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Student Given Detention For Using Firefox [UPDATED]
An anonymous reader writes "Several sites are reporting that a student has been given detention for using Firefox to do his classwork. No, really. The student was in class, working on an assignment that necessitated using a browser. The teacher instructed him to stop using Firefox and to do his classwork, to which the student responded that he was doing his classwork using a 'better' browser (it is unclear whether the computer was the student's own computer or not). The clueless teacher (who called the rogue program 'Firefox.exe') ordered him to detention." Update: 12/17 20:09 by SM One of the school officials was nice enough to contact us and let us know this is a hoax. If you are planning on calling the school please refrain from doing so, I'm sure they have had enough excitement for one day.
Things sure have changed in ./land these days. Never would I expect so many people to insist that it is good and proper to blindly and dutifully follow bad rules.
The kid spoke truth to power. Power was stupid. Power won. Stupid won. Bad outcome. And the wags are defending it.
Note also that the complaint does not say "the student was told to use IE". No, the complaint says "the student was told to resume work". Which he was. The order the kid was given, as reported, was not actually refused. The order was underinformed and presumptuous.
Our public education system in this country has always horribly mis-served students who are brighter than their teachers. We also have one of the poorest educational systems in the developed world. Why anyone is surprised at this is beyond me.
PS to kid: Next time, rename the binary.
Terrorists can attack freedom, but only Congress can destroy it.
Having freshly graduated high school only this past June, I can assure you that this story, while maybe a hoax in this case, is not at all farfetched. I was frequently asked to stop using Firefox or Opera while simply doing research or otherwise school-related work on the library computers. I went to a public school in suburban Chicago. Of course, I never really offered any resistance when asked to refrain from using superior browsers, because I didn't think it was worth the trouble. But I'm sure I could have ended up with a detention if I tried or handled the situation stupidly. Microsoft rules with an iron fist at most public schools in this country. Now in college, I am able to use any browser I choose on the school's computers.
Ah, looks like damage control is in full effect today.
Computer-illiterate staff jumping the gun at any activity that deviates from the norm? Unpossible!
I remember when my brother was accused of "hacking" (hitting the escape key while Win9x was loading) by a substitute teacher. Although that was eventually cleared up, he was unfortunately "caught in the act" by a vigilant teacher as he tried to access the control panel. I forget the exact reason he went there (possibly to fix the sound), but due to his previous escapade and resulting reputation the school clamped down, deciding to waive punishment, but instead revoking his computer usage for the remainder of the year. Sadly, my folks didn't contest the decision (Dad was a teacher).
Keep in mind that this was only a year or two after Columbine, so teachers were wary of any suspicious activity.
Something still smells funny here. "The reports, blogs and other sources on the Internet indicating that a Big Spring student was assigned detention for using the Firefox internet browser instead of Internet Explorer are untrue and were based on the fake letter. "
So its untrue that the kid was given detention, but not disavowal of stupid "discipline". So from what I'm decoding from the double speak is that firefox was used, the teacher was probably clueless, and the student punished for not using IE like they were told. I am still perceiving a problem with the cluelevel(tm) at the school.