• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
MENUMENU
MENUMENU
  • Home
  • About
    • Contact Us
    • FlaglerLive Board of Directors
    • Comment Policy
    • Mission Statement
    • Our Values
    • Privacy Policy
  • Live Calendar
  • Submit Obituary
  • Submit an Event
  • Support FlaglerLive
  • Advertise on FlaglerLive (386) 503-3808
  • Search Results

FlaglerLive

No Bull, no Fluff, No Smudges

MENUMENU
  • Flagler
    • Flagler County Commission
    • Beverly Beach
    • Economic Development Council
    • Flagler History
    • Mondex/Daytona North
    • The Hammock
    • Tourist Development Council
  • Palm Coast
    • Palm Coast City Council
    • Palm Coast Crime
  • Bunnell
    • Bunnell City Commission
    • Bunnell Crime
  • Flagler Beach
    • Flagler Beach City Commission
    • Flagler Beach Crime
  • Cops/Courts
    • Circuit & County Court
    • Florida Supreme Court
    • Federal Courts
    • Flagler 911
    • Fire House
    • Flagler County Sheriff
    • Flagler Jail Bookings
    • Traffic Accidents
  • Rights & Liberties
    • Fourth Amendment
    • First Amendment
    • Privacy
    • Second Amendment
    • Seventh Amendment
    • Sixth Amendment
    • Sunshine Law
    • Third Amendment
    • Religion & Beliefs
    • Human Rights
    • Immigration
    • Labor Rights
    • 14th Amendment
    • Civil Rights
  • Schools
    • Adult Education
    • Belle Terre Elementary
    • Buddy Taylor Middle
    • Bunnell Elementary
    • Charter Schools
    • Daytona State College
    • Flagler County School Board
    • Flagler Palm Coast High School
    • Higher Education
    • Imagine School
    • Indian Trails Middle
    • Matanzas High School
    • Old Kings Elementary
    • Rymfire Elementary
    • Stetson University
    • Wadsworth Elementary
    • University of Florida/Florida State
  • Economy
    • Jobs & Unemployment
    • Business & Economy
    • Development & Sprawl
    • Leisure & Tourism
    • Local Business
    • Local Media
    • Real Estate & Development
    • Taxes
  • Commentary
    • The Conversation
    • Pierre Tristam
    • Diane Roberts
    • Guest Columns
    • Byblos
    • Editor's Blog
  • Culture
    • African American Cultural Society
    • Arts in Palm Coast & Flagler
    • Books
    • City Repertory Theatre
    • Flagler Auditorium
    • Flagler Playhouse
    • Flagler Youth Orchestra
    • Jacksonville Symphony Orchestra
    • Palm Coast Arts Foundation
    • Special Events
  • Elections 2024
    • Amendments and Referendums
    • Presidential Election
    • Campaign Finance
    • City Elections
    • Congressional
    • Constitutionals
    • Courts
    • Governor
    • Polls
    • Voting Rights
  • Florida
    • Federal Politics
    • Florida History
    • Florida Legislature
    • Florida Legislature
    • Ron DeSantis
  • Health & Society
    • Flagler County Health Department
    • Ask the Doctor Column
    • Health Care
    • Health Care Business
    • Covid-19
    • Children and Families
    • Medicaid and Medicare
    • Mental Health
    • Poverty
    • Violence
  • All Else
    • Daily Briefing
    • Americana
    • Obituaries
    • News Briefs
    • Weather and Climate
    • Wildlife

Three High School Students Held Up at Gunpoint For Their Laptops at a Bus Stop

August 31, 2013 | FlaglerLive | 26 Comments

Macbooks make for tasty targets. (Josh Bancroft)
Macbooks make for tasty targets. (Josh Bancroft)

One of the reasons gun owners are opposed to having their identity revealed is that it might give burglars a roadmap to their firearms. The same fear has not spread to high-priced electronics even as school districts, including Flagler County’s, are increasingly arming their students with nearly $1,000 laptops and lesser-priced tablets, and advertising the fact broadly.

Earlier this week, three high school students were robbed at gunpoint of their Macbook Air laptops at a bus stop in Ocoee, in Orange County. The computers had been issued to the students as part of a pilot program.

