am i wrong?

bribrius · Apr 5, 2015

some opinions needed.

my oldest gets a ipad 4 from school. In return i pay 25 dollars a year and have to sign a contract. i have done this two years in a row. I dont even have a cellphone contract i pay for cards when i want one but signed this for my kid to have a ipad to bring home (it is the new thing i guess they bring home homework etc on it).
The contract stipulates the first time it breaks the parent is responsible for 50 dollars. second time the replacement or repair costs.
kid broke it. no problem. pay the 50.
But the way i think about it, if my kid breaks another one i eat the cost of the ipad.
on top of the 25 dollars a year. Plus my kid isn't allowed to take it home for the summer.

so doing the math. i figured i would just pay the fifty to the school for the one my kid broke. And forget the contract just buy my kid a ipad (made more sense to me, sorta in the long run)

so i bought a couple ipad 4's. one for me and the wife to play with, one for my kid to replace the one my kid was nolonger getting from school. Like i said, it made sense.

But the school now says she isn't allowed to use the one i bought her, as no outside electronic devices are allowed. They block the one from the school they issue. Apparently, i have no choice BUT to sign the contract. which i am kind of annoyed over especially since now i bought her a ipad instead of going with the school issue one.

i didnt want the contract though, if my kid broke it again, i would be out the cost of the ipad (might as well just buy her one) plus paying the yearly fee plus my kid couldnt take it home in the summer. i just didnt see the point of it. They charge FULL replacement cost too. Not like bay price even if it is beat to crap..

oh, i guess supposedly i dont "have" to have the contract. Just my kid doesnt get a school ipad. which is what they do work on. my kid is honor roll. I dont want to screw up the education here. If i dont have the school contract, and they wont let the home ipad go to school, i am pretty positive it will effect the grades. I think they are wrong. i think she should be able to use the ipad i bought her. just like if i buy her school supplies, a calculator, sport stuff school related. But the policy is she isn't allowed to. No electronic devices and she isn't allowed to use if for school or in school. That i basically have to go with the school contract and school issue one.

Gary A. · Apr 5, 2015

My immediate response, when reading the title is Yes!, regardless of following text.

But I read the following text anyway and here is my take. You are at least partially responsible for buying your kid an iPad for school without knowing the electronic device policy (the school may be equally responsible if they did not publish the policy or make it easily available ... but I suspect the policy may have been incorporated into the paperwork for the contract).

My take is twofold ... 1) the kid needs it for school and not having one will be detrimental and make it harder to attain Honor Roll. 2) The kid may be stigmatized and ridiculed as the kid without the iPad. This may/will be a continuous and daily cloud over your child. So don't make your fight, the kid's fight ... the kid really doesn't have a dog in this fight.

tirediron · Apr 5, 2015

This is idiotic. First and foremost, no one NEEDS an iPad for school. I'm sure it's cool, and and I'm sure it's fun, but it's not a need. "No outside electronics" in a school????? WHAT? Every child in that school has a mechanical watch? It's not the CIA or a military HQ, it's a SCHOOL!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure there are no national secrets at risk.

What if you couldn't afford $25/month? It's great that you can, but I'm sure there are those for whom that additional bill would constitute a significant, and unnecessary hardship. I would absolutely refuse to agree to something like that; it's nothing more than a cash-grab and yet another case of the 'Good ideas' club imparting their will on others.

bribrius · Apr 5, 2015

Gary A. said:
My immediate response, when reading the title is Yes!, regardless of following text.

But I read the following text anyway and here is my take. You are at least partially responsible for buying your kid an iPad for school without knowing the electronic device policy (the school may be equally responsible if they did not publish the policy or make it easily available ... but I suspect the policy may have been incorporated into the paperwork for the contract).

My take is twofold ... 1) the kid needs it for school and not having one will be detrimental and make it harder to attain Honor Roll. 2) The kid may be stigmatized and ridiculed as the kid without the iPad. This may/will be a continuous and daily cloud over your child. So don't make your fight, the kid's fight ... the kid really doesn't have a dog in this fight.

it isn't in the contract. The contract is for the school issued one and just the yearly fee and replacement costs etc.. It doesn't say you CAN'T just get your own. Apparently doing so violates the school electronic policy somehow. I hear ya though. Just smells like communism to me. sniff sniff.

bribrius · Apr 5, 2015

tirediron said:
This is idiotic. First and foremost, no one NEEDS an iPad for school. I'm sure it's cool, and and I'm sure it's fun, but it's not a need. "No outside electronics" in a school????? WHAT? Every child in that school has a mechanical watch? It's not the CIA or a military HQ, it's a SCHOOL!!!!!!! I'm pretty sure there are no national secrets at risk.

What if you couldn't afford $25/month? It's great that you can, but I'm sure there are those for whom that additional bill would constitute a significant, and unnecessary hardship. I would absolutely refuse to agree to something like that; it's nothing more than a cash-grab and yet another case of the 'Good ideas' club imparting their will on others.

I believe with the parents that have less money they are somehow providing waivers to paying for them. I am not totally sure though. But it doesn't make me feel better thinking about it. It just means i might be paying when other parents aren't. But in a way, it is weird. I bought her ipad with the case and a keyboard to go with it off ebay (32 gig instead of 16) with a screen protector cheaper than the school replacement cost listed in the contract. Granted, i bought it refurbished. But the one from the school was used to start with and only came with a cheap case.

