"when I gained access to their server with their financials and PII"
The problem with your attitude is that you have become the authoritarian in this situation. The district wasn't interested in fixing their security issues (their right), and you didn't like this, so you went ahead and broke into their systems anyway.
"I was having fun learning and discovering this fucking awesome world of computers."
There are plenty of other ways to do this.
"He's a high schooler, and capable enough to pull this crap off. Show him the right path, turn it into a teaching (it's school, y'all) moment"
A teaching moment would be punishment. Maybe a suspension. In the real world, you can't just trample on others' rights, without some sort of repercussions.
That doesn't make them the authoritarian. By the way they are talking they obviously weren't writing ransom notes and holding the school hostage, they were poking around and exploring. While I can't say for sure, they likely just left a note saying "hey you should probably fix this" and the administration lost their shit.
Also a teaching moment surely isn't a suspension. That's how you burn any bridges towards getting the kid to learn. You said that in the real world you can't trample others' rights, well sure but it's kind of the point that high school isn't the real world. A teaching moment would be sitting someone down, getting them to admit/explain what they did, telling them that in the real world they would get in trouble, and pointing them towards a better outlet. Teach them what it means to be a white hat and send them on their way.
> The problem with your attitude is that you have become the authoritarian in this situation. The district wasn't interested in fixing their security issues (their right), and you didn't like this, so you went ahead and broke into their systems anyway.
I wasn't holding anything hostage. I didn't tell them "Fix it or else." I'd been reporting vulnerabilities I'd been finding. Found more. Reported 'em.
> In the real world, you can't just trample on others' rights, without some sort of repercussions.
Sounds like you've never lived in the real world.
Again, it's high-school. You seriously have no idea how to incentivize this type of kid.
"Sounds like you've never lived in the real world."
You're the one talking about how it's somehow your right to break into private systems, because muh learning.
This doesn't sound like the real world to me.
"Again, it's high-school. You seriously have no idea how to incentivize this type of kid."
Why should we? Why shouldn't this type of kid have to follow the same rules as anyone else?
The administration was already aware of potential flaws in their system, but chose not to fix it. These kids decided to exploit them anyway. If this was at a workplace, they would be fired at best and have a criminal record at worst.
> You're the one talking about how it's somehow your right to break into private systems, because muh learning.
No one is saying this.
> Why should we? Why shouldn't this type of kid have to follow the same rules as anyone else?
Why don't we punish 5 year olds as adults? Hint: answer is the same.
> The administration was already aware of potential flaws in their system, but chose not to fix it.
And now they will. Both are at fault. Both have blame. But we're saying "Don't turn these kids into criminals. Push them to use their skills in a way that can help our society (ie: security researcher). They're still young enough that they can change. These aren't hardened criminals we're talking about. We're talking about kids.
tldr: Kids aren't adults. Who knew this was such a controversial topic?
The problem with your attitude is that you have become the authoritarian in this situation. The district wasn't interested in fixing their security issues (their right), and you didn't like this, so you went ahead and broke into their systems anyway.
"I was having fun learning and discovering this fucking awesome world of computers."
There are plenty of other ways to do this.
"He's a high schooler, and capable enough to pull this crap off. Show him the right path, turn it into a teaching (it's school, y'all) moment"
A teaching moment would be punishment. Maybe a suspension. In the real world, you can't just trample on others' rights, without some sort of repercussions.