High school student gets detention for using Firefox

TechRepublic ^ | Dec. 17, 2007 | Jay Garmon

[twntaipan]

Last week, a student at Big Spring High School in Newville, Pennsylvania was given detention for using Firefox on a school computer. Quoted below is the key explanation from the official detention writeup:

“Today in class [name] had a program launched called Foxfire.exe. I had told [name] to close the program and to resume work but he told me that is was just a different browser and that he was doing his work. I had given him two warnings but he insisted that it was just a ‘better’ browser and he wasn’t doing anything wrong. I had then issued his detention.”

I’m sure whether I should laugh or cry. It says so much about the state of technical education, respect for authority, what passes for civil disobedience and–of course–the all-consuming corporate hegemony of Microsoft. We live in a strange world.

Once again, hat tip to my buddy Lizard for the heads up.

[Leroy S. Mort]

The motive for creating the hoax would belong to Firefox supporters if you ask me. They’re trying to get their product’s name out and whip up some sympathy as being unfairly persecuted in typical environments.

Oh, please....

[papasmurf]

Get yourself a better email service...for free. Try out www.fastmail.fm . Even the free accounts will bring your hotmail to you. You can choose to leave it on their servers, or bring into your local machine. Still free. Paid for accounts are even more powerful and more flexible.

[Golden Eagle]

Who else then? Fascists at Microsoft who want you to know you’re oppressed? I’ve heard worse LOL.

[peggybac]

Thank you. I have Outlook Express and SBC but I’ve been using Hotmail for so many years now. For professional purposes, I would use one of my other services.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

Just a love of old airplanes and my own ideas of what I wanted to do with them.Oh and pure dumb luck.

[Osage Orange]

Students are tax-payers...but generally it's not their $$ they are paying. Ha!!

I'll go with your other option.

[shag377]

You mention the whole issue of ‘tax-payer’ vs dependent of tax-payer.

In my class, I get this argument once and a while, “I pay taxes!” I then calmly ask the student how much he or she pays in property taxes a year, personally.

I then get, “Well, my momma...”

To wit I reply, “I don’t teach your momma. How much do YOU pay in taxes?”

Of course I get no answer.

If I do get an answer, I then point out the fact that my family has extensive land holdings in the county, and as such pay a larger portion of taxes so therefore, I pay more of my own salary than you do.

That usually shuts them up.:)

Try that one day in class. But back to the point, you are correct. The issue was not one of using Firefox, the issue was one of violation of computer policies. I agree with the teacher on this one.