Gary A. · Apr 5, 2015

Granted, under your scenario, life isn't fair ... but the school is holding all the cards ... just file this under "Picking Fights You Can Win" ... or ... "Picking Fights Worth Fighting".

I know a few people ... stupid people ... who look at every act as personal and winning/losing. They mindlessly argue everything, without listening, just so they 'win'. The 'universe' isn't against you ... the 'universe' doesn't gives a rat's about you, or anyone else for that matter. Again, just file this away as a lesson learned and move on, a bit wiser for the next time you're dealing with a government agency.

tirediron · Apr 5, 2015

Gary A. said:
Granted, under your scenario, life isn't fair ... but the school is holding all the cards ... just file this under "Picking Fights You Can Win" ... or ... "Picking Fights Worth Fighting".

I know a few people ... stupid people ... who look at every act as personal and winning/losing. They mindlessly argue everything, without listening, just so they 'win'. The 'universe' isn't against you ... the 'universe' doesn't gives a rat's about you, or anyone else for that matter. Again, just file this away as a lesson learned and move on, a bit wiser for the next time you're dealing with a government agency.

I think the point being overlooked here Gary is that schools, teachers, and the administration staff are public SERVANTS. It is not their job to dictate idiotic rules, but rather to provide an appropriate education for the children in their charge, and while this might be a difficult fight to win, it is one that I absolutely would take on. In fact I would very likely remove my child from that school were I in Brib's situation.

It's all well and good to say, "Pick your fights", but the downside of that is that when bad decisions go unchallenged, they become acceptable, and when there's no push-back from the public, organizations such as this begin to feel that they can do whatever they want, regardless of whether or not there is any benefit to it.

limr · Apr 5, 2015

Yes.

Oh wait, what was the question? I only got as far as the thread title.

otherprof · Apr 5, 2015

bribrius said:
Gary A. said:

My immediate response, when reading the title is Yes!, regardless of following text.

But I read the following text anyway and here is my take. You are at least partially responsible for buying your kid an iPad for school without knowing the electronic device policy (the school may be equally responsible if they did not publish the policy or make it easily available ... but I suspect the policy may have been incorporated into the paperwork for the contract).

My take is twofold ... 1) the kid needs it for school and not having one will be detrimental and make it harder to attain Honor Roll. 2) The kid may be stigmatized and ridiculed as the kid without the iPad. This may/will be a continuous and daily cloud over your child. So don't make your fight, the kid's fight ... the kid really doesn't have a dog in this fight.

Click to expand...

it isn't in the contract. The contract is for the school issued one and just the yearly fee and replacement costs etc.. It doesn't say you CAN'T just get your own. Apparently doing so violates the school electronic policy somehow. I hear ya though. Just smells like communism to me. sniff sniff.

It doesn't smell like communism to me. Smells more like capitalism! The school made a deal to purchase the iPads for every student. What was the benefit to the school in that deal? Where there any quid pro quo arrangements, or under-the-table kickbacks? Who is losing money if you buy your kid an iPad and do not go for the seemingly outrageous contract the school imposes on you? I think the policy is about money, not security. Does the superintendent have to pay for a wedding any time soon?

Ysarex · Apr 5, 2015

Public school or private school?

Joe

pgriz · Apr 5, 2015

I'd ask what's on the school-supplied iPad that isn't on yours. There may be some proprietary stuff on theirs that allows them secure access.

fjrabon · Apr 5, 2015

You're "right" but it's also a relatively hopeless battle. What is right or wrong is a relatively pointless battle here, you just have to figure out if it's worth it for you to fight it.

What are your options? What is the best option for you?

Also as someone else asked, public or private school?

Overread · Apr 5, 2015

Generally speaking Schools look to earn money where they can and they likely earn from this setup. Thus they don't want to encourage parents to buy their own iPads for their kids because suddenly the school loses out on the income they get.

The higher-ups in charge might also be technically illiterate and thus things like propitiatory software licences and custom options (which might be as simple as simply enabling default parental restrictions on the pad from its built-in menus) might simply boggle their minds. Ergo "their" iPads are "safe" and "special" whilst yours can't possibly be.

You might have luck if:
1) You talk to whoever is in charge of IT at your school - they will likely know the ins-and-outs and might even know a back-door way to get on the system (eg they just add your iPad to the system no questions asked- no one is harmed and the higher ups don't get panicked; or they just talk to the higher-ups to ok the situation).

2) You offer to pay the school the $25 anyway (its only one cost per year) and have the install their magical special software etc. You then only lose out if your kid breaks it.

I agree that if the school is making heavy use of them as a feature then not having one might leave your kid at a disadvantage - although I would think more digital distributed material must be available online. Indeed I can't see what real benefit an iPad has over a laptop save that it is cheaper and likely allows the school to ban kids bringing in their own.

DarkShadow · Apr 5, 2015

Well what happens if they decided to go with MacBooks that are in the upper range of a grand and more.Force the parents to sign a contract for a $1500 computer that may become a paper weight after a kid drops it on the bus or it gets stolen out of his or her backpack.Screw that,I would fight that contract. It is the parents fight since the parents eat the cost of it. I have three kids in public schools and they bring home work home the old way,on paper. Some home work may require use of a computer on occasions but nothing a modern day local library can't handle the task. In my neck of the woods a lot family's are in hardship and have a hard enough time paying for school supplies,uniforms,field trips etc etc.