Stop students stealing mice

[Guest]

I can relate with kingswoods comments.

 

My old school had the same problem 400 mice / 200 keyboards 100 FDDs replaced in a year. I found that if I didnt replace the stolen / damaged mice straight away to prove a point, as mention earlier in the post, then by the end of the week almost all the mice would need replacing. This was because pupils would take the mouse from the computer next to them, and bend all the pins etc, rather then just sitting at that PC :?

 

My solutions were:

 

Option 1: 0.99p mice, mouse balls glued in, cable tied at the back. Replace when needed.

 

Option 2: When I replaced computers, I purchased Dell Optiplex's with lockable cable covers together with optical mice.

[StewartKnight]

Adam Young had a good idea at the start of this thread, if there was a software alert...., or how about electrifing the ps2 (or usb) connector; oh the fun we could have!

[Alex]

Schools, the only place where keyboards and mice are consumables.

 

This helps:

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=43838

 

I never really found a good solution tbh. Cable tying helps somewhat, but if they want the mouse, it's gone.

 

Call the police if you catch someone?

[Geoff]

You could certainly have an alert triggered in software if you used USB keyboards/mice maybe if you hooked such a system up to something like this?

 

http://www.solardeathray.com/

[Guest]

http://www.scan.co.uk/Products/ProductInfo.asp?WebProductID=44953

 

[Sirbendy]

We go for optical mice, cable tied with KB/NIC/VGA lead through the case security hole. We also have our office situated in the middle of the main IT suite, with all 5 suites covered by CCTV, running off the machine on my desk with a Geovision GV900 card in it.

 

We have close on 135 PCs in these suites, but haven't had any mice damaged/nicked in 14 months.

 

Dell badges, yes. Even Keycaps. But no mice..

[OverWorked]

I agree with Sirbendy. Cable tie the keyboard, video, mouse cables together with 2 tie wraps. I've only had one attempted theft since doing this (the halfwit cut the mouse cable to nick it, then realised it was no use and left it).

 

I also use optical mice. Although twice the price or more, they're much more durable than ball mice. I haven't had any failures of optical mice either. I used to have loads of problems with ball mice - fluff, balls nicked.

[ConTheITGuy]

Cable clips for mice and keyboards. Optical mice so no balls to nick and kick around the dining room. They have started nicking keycaps - the ones who are particularly bored put them back in the wrong order - I found one recently with the numbers backwards!

 

 

Andy

[Guest]

Oh thats nothing Andy. Its when you look at the keyboard and in the middle it says F*** You

[Sirbendy]

Yes, we've had them moved around...little sods.

 

I love the "it wasn't me!", followed by the CCTV playback...then all we get is "Thats shady..".

 

One of the kids had been told the CCTV wasn't live, so he pulled a moonie at the cameras...with a deputy head in the office with us. He was mortified!

 

Mind you, on his years leaving presentation, everyone else had past pics on the projection screen..he had a metre high pic of his arse.. We will get revenge..somehow.

[tarquel]

Seems like quite the problem for many a' school...

 

I've had in the past the problem of in the computer suites, they take out the mice from the back of the computers and put them in another one - why you may ask?

 

Well, its because the other little sods had removed the balls from the mice and somehow, the pupils found time to swap their mouse for a mouse out of a different computer - what were the teachers doing?

 

I pretty much proved that optical mice would be key - and after a few years hehe - managed to get the ol' 98 suite with optical mice all around. I think in the past few years since the change, i've had to change about 2 or 3.

 

With them cable-tied down also, apart from unplug them, they couldnt take any balls out of them [obviously] and couldnt take them elsewhere, but alas, could still unplug them.

 

When the stupid vandalism was going on with mice going all over the place [and dont get me started on the keyboards and the "defacing" of them] I nagged the ICT Co-ordinator a fair bit and he had a go at the staff - in a attempt to discipline kids if they were tampering with things.

 

Needless to say, it didnt last hehe but there we go - short of cctv in the IT suites, I cant see any other way of stopping it myself.

 

But when I setup the neighbouring room, I've found it to be the best way yet...

 

- Optical Mice [cheap ps2 benq ones are great] + Basic keyboard [the ones that come with the HP DX2000 are perfect - no power management or shortcut keys and are have un-removable - to kids - style keys]

- P/S2 extention cables - linking the mice and keyboards to....

- the desktops hidden and locked away in some sort of storage cabinets - i've just used cheap cupboards and knocked the back out hehe

 

Where the mice/keyboard and extension cables meet, cable tie together in a loop fashion so that if the calbes are pulled, the devices wont just unplug from the extention lead, and if that isnt hidden in some trunking [havent sorted out any trunking myself yet hehe] then you could wrap a black binbag or a thick black plastic material around the looped section and cable tie it on so that they cant be tampered with - without considerable effort from the kids [teachers have no excuse to allow that to happen].

 

So far since last xmas and the summer when we added more pc's, I've had one or two unplugs [as i havent tried my wrapping up the key/mouse meeting the ext cables yet] and just one or two mice locking up [probably they came loose from the ext cable] which was a simple restart to sort out.

 

I'd push for this sort of way and be prepared to do it yourself - it will end up costing less than getting some idiot company to come in and do it, and you'll be able to get good kit and also, have a locked down area where the kids can do little else than misuse the internet hehe

 

*sneaks off for a ciggy* lol

 

Cheers [and I'll post a pic if anyone is interested - please say if ya are... its cheap but it works hehe]

[Sirbendy]

good call...we have some PCs inside cupboards with only the screen/kb/mouse on view..but usually only in art to keep them free of flying dust paint and glue.

