5 ms·

Legality aside, I could go either way on this. Schools are in dire straights financially. While I understand the gut reaction of how nonsensical the proposal

Legality aside, I could go either way on this. Schools are in dire straights financially. While I understand the gut reaction of how nonsensical the proposal sounds - if it raises money for the schools to provide better education, then it may be the lesser of two evils. Maybe a better solution is some kind of joint copyright (if that's even possible)? Where one must get permission from the other if they plan on using it for publication or otherwise.

noonespecial 14y ago
So they force you(especially if you're poor or underprivileged) to go to the school, lirerally at the point of a gun with truancy laws, force you to complete the assignments, and then appropriate the work for themselves alone and possibly profit from it. Oh I think there might be a term for that.
- MichaelApproved 14y ago
  "force you to complete the assignments." I understand that you're forced to go to school but how are you forced to complete assignments?
  - noonespecial 14y ago
    Once they get kids into the system, they have a suprising array of coercive methods to get students to perform. Vague threats about future actions, social shaming through posted grades and holding students back as their class moves on, etc. I grant you that hard-core slackers laugh at this until they can get away with dropping out, but a large majority of students will conform to the physiological pressure to comply.
    - tekromancr 14y ago
      I literally did no (assigned) work in High School, failed every class, and still graduated a year early. It was about 50% moral outrage at the state of our education system, %40 I could teach myself things better, %10 I was a lazy arsehole.
      - kabdib 14y ago
        I came within one point (on my last math final) of not graduating; teacher made a mistake grading the exam, a 69 turned into a 70, a 70 got my GPA just to the point where I got a diploma. Otherwise, I guess, summer school. High school sucked.
      - Evbn 14y ago
        Graduated from the school, or ditched the school and got a GED from the state?
        tekromancr 14y ago
        I graduated from the school. They wanted to get me out of there so at the end of my Sophomore year, they gave me a test, I aced it, and I got to not attend my senior year. (Strangely, they still let me compete in the Science Olympiad because I was the only one who knew how to use the GPS)
- binarymax 14y ago
  That's why I propose the joint copyright 'solution'. The student would also get a cut from any profits made. That seems decent to me.
  - noonespecial 14y ago
    Id agree so long as students have a choice. Otherwise, it's just the plantation owner talking about how good the slaves have it because he feeds them so well.
    - pyre 14y ago
      How much profit is being derived from the work of children though? It seems a stretch to make a comparison with plantations/slaves. Any profit that is generated from children in school is a side-effect, not a primary goal. Though I can see this setting up a situation of perverse incentives.
      - tsotha 14y ago
        I doubt this is about profit. It's more likely that they wanted the copyright so they can use services that detect plagiarism without having to get consent from the students every time. Now they're saying it's all a big mistake. Not sure I believe it.
        icebraining 14y ago
        If that was the purpose, then I think it was a mistake, since they could get the same results with a permanent, non-revocable license, instead of demanding full copyright assignment.
acabal 14y ago
There are other ways to finance schools than insane copyright madness. Just because it's a suggestion doesn't mean it's the only option or that we should settle for it as a lesser of evils.
thejteam 14y ago
In this particular case the school system has no financial problems. PG county schools are among the best funded per student in the country. http://www.gazette.net/article/20120622/NEWS/706229668/0/gazette&template=gazette http://www.gazette.net/article/20120622/NEWS/706229668/0/gaz... As an aside, with the exception of a few well performing magnet schools, the schools are considered subpar.

noonespecial 14y ago

So they force you(especially if you're poor or underprivileged) to go to the school, lirerally at the point of a gun with truancy laws, force you to complete the assignments, and then appropriate the work for themselves alone and possibly profit from it. Oh I think there might be a term for that.

MichaelApproved 14y ago
"force you to complete the assignments." I understand that you're forced to go to school but how are you forced to complete assignments?
- noonespecial 14y ago
  Once they get kids into the system, they have a suprising array of coercive methods to get students to perform. Vague threats about future actions, social shaming through posted grades and holding students back as their class moves on, etc. I grant you that hard-core slackers laugh at this until they can get away with dropping out, but a large majority of students will conform to the physiological pressure to comply.
  - tekromancr 14y ago
    I literally did no (assigned) work in High School, failed every class, and still graduated a year early. It was about 50% moral outrage at the state of our education system, %40 I could teach myself things better, %10 I was a lazy arsehole.
    - kabdib 14y ago
      I came within one point (on my last math final) of not graduating; teacher made a mistake grading the exam, a 69 turned into a 70, a 70 got my GPA just to the point where I got a diploma. Otherwise, I guess, summer school. High school sucked.
    - Evbn 14y ago
      Graduated from the school, or ditched the school and got a GED from the state?
      - tekromancr 14y ago
        I graduated from the school. They wanted to get me out of there so at the end of my Sophomore year, they gave me a test, I aced it, and I got to not attend my senior year. (Strangely, they still let me compete in the Science Olympiad because I was the only one who knew how to use the GPS)
binarymax 14y ago
That's why I propose the joint copyright 'solution'. The student would also get a cut from any profits made. That seems decent to me.
- noonespecial 14y ago
  Id agree so long as students have a choice. Otherwise, it's just the plantation owner talking about how good the slaves have it because he feeds them so well.
  - pyre 14y ago
    How much profit is being derived from the work of children though? It seems a stretch to make a comparison with plantations/slaves. Any profit that is generated from children in school is a side-effect, not a primary goal. Though I can see this setting up a situation of perverse incentives.
    - tsotha 14y ago
      I doubt this is about profit. It's more likely that they wanted the copyright so they can use services that detect plagiarism without having to get consent from the students every time. Now they're saying it's all a big mistake. Not sure I believe it.
      - icebraining 14y ago
        If that was the purpose, then I think it was a mistake, since they could get the same results with a permanent, non-revocable license, instead of demanding full copyright assignment.

acabal 14y ago

There are other ways to finance schools than insane copyright madness. Just because it's a suggestion doesn't mean it's the only option or that we should settle for it as a lesser of evils.

thejteam 14y ago

In this particular case the school system has no financial problems. PG county schools are among the best funded per student in the country. http://www.gazette.net/article/20120622/NEWS/706229668/0/gazette&template=gazette http://www.gazette.net/article/20120622/NEWS/706229668/0/gaz... As an aside, with the exception of a few well performing magnet schools, the schools are considered subpar.