“The students all had their computers out in the open,” clickorlando.com reported. “The school is now warning them to keep the laptops out of plain site when they’re not in the classroom.

In July, the Flagler County School Board approved a $3.2 million, five-year plan to put a Macbook laptop or an iPad tablet in the hands of virtually every one of the district’s nearly 13,000 students, at the district’s expense. The district is in the midst of distributing the laptops to all high school students this year, with a rollout expected to be completed by mid to late September. The plan is part of a larger, $4 million-a-year technology initiative in the district.


Parents may opt their children out of the program. Otherwise they are responsible for a $50 annual “technology liability fee.”

Security advice, however, has been scant, and limited to a few common sense tips.

“Anytime a device is transported, even between classes, it must be in the case provided to the student,” the district’s “digital learning handbook” states. “Do not use the device while riding on the bus.  Do not leave the device in visible sight inside a vehicle.” The rest of the handbook outlines the responsibilities of the district, students and parents, tips about online safety and two pages about misuses, but no information or guidelines about how to keep the hardware safe from would-be robbers.

The district is still developing its policies and guidelines regarding the initiative, which has sped through several milestones without being rigorously thought out. (See the draft guidelines below.)

Flagler County Digital Learning Handbook

Support FlaglerLive's End of Year Fundraiser
Thank you readers for getting us to--and past--our year-end fund-raising goal yet again. It’s a bracing way to mark our 15th year at FlaglerLive. Our donors are just a fraction of the 25,000 readers who seek us out for the best-reported, most timely, trustworthy, and independent local news site anywhere, without paywall. FlaglerLive is free. Fighting misinformation and keeping democracy in the sunshine 365/7/24 isn’t free. Take a brief moment, become a champion of fearless, enlightening journalism. Any amount helps. We’re a 501(c)(3) non-profit news organization. Donations are tax deductible.  
You may donate openly or anonymously.
We like Zeffy (no fees), but if you prefer to use PayPal, click here.

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Florida Native says

    August 31, 2013 at 1:06 pm

    This is going to get even worse when the wild wild west’s er….Palm Coast’s several thousand students are all walking around with their free laptops. Let the crime spree begin.

  2. Shocked, I tell you... says

    August 31, 2013 at 1:12 pm

    Swell. Force it on us, put the kids in danger and then make the parents responsible, not the school….or in the case of Common Core, the federal government.

    Anymore ingenious ideas?

    How can we expect our kids to learn and achieve when our School Board and politicians don’t have any brains?

  3. m&m says

    August 31, 2013 at 1:59 pm

    Is it possible that the parents insured the laptop and sells it on e-bay collect that money plus the insurance money and the school replaces it..

  4. Sherry Epley says

    August 31, 2013 at 2:20 pm

    Again. . . let’s blame it all on President Obama. . . OMG! That Federal government forced our school district to give every kid a MAC IPAD, and then forced criminals to rob them. PLEASE! The sun sat today. . . no more sunshine . . .is that also President Obama’s fault?

  5. trish says

    August 31, 2013 at 2:30 pm

    gee who didn’t see this coming… one of the dumbest ideas I ever heard…

  6. Out of Curiosity says

    August 31, 2013 at 2:47 pm

    How many students have iPhones? Aren’t people being robbed for those too?

  7. Anonymous says

    August 31, 2013 at 3:34 pm

    The laptops/tablets assigned students in Flagler so far are being left in the classroom or within the school..they are not going home on a daily basis.

  8. A.S.F. says

    August 31, 2013 at 4:15 pm

    @Out of curiosity says: Good point! let’s turn back the clock and make the kids use smoke signals! That’lll solve THAT problem! Seriously, can’t these laptops be equipped with some kind of serial number and/or tracking device that would make them less appealingand profitable targets for thieves? Aren’t security codes and passwords built into them anyway?

  9. Jack Howell says

    August 31, 2013 at 5:23 pm

    I do see this scenario taking place in Flagler as drugs and thugs will make it happen as it is easy pickings for these thugs. (Please forgive me for using the word thug as it may not be Politically Correct and offend some.) I am afraid somebody may suffer bodily harm defending his/her computer. The other point on this is that it will be , if not already, common knowledge that all Flagler students will have laptops in their possession.