 

You could always use adhesive to lock the cables together?

 

We're still OK for vandalism..one or 2 keys moved, 1 or 2 badges gone wandering..but we have just lost a 19" CRT to a leaky roof in IT suite 1 over the weekend...sigh..flat roof? Bloody useless.

[Michael]

The stealing of equipment will always be a problem, however to solve basic problems like the ball of mice disappearing, optical is the way to go. I also find I'm not called upon as much as a mouse cleaning service so you solve two problems going optical.

 

One product which caught my eye about a year ago was a technology called Clearcube. Essentially you have PC's or 'blades' in a rack and using your standard CAT5 infrastructure to send and receive keyboard, mouse, VGA, USB signals. Equipment is secure and better centrally managed. I would love to have such a system, but initially comes a big price tag, but longterm they claim they can save you money! Maybe something to consider for larger secondary schools out there.

[kingswood]

Optical is great- a lot better than those round bouncy things...as long as staff are vigilant when in a room, they don't get stolen or damaged. Some staff aren't so helpful, and during one or two lessons in the same room with the same teacher this week students managed to vandalise four base-units, ten keyboards, and eight mice.

 

And then Monday strikes and the complaint is: "I haven't enough computers in this room to teach" (there are still 22).

 

I don't know why I bother...

 

Paul

[Rozzer]

We get quite a bit of the mice stealing real pain!

 

We had it where 5 computers blanking plates were hit through and the kids pulled out the hard drive cables etc. Then you get the ICT teachers coming to you saying the computers are not working. Then they start blaming us :@

 

Ross

[ChrisH]

Well of course it your fault it's a well known fact last thing before we go home that we go around unplugging a few mice and keyboards, swop a few keys on the keyboards around, make sure any floppy or optical drive has a piece of paper or a sandwich stuck in it so it doesnt get cold at night and last of all smash a few plates through so the motherboard can get some light at night so it doest get scared when all its little lights are off.

[webman]

Some of ours have taken to peeling off the Pentium 4 stickers from the computers and putting them over the optical sensor on the nearest mouse.

[pshuttle]

Please do not even get me started on this - I think I might cry

 

It is quite a problem here but things have been a little better with the new equipment (and a very nasty year 11 have now left). We cable tie, cable tie and cable tie and where possible use optical mice (or failing that, glue in the mouse balls).

 

We are currently compiling a fairly large list of the types of vandalism/theft we are dealing with so that a report can be submitted to the head.

 

Pete

[openhgs]

We have our computers under the benches. To secure the mice (after lots of thefts), we zip tie the mouse, keyboard and network cables to the monitor cable. Where the mouse cable comes through the hole in the bench, this is secured to the bench using a P clip and a security screw (normal wood screws can be removed with sizzors). Since we've done this we have lost no mice, apart from the one being ripped off the wire. The kid swears in was an accident but I think he was venting his frustration after he found out that he couldn't walk off with an optical mouse. Mostly we use optical mice but we have some ball mice; these have had the bottoms welded up with a soldering iron after super glue proved to be inadequate. Like everyone else out there, we lost loads of mouse balls.

 

I have yet to find a solution to the students swapping keys on the keyboard. Well I do have a solution, but I am not allowed to implement it. I want to install these keyboards http://www.daskeyboard.com/ - pity they are so expensive.

 

I did postulate having some cables made with PS/2 plugs on one end and 5 pin DIN sockets on the other. The PS/2 goes into the mouse port and the DIN socket is attached to the bench. Mice are modified, replacing the PS/2 plug with a 5 pin DIN. On enrollment, each student is issued with a mouse. If they lose the ball or lose their mouse we sell them a new one for £10, or other rip-off price. Implement this and I guarentee that you'd lose no more mice.

[Geoff]

You can get plastic covers for keyboards to stop them being damaged from spills, etc. What about glueing them down to the keyboard? That'd stop the keys going missing.

[webman]

You need one of these keyboards

[Ric_]

I bet they could still break it!

[ChrisH]

Hmm touch pad and a biro pen need I say more.....

[kingswood]

Yes. Touch pad and pen. Nasty combination indeed. Heck- pen and mouse mat toughened for school use didn't work well together, and synaptic pads aren't built much sturdier.

 

Makes me shiver.

 

Paul

[SmartArt]

Well, its because the other little sods had removed the balls from the mice and somehow, the pupils found time to swap their mouse for a mouse out of a different computer - what were the teachers doing?

 

What a FW of a question!

 

Perhaps teachers should have a webcam installed in the "seat" of their pants so that when they're bent over a kid's desk, with their back to some of the class, you know, teaching, then they could literally keep their "red" eye on the rest of the wee ones.

 

Shesh!

 

 

Kids do it because that's what some kids do. I don't like it any more than any one else in this group. And you try and get the head to ring the police over a missing mouse. And guess what, even if he does, what do you think the copper is going to say to the prospect of filling in 8 hours work of forms for £2.00.

 

And one for you all to remember: if a machine is diffy a bit of kit like a mouse and you don't replace it, then you punishing all the other kids that cannot use that PC, as well as stopping the non-offenders from actually learning - spare me the comments about learning a real life lesson - and schools exist for only one purpose: to provide kids with an education; that's it!

 

Thankfully, the teks at my school are wonderful; they're over-stretched, under-paid and I woudln't work for their boss, and thank goodness I don't, even on pain of separation from my pocket snooker set.

 

Give me a break from the teacher bashing, puh-lease. You work in a shcool, or claim to, so you *should* know what it can be like.

 

Right, back to being a miserable sod.