Damage to PC's

[CHIT]

We are having an excessive amount of damage to mice and keyboards - is this a general problem and if so do you find it getting worse.

CHIT

[Geoff]

Yes. Generally happens when kids are left alone (eg, you have rooms open over break/lunch or after school). Or when lessons are being covered by supply teachers.

 

CCTV+billing parents for damage seems to be the only bullet proof counter measure.

[SteveB_NI]

You could always do what was threatened in my previous school (not by me - but by other members of staff who had a blinkered view on things) - refuse to replace the mice, and keyboards and just leave them broken until the pupils get the idea.

 

In my current school the pupils are fantastic and treat our equipment with respect.... all girls secondary school too.

[Geoff]

refuse to replace the mice, and keyboards and just leave them broken until the pupils get the idea

 

That didn't work round here. The kids found out who was doing it and start scrapping in the school yard.

 

While I appreciate the intention, vigilante justice is prohibited by our anti-bullying policy.

[localzuk]

We have this problem so are looking at securing things as much as possible with our next room refurbishments.

 

We are going to be using thin clients which either mount in the wall or are all-in-one style that are mounted on a vesa wall mount. The only things left to break will be the keyboard and mouse...

[woody]

I remember my first major computer installation 4 years ago in this job. 60 PCs - 2 rooms. Got it all set up and it looked swish! The cases had this nice blue hue plastic front on them.

 

Within the first half term, the kids had found out that a short sharp stab at the case front would crack the plastic. I'd say at least 80% received this treatment before we finally bought 60 more robust cases and I painstakingly rehoused all components into these new cases. A hard lesson learned indeed.

[tom_newton]

Someone needs to develop peripherals that squeal (over IP) when damaged - little pop-up "Clue bat to room 5 please, keyboard on Workstation 3 damaged"

[maniac]

We get constant damage to mice and keyboards and PC cases. We just buy in the cheapest keyboards and mice we can find for replacements. The PC cases are more tricky, we just make sure we buy the most robust ones we can when we order new PCs. We've found newer Dell machines to have fairly robust cases. Providing we secure the easy access clip that opens the side of the case we get very little trouble with these.

 

Mike.

[budgester]

Someone needs to develop peripherals that squeal (over IP) when damaged - little pop-up "Clue bat to room 5 please, keyboard on Workstation 3 damaged"

 

I'd prefer an electric shock to the teacher who is supposed to be managing the room.

[localzuk]

I'd settle for mice with leads that don't break when a kid breathes on them. It seems they have a tendency to pull the mouse too much and end up yanking the cable from the inside out.

[woody]

I'd settle for mice with leads that don't break when a kid breathes on them. It seems they have a tendency to pull the mouse too much and end up yanking the cable from the inside out.

 

Another weak point with mice, is when the kids get their fingertips underneath the buttons and PULL. One of our ICT teachers reckons they don't realise they are doing this - that it starts of as a little habbit, flicking the buttons. Yeah right!

[Geoff]

I'd prefer an electric shock to the teacher who is supposed to be managing the room.

 

Leaving the teachers PC ungrounded will do this for you.

[MkII]

If we leave PCs dead at all we find somebody always scavenges the rest of the PC, presumably with supervising staff blessing.

[GrumbleDook]

We bill the department that look after that room. In rooms that are shared you can bet that other departments are more than happy to point the finger at which department left it in a state, and then we can pin it down to an individual lesson.

 

If we know the student who did it we then bill the student, explaining to them and the parent that they pay the bill ... no arguements. Those that do arguement then get told that if they are not happy to pay the bill then we are more than happy to treat it as criminal damage and file either a criminal complaint or a civil claim.

 

We have an 80% success rate in getting the money back ... and those who don't we do not chase for a variety of reasons. Either way it rarely comes out of the Technical Support budget.

[gwendes]

While I appreciate the intention, vigilante justice is prohibited by our anti-bullying policy.

 

Damn. I'd slip a clause in there somewhere if I was you

 

Someone needs to develop peripherals that squeal (over IP) when damaged - little pop-up "Clue bat to room 5 please, keyboard on Workstation 3 damaged"

 

True, true genius. I'd buy some (and keep some as pets)

[derer1]

We bill the department that look after that room. In rooms that are shared you can bet that other departments are more than happy to point the finger at which department left it in a state, and then we can pin it down to an individual lesson.

 

If we know the student who did it we then bill the student, explaining to them and the parent that they pay the bill ... no arguements. Those that do arguement then get told that if they are not happy to pay the bill then we are more than happy to treat it as criminal damage and file either a criminal complaint or a civil claim.

 

We have an 80% success rate in getting the money back ... and those who don't we do not chase for a variety of reasons. Either way it rarely comes out of the Technical Support budget.

 

Grumbledook, what did it actually take to get this in place? I'd love to get this kind of procedure and accountability implemented at my work - the resistance to it thus far has been rather odd.

 

Usually, it's either that the departmental budgets are too small to absorb this kind of damage-billing, and thus IT support's budget is used for it.

In other instances, the damage occurs during registration periods, when the departments refuse to take responsibility for the damage and theft that occurs.