    School Board members may want to revisit this as it was not a well thought out decision. I see this program as a major nightmare as laptops will be broken, lost, stolen etc. I understand the concept and the fact that there is some kind of insurance program to cover the loss/damaged computers. Forget about holding parents responsible and accountable as many of the parents have no clue what responsibility or accountability is or even how to spell them! The school administrators better put their heads together and figure a better way to control these computers as they are school property. Writing off losses is not an option.

  10. brian says

    August 31, 2013 at 5:59 pm

    i told you this would happen months ago and this is just the tip of the ice berg

    wow these school boards are beyond stupid…they have now put your kids in harms way…

    and just wait until one of the kids gets shot or killed..

    lock them up at school, the kids dont do their homework anyway..create a study hall for all homework!!

  11. Outsider says

    August 31, 2013 at 6:24 pm

    I’m still trying to figure out how a school district that was just recently so strapped for cash it was threatening shutting down schools suddenly found an extra five and a half million dollars for laptops….in such a short time, no less.

    [The money for technology was approved twice by voters, by quite large margins, as a half-cent sales tax supplement, the last time in August 2012. The levy was specifically designated for technology in schools, and therefore may not be spent differently.–FL]

  12. Yellowstone says

    August 31, 2013 at 6:26 pm

    Parents: What do you think the life expectancy of your child would be if you send him off to walk to school with a Rolex on his wrist?

    Telling a kid to ‘secure’ his lifeline to all things social is like asking him to clean his room! It’s not ‘gunna’ happen.

    I saw this same scenario in Georgia and the only recourse was to wait until the PC logged on somewhere then they had a idea where the PC went. You know now that kind of technology can be easily overwritten by a geeky middle-schooler.

    I, too, am surprised that this expected problem wasn’t discussed and risk management was not applied. Maybe it was – but what a mistake!

    You’re going to have to chain this expensive learning toy to each student – and hope you don’t lose both.

    Hey, I forgot. “The only way to stop a bad guy with a gun, is a good guy with a gun!” Give every kid, and teacher, a weapon.

  13. George Price says

    August 31, 2013 at 7:12 pm

    If two (2) buses can be stolen from the locked compound with cameras, what do you expect for the individual computers????

  14. I/M/O says

    August 31, 2013 at 11:08 pm

    These school laptops can be traced via electronic means even when thy are turned off.

    Criminals have to be insane to steal them.

    But be my guest if you want the Sheriff knocking at your door.

  15. Sherry Epley says

    September 1, 2013 at 2:36 am

    It seems to me that all the expensive technical tools purchased with our tax dollars should be left “secured” on school property, except under special circumstances. These are not just pencils and papers, or even books. . . and there is a risk in carrying them around.

  16. Bill says

    September 1, 2013 at 9:50 am

    I guess I missed the part about anyone blaming it on 0bama

  17. agnese says

    September 1, 2013 at 12:45 pm

    Did’nt take long

  18. NortonSmitty says

    September 1, 2013 at 2:02 pm

    Sherry, I consider this an uplifting story. It shows how far we have advanced. Under President Obamas leadership, we have a much better educated class of criminals than in the Bush administration when they only stole a students Nike Shoes at gunpoint.

  19. NortonSmitty says

    September 1, 2013 at 2:10 pm

    Every computer has a unique ID# that will show up immediately as stolen the first time it connects to the internet. This should make them worthless to the criminal who is not a complete idiot. I do not believe anyone who will risk a mandatory 10 year armed robbery prison sentence for a hot, traceable $100 laptop falls into that category. It’s a 21st century version of Darwins Thinning The Herd theory. Unless there is a Divine Intervention in prison, they will not be passing on their contributions to the shallow end of the gene pool anytime soon.

  20. brian says

    September 1, 2013 at 9:25 pm

    well i’m sure the kids wont be too traumatized from being held up or shot!!! nice comment ace!!

