Preventing damage

[Liam]

What do you do to prevent damage to keyboards and mice etc?

 

Short of checking every room every lesson I think I have done everything. I even charge depts now and that's not worked!

 

14 keyboards and 20 mice replaced today as part of my holiday task list. It's so frustrating I just don't get why they even unplug them in the first place.

 

Argh..... Kids lol.

 

Thanks

[6Foot2]

I have given up on this particular issue. I just replace kit when damage is reported.

 

Yes, it is a waste of money, and a waste of time. However, all attempts to bring damage under control have failed.

 

When I ask how did this happen the most common reply is: "It didn't happen in my lesson" or similar. Not helpful and not the question I asked.

 

[NokiX]

We have this problem in one of our ICT rooms because the teacher who uses the room only works 2-3 days a week currently so the damage always happens when shes not in school. Thankfully we don't see many other issues as the ICT staff have their own rooms so they make sure to look after it. I found that making it known that the rooms are being checked will prevent this problem and generally if we see a lot of it I'll make sure to visit the room frequently for about 2 weeks until the kids get the message!

[bwestlake]

today we put up cctv cameras in the rooms affected, hopefully we will have a culprit(s) next term...

[rad]

I saw a monitor that has damage to the LCD, I didnt bother replacing it today, I will await the teachers to report it.

[ITGURU]

Given up here too, but hopefully we will be getting cameras in all rooms but doesn't always work as we have one in the apple mac room but vandalism still occurs so now we just replace them with normal black keyboards and mice!

 

Sent bills home for smashed laptop/netbook screens in the past, but only ever got 1 paid for as the student admitted to smashing it. We spend a fortune in replacement mice and keyboards because they swap the letters, cut through the cables, pull back the mice buttons etc

[rad]

Do you cable tie your kit?

 

I got fed up so took it apon myself to cable tie the keyboard and mice, daily kids would come to our office saying it didnt work.

6 weeks later, no kids, no damaged keyboards or mice.

[ITGURU]

Do you cable tie your kit?

 

I got fed up so took it apon myself to cable tie the keyboard and mice, daily kids would come to our office saying it didnt work.

6 weeks later, no kids, no damaged keyboards or mice.

 

used to, but gave up with it as when keyboards and mice didn't work they would just cut the cable ties and then plug them into the front or another computer!

Even bought some netting wrap to bundle all the cables together and tie off at each end but then when they damaged the mice or keyboards it was a PITA to have to change the cables!

[mtillbrook]

really common issue. I remember (back in the day!!) having to super glue in the balls in mice before optical ones became the normal!!

 

The simplest thing I'm afraid is to just buy cheap ones and then replace them every time.

 

CCTV in the classrooms is a great deterent. Its worth thinking about that simple fact though! I've known some schools that don't like having cameras in teaching rooms but even just a dud on the wall does work sometimes!

[NokiX]

used to, but gave up with it as when keyboards and mice didn't work they would just cut the cable ties and then plug them into the front or another computer!

Even bought some netting wrap to bundle all the cables together and tie off at each end but then when they damaged the mice or keyboards it was a PITA to have to change the cables!

 

We have that problem although another issue is that we use a thick cable tie on the back of the PC to stop kids opening the PC (it's not one you can put a screw in) yet they still manage to try their best to get inside for some reason. We also had a classroom in which the kids flipped all the SFF machines upside down so they kept sliding on the desks since the rubber feet were only one on side. I have no idea what possessed them to do that although that room does have machines which are 7 years old now o.o so they probably got bored waiting for the PC to boot!

[Liam]

They are a nightmare aren't they.. I'm glad it's not just me. I think the next measure is cctv but I very much doubt it's going to work. I think I may have to continue charging depts based on last use. Pain in the **** but atleast I recoup the money to my budget

[Norphy]

really common issue. I remember (back in the day!!) having to super glue in the balls in mice before optical ones became the normal!!

 

I remember swapping out ball mice for optical mice when they became cheap enough. It stopped the kids from throwing mouse balls at each other (god, those things hurt!) but instead, they used to try to blind one another with the "laser".

 

Unfortunately, kids will be kids and if they're not supervised properly they do this kind of thing. You can always tell when a computer room is looked after by a good teacher who can instil discipline into their students.

[6Foot2]

Our students latest 'trick'

 

 

This was found in a computer this morning, still sitting in the RAM bay.

 

[Lonix]

What do you do to prevent damage to keyboards and mice etc?

 

Short of checking every room every lesson I think I have done everything. I even charge depts now and that's not worked!

 

14 keyboards and 20 mice replaced today as part of my holiday task list. It's so frustrating I just don't get why they even unplug them in the first place.

 

Argh..... Kids lol.

