Waaaagh!

"Schoolboy hacker Omar Khan who upped his grades faces 38 years in jail"

My first thought, of course, was 'he asked for a car, he got a computer. How's that for being born under a bad sign?' but the more i thought about this (and that recurring dream i had again last night where i saw myself standing in sort of sun-god robes on a pyramid with a thousand naked women screaming and throwing little pickles at me) the more i think it needs greater consideration. What he did was wrong, wrong in a 'Kent - stop touching yourself' sort of way - yes - but 38 years for a school kid making a criminal mistake is probably a stretch - even taking into consideration that I think it's safe to assume that ALL grades from students from this HS must be considered suspect, that it would be terribly unfair to grant college admittance or scholarships based on such a suspect environment, and that a lot of innocent people are going to suffer their whole lives because of what he did. In that way what this kid did crossed a really really awful line.

But blaming ONLY the kid for this is pathetic. No, "I blame society. Society made me what I am" doesnt hold up either. But the unspoken reality here is that teachers and school administrators, by and large, are FUCKING MORONS who are doing the job because they cant cut it in the real world. They're sloppy and could give 2 shits about what goes on in their classroom so long as they get paid. Oh sure, there are exceptions, but as far as generalizations go it's a better one than Republicans are Assholes. Ask Michelle Rhee about the quality of American educators sometime... I bet she'll tell you a story or three (or 24 or 22).

Hey Mr Principal - if a kid breaks into your network and fixes his grades the first person that should be dealt with harshly is you.

Ed Rooney: I've got it right here in front of me. He has missed nine days...
[His computer screen begins counting down from nine to two. Ferris is at home looking at the same screen]

Yes Ed... that's YOU. Why the hell do you still have a job...