intrusions. Sounds like a case of New Age Peeping Toms.

[Nay]

20. Me, too. It seemed perfectly believabe. Maybe because I'm an olegramma,

olegramps. I've seen enough shit in my lifetime to find this entirely believable.

The FBI, hopefully, has seized the whole IT department and is forensically searching every hard drive, etc. There will be much, much more coming out about this story.

[Forkboy]

21. Hell, I'm only 42 and I believed it right away.

Though I have been called extra cynical for my age before. :)

[Nay]

22. Forkboy, you go ahead and stay extra cynical. You'll need it to

survive, and you'll probably find you aren't cynical enough!

[Forkboy]

25. That's what scares me.

:scared:

[Hannah Bell]

29. not cynical enough, apparently.

[Hannah Bell]

30. there will be. but i doubt it will be what you think.

[Kablooie]

27. I think it's kind of cool. More schools should secretly join in and then create a facebook page.

Where they post all the fun filled pictures they collect!

Wheeee!

[Hannah Bell]

28. oh, right. he was holding a mike & ike candy in front of the spy-camera, so the

vice-principal called him into her office to say:

"I saw you holding a/some pill(s) on my little spy-camera! now we will send you to jail for dealing! of course, no one will complain about our illegal spy camera because school districts are all-powerful, almighty institutions that never have to back down to anyone! so there's no risk in my telling you about our spy camera & trying to punish you for having candy (or pills) in your own home! ya-ha-ha-ha!!!!" (twirls evil mustache)


more bullshit....

first it was a bong the spycamera photographed - then it was kids smoking pot - now it's someone with some candy, & the stupid vp thought the kid was selling pills - & called him into the office to bust him. yeah, sure she did.

[Stephanie]

44. You think the kid's making it up? You think he lied to the FBI and they were fooled?

I can't understand why you have such an intense interest in denying this story. If it didn't happen, why wouldn't the school district issue a statement saying it didn't happen?

http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2010/02/20/earlyshow/saturday/main6226260.shtml?tag=latest

Blake Robbins, the teen at the center of the controversy, told Hill it all began when Harriton High School administrators falsely accused him of selling drugs and taking pills; then said they had webcam images to prove it.

Blake says the pictures are of him eating candies.

Blake's mother, Holly Robbins, says she "was panicked" when she learned what was going on. "I thought this was just horrifying, that somebody could, especially the school, come into my home and spy on my son, and my daughter - she's 18 years old. And it was scary. It was like having a Peeping Tom."

Blake's sister, Paige Robbins, told Hill she "can say that on behalf of all of my girlfriends at Harriton, we were very scared, because we don't check to see if the lid is closed when we're changing. We take them in the bathroom when we're in the shower to listen to music. So, we're all petrified. We don't know who's on the other end watching us do whatever."

[Stephanie]

46. Here's the family - you think they're all lying?

Link to video:

http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6224813n&tag=mg;tech

[Hannah Bell]

33. I find it very interesting that the plantiff in a filed suit is so freely commenting on it, myself.

Because the comments have the effect of making it very difficult to find a court venue where the well hasn't already been poisoned.

Perhaps that's the reason.

[tammywammy]

35. .

[Hannah Bell]

36. apparently you didn't read the rest of the story: "Blake Robbins told KYW-TV on Friday"

blake = the minor plantiff. the guy with the mike & ikes. or was it a bong? or a joint?

the story from his supporters changes daily.

yeah, i see you erased your comment. because the boy and his parents have been making plenty of public statements about what supposedly happened.

Two Mike & Ikes and One Motion

On the late local NBC news following the Vancouver Olympics about an hour ago (Friday night), reporters interviewed Blake Robbins and his family, the folks at the center of the class action lawsuit filed against a Main Line school district which had been allegedly spying on students in their own homes through remote access to webcam-enabled, school-issued laptop computers, a story first reported here at America’s Right.

The NBC reporter also interviewed Mark Haltzman, the family’s attorney. Harriton High School student Blake Robbins, remember, only found out about the school districts remote access capabilities when an assistant principal approached him with a snapshot taken from Robbins’ school-issued laptop and, according to what the kid said in a CBS Evening News interview, accused him of dealing drugs. That “improper behavior,” Haltzman said, was Blake Robbins holding a pair of Mike & Ike candies, apparently one of the kid’s favorite snacks.

http://americasright.com/?p=3237


Sure, the vp saw the kid holding "two" mike & ike's(his "favorite snack") on her little spy cam & pulled him in to her office to accuse him of dealing drugs. using the evidence she obtained on her illegal spy cam.

that sure rings true.

[Stephanie]

47. I guess you know more than the FBI. nt

[pokerfan]

48. Two days ago it was the claim that the story was made up

and that there was no lawsuit. Just out of control RW bloggers.

Yesterday it was the claim that it was actually remote screen capture, not webcams, and that the reporters had screwed up the story.

Batting a thousand, I would say.