what an exciting afternoon!

[Zoe Girl]

I had my laptop stolen at work! I had it on my portable desk in the front lobby of the school, I move around the school a LOT in the afternoon. I spent time looking and thinking maybe I misplaced it, sent one of my staff around the building. We had a special movie night for the kids starting at 6 so after I got the kids checked in and handed over to my staff I called safety and security to see if it had been used at all and verify if it was really stolen. They pulled the video feed and watched it being stolen. I literally turned the corner 15 seconds after they took off.

At this point they are sending an officer over since I am still at the school, and I get an email on my work i-phone. A rugby player found it in the middle of the street and his coach works for our district so he was able to email me with the information on the log-in screen (yeah duh, you need a password). So I know the laptop is safe and I am making arrangements to get it back before the officer even gets there. The coolest thing ever is that the officer had the video sent to his phone and he showed me the actual theft. I know the kid, a highschooler who I had in my programs a couple years ago. He still comes to the school to volunteer in the disabled kids classroom every week and that is why I didn't think anything of him being in the building. After school lets out I am building security basically, with the support of the facilities staff. I figured I knew who it was because I make it my job to know who is in the building at all times.

Well first of all I am really impressed with our S and S team. I have had to call them enough that I was already impressed, but a theft is a new one. When there is something like a lock-down it happens so smoothly and quickly, since it is remote they can act fast. One parent who works for the news station was there when I was talking to the S & S officer and she has seen in the remote rooms, really amazing. I was glad a parent understood how safe that makes us.

Then I am really disappointed in this kid. I will talk to the principal tomorrow but I think I would like to do a restorative justice process with him and his (foster) parents. The school will need to be involved and so I will take their lead on consequences since that is new territory for me. I am used to calling S & S on things that are more about kids being really unsafe, not stealing.

[razz]

That is an amazing example of how everything can work together to resolve problems that arise. It makes me more appreciative of the use of the technology that exists today.

[ToomuchStuff]

You should post a followup, because depending on what you have on the laptop, this IS a safety and security issue.
(kids names, parents contact info, addresses, social security numbers, identity stuff, then information that your legal bound to be quite about, etc)
Was the drive encrypted? Is the bios password protected? (if not, go in an change a few settings and a bootable Linux distro and pull the data off the drive and you wouldn't know it)

[Zoe Girl]

Thank you, I will call our tech support to check it out but everything needs a password to get to anything and they weren't able to get into the laptop at all. We actually take training about protecting student data and general information, plus almost everything you can get on kids is a log-in separate from just getting into my documents (which you need a password for). I save student data for my records without birthdates or student numbers, we don't take things like SSN at all.

[sweetana3]

I am really impressed by the rugby player who found the computer. Wonder what thank you can be given? Like a thank you letter for him and his parents/coach.

[freshstart]

I am really impressed by the rugby player who found the computer. Wonder what thank you can be given? Like a thank you letter for him and his parents/coach.

I second this!

[Tradd]

Then I am really disappointed in this kid. I will talk to the principal tomorrow but I think I would like to do a restorative justice process with him and his (foster) parents. The school will need to be involved and so I will take their lead on consequences since that is new territory for me. I am used to calling S & S on things that are more about kids being really unsafe, not stealing.

Restorative justice? What is that - some feel good namby pamby crap? The kid stole a laptop, fairly high value item. It's not like it's candy. There is video evidence. I would not be surprised if this was the first time the kid had stolen something. This is just the first time he had gotten caught.

i hope the legal system is brought into this.

[Zoe Girl]

Restorative justice? What is that - some feel good namby pamby crap? The kid stole a laptop, fairly high value item. It's not like it's candy. There is video evidence. I would not be surprised if this was the first time the kid had stolen something. This is just the first time he had gotten caught.

i hope the legal system is brought into this.

It is not namby pamby, however I can see how it looks like an offender is not held responsible. Part of it is 'resorative', that means that the offender takes actions that everyone agrees to in order to repair the damage. So in some cases a judge may impose a sentence that includes community service, the same community service can be done but everyone gets a say in what it is or how much. This can be used with the legal system, and shows much better results for offenders long term (not re-offending which is what we all want). It also is good for the victims who feel more satisfied with having this option. One of the key elements is choice, everyone has to choose to be part of this process (that means no pressuring a victim into working with the RJ process if they are not willing). I have heard some positive stories even with violent crime, it is not like a plea bargain where the offender gets time off a sentence or special treatment.

In this case I know the one teen very well, 3+ years, and the family. (he did not have his hands on the laptop at any time) He volunteers in the disabled kids classroom and has been well trusted for a long time. So he made a mistake by letting his friend in the building when I trusted him to be in the building. I want him to learn from this, do what he needs to do in order to restore the trust the school and I have with him, do work to 'pay' for this, and then be able to move on with his life. I haven't decided with the other student who took the laptop however. I am going to meet with the people at the school and see what is a typical consequence since I don't deal with kids this age and thefts.

I guess I could explain this as consequences with conversation,

[JaneV2.0]

Restorative justice is good in that it involves the perpetrator. S/he has to confront the victim and make amends through his/her own actions--literally take responsibility. Using the old punishment model, s/he is made to feel shame and resentment only, with no opportunity to reintegrate into the community. I think it can work--especially with the young. We've cast out enough people through the system we currently use; maybe it's time to take a new approach.