Picket Fence Post

Item #1: Penn. School-Issued Laptops Used to Spy?

The family of a 15-year-old high school student in a suburb of Philadelphia is suing his school district, accusing officials of using school-issued laptops, equipped with web cameras, to spy on students in their homes, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer.

An excerpt from the the news story about the lawsuit said:

“In a lawsuit filed [last week] in federal court, the family said the school’s assistant principal had confronted their son, told him he had ‘engaged in improper behavior in [his] home, and cited as evidence a photograph from the webcam embedded in [his] personal laptop issued by the school district.’

The suit contends the Lower Merion School District, one of the most prosperous and highest-achieving in the state, had the ability to turn on students’ webcams and illegally invade their privacy.

. . . Families in the 6,900-student district reacted with shock. Parent Candace Chacona said she was ‘flabbergasted’ by the allegations. ‘My first thought was that my daughter has her computer open almost around the clock in her bedroom. Had she been spied on?’”

While school officials claimed that the remotely activated webcam feature was used as a security measure if the laptops were reported stolen — an application they say was used 42 times this school year – they aren’t saying much more about the controversy, particularly because a federal judge has told them that they need to get legal permission to do so first, citing the pending civil case.  The Inquirer reported that federal prosecutors have also issued a subpoena for all school records related to this program and a criminal probe is ongoing. It’s not publicly known how many images were taken by the remote cameras.

When I read about this case my jaw dropped. How in the world, if what the plaintiffs say is true, would anyone, could anyone, think it’s okay for a governmental institution to surveil someone in his or her home without his or her permission and without a court order? It boggles my mind. Beware of school districts offering “free” laptops.

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Things have been a bit chaotic over the past few days, what with some family drama (don’t ask), the never-ending slog of kids’ activities slowly sucking the life out of me, and trying to shoehorn actual work into the mix, never mind attending to volunteer efforts both The Spouse and I for some reason foolishly offered to do. Plus there was this fifth grade bread baking project we were supposed to complete over the weekend. The Girl actually completed the project on her own — with no help from her parents – but The Eldest Boy did not because, honestly, there was too much crap going on.

In the meantime, to make up for the lack of bloggy stuff, here are a few newsy items I’ve missed in the past few days:

– I had the pleasure of co-hosting the Manic Mommies podcast with Erin Kane last week. We talked about mid-season TV (Big Love, Lost, a bit of ranting about the current state of Grey’s Anatomy) and about our crazy kids’ activities (this was before family drama hit the Picket Fence Post household). You can download the podcast for free on iTunes, including where I called Erin by her co-host’s name, Kristin. Smooth move.

– It was with a heavy heart that I read the recent news stories about a teenage girl living in Massachusetts who committed suicide reportedly in the wake of cyberbullying. Adding to that was the fact that a local school district had an anti-bullying forum led by a Vermont father whose own 13-year-old son (two years younger than my twins) killed himself several years ago after he’d been bullied, and I’ve been wondering when the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is going to legally define bullying behavior with an anti-bullying law and when schools are going to start taking harassment seriously and not as a form of “conflict.” If sexual harassment in the workplace and acts which create a hostile workplace can be outlawed, certainly bullying/intimidating/humiliating harassment and acts which create a hostile learning environment should be as well.

– In a similar vein, the web site Parent Dish had a provocative post about parents who bully and name-call other parents online. Blogger Amy Hatch asked, “How can we teach our children be kind to one another when we can’t model that behavior in our own lives?”

– Completely changing subjects here . . . If you were among those who were once fond of watching Hope and Michael Steadman, Nancy and Elliot Weston, Ellyn Warren, Gary, Melissa and the crew from thirtysomething, you’ll be pleased to learn that season two of the 1980s/90s drama is now out on DVD. My Pop Culture column this week is about why, even though decades have passed since these episodes first aired, “. . . I can find no current TV dramas which capture the gloriously messy and stressful, day-to-day slog of child-rearing, work and marriage as deftly and incisively as this 21-year-old series did.” (As you can tell, “slog” was my preferred word of the week. . .)

Image credit: Dyna Moe/Nobody’s Sweetheart.

Any fans of Lost in the house? As the start of the final season draws closer (it’s on Feb. 2), fans are gearing up to say goodbye to the complicated series. And they’re doing so in a variety of ways, including by making parody videos.