  21. Christopher V. says

    September 2, 2013 at 6:40 am

    This never happened to me many years age, but all I had was a $1 notebook and pen. Do school kids today really need laptops?

  22. confidential says

    September 2, 2013 at 7:44 am

    These computers endanger the students lives outside school, at least. Computers should be used and left at school in the care and responsibility of the school administrators. Laptop related work and assignments should be done in school only. So parents are not responsible for the $50 insurance and kids lives are not at risk.
    Please Norton, do not blame POTUS for this issue too!

  23. BW says

    September 2, 2013 at 9:55 am

    This is a strange story I have to say. I think it’s a good idea to bring attention to safety, but in all honesty a lot of people are walking around with expensive devices and not being robbed at gun point on a grand scale. I do agree that the schools locally haven’t done a stellar job with this tech roll out and the “policy” is lacking. “Don’t use on the bus”? If the student has a print book they can read that on the bus, but if the book is in digital format on their device they can not view it on the bus? If their work is on paper they can write and work on it on the bus, but if their work is on their laptop they can not work on it on the bus?

  24. ryan says

    September 2, 2013 at 12:43 pm

    This is what happens when the criminals of New York, New Jersey, and from around the state of Florida all flock in one place, Flagler County. Then no one has the courage to put the blame where it belongs. This is what happens when people are too preoccupied complaining about too many yard sales and speeders. It keeps them distracted while the real criminal element gets to run rampant. It’s bad enough that most around town have no common courtesy or sense of being neighborly, but the criminals that have flooded here really makes living here pretty crappy.

  25. Your not as smart as u think says

    September 2, 2013 at 1:20 pm

    To Nortonsecurity.
    Your comment would be correct except….most of the cell phones, tablets, and computers are now being sold overseas. There are numerous criminals in the area paying top dollars for these computers and then sending them to Russia where they are worth 3 times what they sell for retail here. Speaking of Darwin…make sure you know what your talking about before you speak. I work in this area of investigations. The poor kids carrying these computers are a easy mark and someone will get hurt..remember hearing about the starter jackets in the 80s and 90s?

  26. Out of Curiosity says

    September 2, 2013 at 8:37 pm

    The Mac books which will be given to high school students over the next month will going home with them.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

  • Conner Bosch law attorneys lawyers offices palm coast flagler county
  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Primary Sidebar

  • grand living realty
  • politis matovina attorneys for justice personal injury law auto truck accidents

Recent Comments

  • Sonny on Palm Coast Will Consider Lowering Citywide Speed Limit to 25 and Let Residents Request Traffic-Calming Devices in Neighborhoods
  • Skibum on Supreme Court Hears the Challenge to Birthright Citizenship
  • Larry on Palm Coast Council Launches Review of City Charter, This Time Seeking an Actual Advisory Committee
  • Maryanne on Supreme Court Hears the Challenge to Birthright Citizenship
  • Skibum on Children May Attend Drag Shows, Court Rules, Striking Down Florida Law
  • James on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 14, 2025
  • Samuel L. Bronkowitz on Florida University System Leaders Plead with Court To Restore Discriminatory Restrictions on Chinese Students
  • God is in the details on Palm Coast Council Launches Review of City Charter, This Time Seeking an Actual Advisory Committee
  • Laurel on To Protect Florida’s Environment, Conservation Is Cheaper Than Restoration
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Tuesday, May 13, 2025
  • Larry K on Palm Coast Will Consider Lowering Citywide Speed Limit to 25 and Let Residents Request Traffic-Calming Devices in Neighborhoods
  • PeachesMcGee on Palm Coast Will Consider Lowering Citywide Speed Limit to 25 and Let Residents Request Traffic-Calming Devices in Neighborhoods
  • Laurel on Children May Attend Drag Shows, Court Rules, Striking Down Florida Law
  • Susan on Florida University System Leaders Plead with Court To Restore Discriminatory Restrictions on Chinese Students
  • Laurel on The Daily Cartoon and Live Briefing: Wednesday, May 14, 2025
  • Laura H. on Superintendent LaShakia Moore Is Taking on ‘School Choice’ on Her Terms: Stop Competing with Vouchers at a Disadvantage

Log in