<p>To GoodKarma, if you actually called ACT and told them about the not-a-hack "hack," which hundreds of CCers and others have likely used––I personally think it's a despicable thing to do. All some people wanted to do was look at their scores (with ZERO effect on anyone) a day early. </p>
<p>The test cost (with writing) was $44.50. That's a lot of money for some people (including me). So, in short, thanks for jeopardizing the scores we just earned, and making us possibly have to spend another chunk of money, and possibly compromising our standings with colleges for something of completely indubitable legality and very few, if any, moral implications.</p>
<p>Boysx3, the original poster, has also posted in threads for underachieving children and acknowledged that at least one of her sons is an underachiever. This leads me to believe that these few troublemakers (like the op and goodkarma) are really the parents - not the students. If they truly believe they are helping the students and checking scores early is morally wrong, why didn't they issue a warning earlier? Why wait until most have already checked their grades? I have a feeling, like someone else has mentioned, that they are trying their best to ruin it for other students, just so their own "underachievers" can get accepted into a better school. Maybe these parents need to get a real job or should actually be productive and do their work rather than waste time trying to sabotage other students' scores. I don't know why they are doing this... maybe it makes them feel important.</p>
<p>I also agree with those who mentioned that these geniuses don't know how to use the Internet. When I type in google in the URL bar, am I hacking some system? Or when I am looking at photo albums online, and change the number in the URL to get to another photo, am I hacking the system?</p>
<p>Finally, how does checking your grade early harm anyone else? One intellectual mentioned that these darn kids don't have any patience these days. So what? How does it affect you? Think of all of the inventors who were impatient and dissatisfied with something in life. According to your logic, we should still be riding horses. We don't need the much faster cars... we need to learn to be more patient. And what about the suffrage movement? Should women have just been more patient and waited for the right to vote to be given to them?</p>
<p>These scholars are making loopy arguments. Oh well, maybe they'll feel important and get on with their lives.</p>
<p>I disagree with you saying that "obviously these students weren't taught or haven't caught onto the value of PATIENCE" and "its kind of a "right of passage" to have to wait for your scores just like the rest of us had to do." Do you really think the kids here, many of whom scored 30 + on their ACTs, are a group of criminals who want to get away with everything? If they thought what they were doing was illegal, I'm sure they wouldn't have done it. You are insulting their intelligence. The ACT board made the scores available, and it was very simple to get to them. Only the URL needed to be changed. It was just like going to another website. The students thought they were doing nothing wrong (and I agree with them).</p>
<p>I do agree with you on the whole ploy thing though.</p>
<p>One last thing,
I hope my comments did not offend anyone. We obviously have a different opinion on this subject, but we are alike in one important way. All of the parents involved in this thread are here because they care about their children's education, just like all of the students care about theirs. If this was not true, the parent forum would not exist.</p>
<p>
[quote]
they determine the legality of actions. the kids will not be punished for their actions because that would mean what they did was illegal, which you say the 'hack' isn't illegal (right you are there!)
[/quote]
</p>
<p>This comment is truly bizarre. Companies do not define what is legal or illegal. The legislature and the courts do that. In fact, for a long time, hacking in the full sense of the word was not illegal because the statutes had not quite kept up with the technology. We're still playing "catch up" with technology - for example, in many states, cyberbullying is not yet illegal. However, that does not mean that a private organization cannot exact "punishment" for perfectly legal but forbidden conduct (conduct forbidden by contract, written or oral, for example). If the ACT wanted to void those scores, it may have the legal right to do so (not being familiar with all the contract language or other stipulations on the site and the right to view scores, I cannot say that this would be a legal step for them to take, but I also cannot say that this would not be a legal step).</p>
<p>Ethical and legal are often very different things.</p>
<p>(Please note that in my post here, I am not answering the question of whether the "back door" view was in fact unethical, even if legal. I am merely responding to the comment posted above.)</p>
<p>you do bring up valid arguments, but i never insulted their INTELLIGENCE. i never said "wow these students are so dumb for doing this. what were they thinking? (or lack there of)". by "doing nothing wrong" , the students would have just waited. its just that society today is so focused on college college college that it has practically driven everyone, parents and students included, insane! there has been a huge rise in the whole "college business", whether it is enrolling in multiple SAT prep courses or hiring a "college counselor" for a couple of grand, just to ensure that their child is guided and accepted into the ivy league. and to get into schools, students these days would do anything as long as it guarantees an acceptance. remember the movie "the perfect score" in 2004, about how students broke into CB to steal the SAT answers in order to get that prized 1600 and get accepted into their first choice schools, but then had a moral epiphany and decided not to use the answers? that was prompted by HUGE cheating scandals that happened in my county that year. a couple boys from a top boy's private school cheated...same with some people in my sister's class in public high school. 2 boys with the same last name formed a pact: one was good in english and the other was good at math. the english one would take all of the verbal sections (obviously going out of order) and vice versa for the math, and then during the break, they switched seats and did the opposite section for each other in order to get a high score. now that is completely wrong on all accounts. but you see the measures that kids will risk in order to get into college? the typical "safety" schools arent so anymore. getting into college is so competitive these days. </p>
<p>but i do believe that this was unethical on the students parts. however, i agree that this was just a glitch and not a formal hack, which would have probably crashed the entire server given the amount of students doing this. and while students would do anything just to get in, parents also look for any reason to put their child at an advantage, even if that means calling out a hundred or so students to put their college expectations in jeopardy, instead of just encouraging their kid to just work his/her hardest and be the best that he/she can be. just like students like to "brag" about the schools they get into/going to, parents LOVE to share those bragging rights and the glory. but even these days, nobody likes a snitch.</p>
<p>Because in years past viewing scores online wasn't possible.</p>
<p>I would be very surprised if during the next ACT testing session this trick is fixed. People have been notifying ACT, Inc. about it since October 2007.</p>
<p>tomadon - Just wondering about your comment above. Many have speculated that ACT had to have known and have done nothing. Your post is the first that I have seen that implies specifics. What has made you aware of previous notifications to the ACT?</p>
<p>There's a lesson here in that there will always be people that feel that their particular compass constitutes the moral imperative of "true north" and it's their job to recalibrate everyone else's compass. That old expression "you can't please all the people all the time" is so very true. Some people jump to decisions guided by their internal compass and others sit back, listen to the arguments and weigh their positions. It's OK, people can take whatever position although I'm not sure this particular position for the majority constituted "good karma" so the posters choice of screen name is most ironic. The nice thing about a society is that it is "self policing". I will be most interested to see if ACT ever changes their posting protocol. If in fact it has been over half a year with no changes, then perhaps they may not see the "moral imperative".</p>
<p>I just stumbled across this thread and was quite surprised by the opinions expressed by the parents calling it "hacking":confused:</p>
<p>And yes, there have been similar glitches in the CB system too. I, along with hundreds of thousands of other students, first accessed my October SAT scores this way. I don't know if they have corrected it now.</p>