Some folks who call themselves “The Gorgeous Geeks” have created a cartoonish video extolling the virtues of Sawyer, the fast-talking, nickname-giving con man with the shaggy mane of blonde hair:

Want to see a family-styled spoof? An Italian family from Long Island reenacted scenes from Lost’s previous seasons in someone’s house, mostly in the living room. The kids, the grandparents, everyone got involved . . . to amusing ends, with a little interruption from a Jets game. As I watched it, I thought that my kids would have a blast doing something like this:

Consider this, “Three for Thursday: The Comedy Edition”

Item #1: ‘One Funny Mother’ in Natick (Mass.)

The Manic Mommies think we moms need a laugh. So they’ve invited comedian Dena Blizzard to Natick, Mass. to do a one-woman show called “One Funny Mother: I’m Not Crazy” next week. Blizzard – who I saw during the Manic Mommies’ first “Escape” weekend — lives up to her billing, plus her act includes parentally incorrect humor.

The show — which I’m planning on attending even though all three of my kids have games/practices/classes on that afternoon/evening — is on Thursday, May 7 at The Center for Arts in Natick (14 Summer Street) at 7:30. As far as I know, tickets are still available . . . but only for those who feel like laughing.

Item #2: A Scary ‘Little Boy Blue’ Rendition

Speaking of humor . . . if you’re angry with your tot for any reason, have him or her watch actor Michael Emerson — who plays the sinister Ben Linus on Lost — recite the most unsettling version of the nursery rhyme “Little Boy Blue” that I’ve ever seen. (Link to the video here.)

Item #3: New Mom Jen Garner on Letterman

One of the things I love about actress Jennifer Garner is that during all the media interviews I’ve seen her do over the years, she’s continued to come across as grounded and real. Since she’s become a mother — she has a 3-year-old and a 3-month-old — Garner has continued telling it like it is, including how she “fakes” being a mom who has it ”all together.”

Case-in-point, her appearance on The Late Show with David Letterman. I loved what she said about how even though she tries to tackle the multitude of things on her plate between work and her young daughters all while she’s in the throes of sleep deprivation, it eventually catches up with her. (Link to the video here.)

In the second part of the interview (link to the second part of the interview here), Garner talked about how much calmer and more laid back she is as a second-time mom, and how her older daughter is handling being a big sister. Letterman also asked Garner about the wounds she had on her leg (she said she simply fell down) and slathered them with an anti-bacterial gel like the doting dad that he is, particularly when he talks about parenting his own son Harry.

Item #1: Amy Poehler’s Parenting Tips

Amy Poehler claimed a special place in my heart last fall when, while precariously close to the due date for her first child, she ferociously performed the infamous, wickedly funny ”Palin Rap” on Saturday Night Live. Now, soon after having given birth to her son, she’s back on the air with her new NBC sitcom, Parks & Recreation, to which I’m going to give some latitude because I think it’ll develop into something good. (At least that’s what I’m hoping. Got fingers crossed.)

Meanwhile the folks over at the Daily Beast  landed an interview with the new funny mom and asked her for favorite pieces of parenting advice. Among them:

– Always remember your kid’s name.

– Always remember where you put your kid.

– Don’t let your kid drive until their feet can reach the pedals.

That’s the kind of parenting advice I can really appreciate.

Item #2: Lost’s Bad Dads

If you’re a fan of the deliciously densely written, symbol-laden show Lost – I’m an addict, I admit it — you couldn’t help but notice that this week’s installment only advanced the argument that almost every character who goes to (or crashes on) that mysterious island has some sort of serious father issue with which to contend/overcome/make peace with, etc. (Wrote about it briefly on my Suburban Mom blog.)

There’ve been dads on this show who’ve ranged from physically and verbally abusive to outright homicidal toward their offspring, who’ve killed their children’s mothers, who’ve been dangerous alcoholics (including one who wielded a surgeon’s scalpel in the operating room while under the influence), who’ve abandoned their families and who’ve been emotionally absent. Now that their children have grown up to be damaged adults, they find themselves on this creepy, haunted island. (The web site Jezebel did a fine job of analyzing the multitude of Lost’s “daddy issues.”)

So, a word of warning to dads: Better be good to your kids or else they’ll grow up to be writers on a show like Lost and depict fathers as the root of all evil. I’m just sayin’ . . .

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