What seemed like a good idea for the Los Angeles Unified School District has gone terribly wrong.
According to the Los Angeles Times, students from three LAUSD high schools have been forced to return their district-issued iPads.
The reason for the return of the iPads stemmed from the fact that nearly 300 students at Roosevelt High School hacked into the iPads and viewed prohibited material, according to the LA Times.
The prohibited material on the district-issued iPads included Facebook, YouTube and Pandora, according to ABC.
The hacking incidents, coupled with the fact that district officials are unsure what to do if the district-issued iPads are lost or stolen, were reasons for the returns.
Although the LAUSD may have had good intentions by giving students sophisticated-learning devices, it is clear the plan was not well thought out.
What is appalling about the iPad controversy is that taxpayers are bearing the brunt of such a blatant misuse of technology.
According to NBC, the initial implementation of 31,000 iPads cost taxpayers approximately $30 million.
NBC also said that LAUSD’s complete plan was to give 640,000 students access to their own personal iPads.
According to the LA Times, the cost of the entire iPad program is estimated at $1 billion. $500 million is needed for the iPads and software and an additional $500 million for installing Wi-Fi in LAUSD schools.
What’s the point of giving school-age kids iPads when they’re going to misuse them?
Through the recent iPad struggles, LAUSD Superintendent of Schools John Deasy remained optimistic.
“It’s an astonishing success,” Deasy told the LA Times. “I couldn’t be more pleased to get [the iPads] in the hands of students and teachers. The feedback has been extremely positive.”
Even without the recent struggles, it is clear that sophisticated-learning devices like iPads aren’t entirely necessary. Students still have instructors to teach them.
Believing that every LAUSD student deserves an iPad on the taxpayer’s dime is both foolish and unwise.
In addition, creating a program that costs almost $1 billion for unnecessary technology products is wasteful.
Why should students bring home the iPads when there’s a chance they could be lost or stolen?
The main issue is that these concerns were not sorted out before LAUSD officials began giving away iPads.
Before any student received an iPad, officials should have already debated and instituted certain policies including what should be done if the device becomes lost or stolen.
Moving forward, it is clear that the LAUSD must shape up its iPad program before the publicity surrounding it worsens. Despite recent problems, iPads will still be given to students.
Without reform, the situation will continue to deviate from its original mission.
Shane Newell is a junior journalism major and the opinions editor at the Daily 49er.