Apparently some of the students in your class were emailing each other, joking that another student was the best hacker in school. One of them suggested this student could hack into the school’s files and change test grades. One of the students mixed up the message and accidentally sent an email that said the mentioned student did hack into the school’s files and change test grades. That email somehow got sent to you. You know the student in question and know she is not likely to do any hacking. You think this email has not been sent to anyone else, but you cannot be sure. How do you stop this rumor and handle this situation?
If I received the email in question, I would bring it to my principal. I imagine the next step would be to bring in all the students involved to a meeting with the principal and IT director and possibly myself, although I would probably not have a role after handing it off to the administration. I would expect the administration to have a highlighted copy of the discipline matrix prepared for each student. Since no grades were actually hacked in this scenario, no action really needs to be taken but it would be important that the students were scared a little with the possible consequences. As far as damage control, the administration could ask students whether or not the email has been sent to anyone else. If they do not know, the IT director could check the email records.
If I received the email in question, I would bring it to my principal. I imagine the next step would be to bring in all the students involved to a meeting with the principal and IT director and possibly myself, although I would probably not have a role after handing it off to the administration. I would expect the administration to have a highlighted copy of the discipline matrix prepared for each student. Since no grades were actually hacked in this scenario, no action really needs to be taken but it would be important that the students were scared a little with the possible consequences. As far as damage control, the administration could ask students whether or not the email has been sent to anyone else. If they do not know, the IT director could check the email records.
Okay. I guess I was wondering what you would actually say to students if you were in charge, or what you would think those in charge should say and do.
ReplyDeleteThis seems like an appropriate beginning to me. Interviewing the entire group of kids is something a school counselor does often in these situations, and the discipline matrix could be beneficial in alarming students. This situation had me thinking about whether the student could actually hack into the system and whether the IT specialists needed to find out how the student would possibly do it.
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