 

Thanks

 

1. When you find a solution to this, you will be hailed as a hero.

2. Not your job to be checking them (unless you are the teacher of the room).

3. I am currently pushing to have all mice/keyboards billed to departments (did this at a previous job and it fixed the problem in most suites except two).

4. It's all down to behaviour. Showing a teacher it takes 30 seconds if that, to simply walk around the classroom at beginning and end.

5. We are also considering random inspections - before and after lesson - to practically name and shame the teachers responsible at the time (because it's their responsibility to look after the rooms).

6. You will find it's certain staff. For us, we know one department and now they have been moved from a certain IT suite. I know that room will see a lot less damage.

 

P.s Don't blame the kids, they are young and silly. Blame the adults responsible for the room. Having dealt with a lot of classes over the years, it really is a simple thing to walk around the room twice a lesson- quick litter check, mice/keyboards all accounted for and no other issues.

 

One thing I am doing is logging where our replacements go and if damages/stolen. Currently we are spending £2000 a year on replacements and seems to be going up about £400 every 12 months.

Edited June 3, 2016 by Lonix

[unixman_again]

We're lucky being a sixth form college - we get very little vandalism. We get the odd bit of accidental damage so we just replace the item when it is reported.

 

At the first school I was at (a grammar school) we used to have to weld the bottom of the mice up with a soldering iron otherwise the oiks would nick the balls. When optical mice came cheap enough, they would nick them, so we used cable ties on the wires. They managed to undo them, so we secured the mice and keyboard to the desk with a P clip and a screw. We had to replace the normal wood screws with security screws when they managed to undo them.

 

At the last school, they would nick the space bar off keyboards - nothing else, just the space bar. We would replace the space bar with any old key from a junk keyboard.

[chris_uk]

Our students latest 'trick'

 

 

This was found in a computer this morning, still sitting in the RAM bay.

 

 

I've got stacks of this RAM sat in my office. Do you want me to post you some?

[Bankesy]

Hello

 

I always used to try and keep the rooms neat and tidy as to my mind the equipment would be respected more if it was presented well.

 

Other than that one of the best PCs I've ever worked with is the RM One with it's closed casing at the back, this at least prevented unplugging.

[bwestlake]

Ours were neat and presentable but students with staff who 'damage doesn't happen in my lesson' happen to it

[bwestlake]

We never get told about the damage either until it is too late...

[biz]

We have some darling little angels who like to rip mice from their cables and then zap each other with the exposed wires.

[Lonix]

Ours were neat and presentable but students with staff who 'damage doesn't happen in my lesson' happen to it

 

Another usual quote - "Wasn't my class" I had an argument with some one many years ago about this. Until I showed him a signature of my self and previous member of Staff who used the lesson before. I made sure by watching in a distance that no one else had entered the room until he had locked the door and allowed the class in.

 

I passed all this on to the head, he wasn't best pleased that I had to make a "case" out of it because the teacher wasn't being very cooperative. The head went a bit mad over it but actually thanked me. I hate wasting time over this I really do. Strangely enough things actually improved drastically after that - as if it was magic.

 

There is damage that happens because kids are kids but if the teacher not only refuses to accept responsibility but isn't doing their job in looking after the room - that's where I lose my patience.

[ITGURU]

Hello

 

I always used to try and keep the rooms neat and tidy as to my mind the equipment would be respected more if it was presented well.

 

Other than that one of the best PCs I've ever worked with is the RM One with it's closed casing at the back, this at least prevented unplugging.

 

We do this every holiday go round check all rooms and leave in working condition but doesn't last long. we used to have hp sff cases with covers on the back hiding the cables but then they just busted off the clips getting to the cables.

 

we even take projector remotes out classrooms now so they have to borrow and return to us as they go walkabout!

[ITGURU]

Perhaps we need a 1 : 1 solution whereby all students have their own kb and mouse, but then they would use as an excuse not to do any work if broken etc..

[NokiX]

I've got stacks of this RAM sat in my office. Do you want me to post you some?

 

If your offering we haven't had a RAM upgrade in a long time and some of our machines are actually still running 1gb and I honestly feel sorry for the staff using those machines but I think everyone's in a similar boat in some way or another.

[Fazza]

20 - is that all?!

 

We've also given up on checking the computer suites each half term as we used to change 100+ each half-term break which means for some time the students had been using them without any problems and very few had been reported to us!

 

Now we only change them when they are reported to us. How on earth they can use them beyond me as for us it's normally the space bar that is broken and pretty much unusable. Vandalism is pretty much accepted by people outside of the IT Services department which is why we've given up on it.

 

I wonder what taxpayers would think if they knew hundreds of pounds of their money was being used each year to replace/fix vandalised computer parts? Multiply that by all the schools in the UK and that's a lot of money!