While finance is well aware of the amount of money we waste on new keyboards, mice, etc, and have all the figures to support this, the SMT make all the right noises when this is brought up as an issue, but when push comes to shove, it's quietly dropped. I'm really not sure why, as it's undeniably a chronic waste of money, but the feeling seems to be that it's what the IT Support budget is for, so why bother shifting things around?

 

Any convincing points or leverage that you utilised to get this in place at your site would be most useful!

(Aside from the cost issue, it's horribly depressing/demoralizing for the team to have to replace items day after day, with the teaching staff standing idly by when damage occurs, knowing full well that the same mice will be gone within a week, again)

[SteveB_NI]

refuse to replace the mice, and keyboards and just leave them broken until the pupils get the idea

 

That didn't work round here. The kids found out who was doing it and start scrapping in the school yard.

 

While I appreciate the intention, vigilante justice is prohibited by our anti-bullying policy.

 

Hence why I said "blinkered view" by members of staff

[pinemarten]

"leaving things broken until they get the message" is tempting, but just penalises everyone for the actions of a few idiots.

a bit like not replacing a vandalised bus shelter, so your granny has to stand in the rain because of some gawky caphead with sh*t for brains trying to impress his moronic mates on a saturday night .

 

btw, it's always boys, isn't it? - are things any better in all-girls schools?

 

opinions, anyone?

[GrumbleDook]

Grumbledook, what did it actually take to get this in place? I'd love to get this kind of procedure and accountability implemented at my work - the resistance to it thus far has been rather odd.

 

 

Any convincing points or leverage that you utilised to get this in place at your site would be most useful!

(Aside from the cost issue, it's horribly depressing/demoralizing for the team to have to replace items day after day, with the teaching staff standing idly by when damage occurs, knowing full well that the same mice will be gone within a week, again)

 

I went to the Business Manager and said that I was hacked off paying for the stupidty of others and so it is time to make sure that classroom management also extends to the classroom environment. Of course this was timed to be just after she had the bill for repairs of doors, windows and chairs ...

 

THen when I went to the Head I told him the amount of time that was lost to students due to damaged machines. This has an impact on the results to he was happy too.

 

It is amazing what you can do when you have worked out which buttons to press. Admittedly I am going to stop it now for a bit as things have improved ... and I tend to focus on problem departments in rotation ... saves my NM time chasing and tracking things.

[jopijedd]

Usually, it's either that the departmental budgets are too small to absorb this kind of damage-billing, and thus IT support's budget is used for it.

In other instances, the damage occurs during registration periods, when the departments refuse to take responsibility for the damage and theft that occurs.

 

We have an (almost) blanket policy of having IT rooms barred from use as registration rooms. The one which does have a registration group in it sees an awful lot of mouse balls go missing, which certain cretins love throwing at each other.

 

Its also worth investigating getting some cheap PC based CCTV - we've only invested about £700 in ours and have about eight cameras all streaming to HDD from motion sensitive cameras. It has already paid for two power sockets to be replaced in the sixth form room.

 

I'm surprised a manufacturer hasn't come up with some 'brat proof' mice and keyboards yet.... Anyone want to accompany me on the next series of Dragons Den?

[stephenleak]

We've just had a spate of this. On our older Dell desktops, if you remove the blanking plate for the CD drive (removed), you can reach inside and guess what is in front of you on the motherboard? The RAM chips! However, some wooden blocks from the woodwork shop (I was all for mousetraps, myself) in the drive bay and CCTV seems to be doing the trick - so far - touch wood ...

[Gimbow]

We here have has similar issues. Over the past school year we have replaced over 100 mice in our labs. Some of the steps we have taken have been to zip-tie the mice to the security loop on the back of the computer. This has slowed them down a bit but has not been overly successful. Does anyone else out there have any intuitive ways they secure their Peripherals?

[bishopsgarthstockton]

I glue the mouse covers so they cant take the balls out... optical mice tend to go missing

[DSapseid]

We've just had a spate of this. On our older Dell desktops, if you remove the blanking plate for the CD drive (removed), you can reach inside and guess what is in front of you on the motherboard? The RAM chips! However, some wooden blocks from the woodwork shop (I was all for mousetraps, myself) in the drive bay and CCTV seems to be doing the trick - so far - touch wood ...

 

I too have just had this problem 3/4gb ram from 6 machines resulted in a £180 bill for new kingston memory!!!! I have now put wood behind the fascia plates and glued new plates in place so when they punch the new plates they break their knuckles on ther wood behind!!! - I wanted 2 inch steel but i was told that that is a bit far!!

 

 

Its also worth investigating getting some cheap PC based CCTV - we've only invested about £700 in ours and have about eight cameras all streaming to HDD from motion sensitive cameras.

 

Can you give some info of what you use to do this as i looked at a proffesional system and when the wuote came to 6k i was told politely to sod off!!

 

Cheers

 

Dan

[DSapseid]

Another weak point with mice, is when the kids get their fingertips underneath the buttons and PULL. One of our ICT teachers reckons they don't realise they are doing this - that it starts of as a little habbit, flicking the buttons. Yeah right!

 

Yep had that too and they also push the buttons in so hard that they snap the plastic and then the button dosent go 'back up'. Im getting through anywhere between 2-5 mice per day and thats only 150 machines!!!!!!