Schools Hand Out iPads; Kids Hack Them in a Week

Los Angeles school officials began rolling out their ambitious plan to equip every kid in the district with an iPad last week, but they've quickly run into a problem—the kids are pretty computer savvy. It seems that the first high school students who brought the iPads home easily figured out how to hack the security controls, freeing themselves up to stream music, tweet away, or visit supposedly off-limits sites such as Facebook, reports CBS Los Angeles. The LA Unified School District has for now put a halt to students bringing the iPads home, and it might even suspend the program entirely, according to a memo obtained by the LA Times.

"I'm guessing this is just a sample of what will likely occur on other campuses once this hits Twitter, YouTube, or other social media sites explaining to our students how to breach or compromise the security of these devices," wrote the district's police chief. "I want to prevent a 'runaway train' scenario when we may have the ability to put a hold on the roll-out." Another glitch: The district still hasn't settled on a policy of who gets held accountable if a student's iPad turns up missing or stolen, reports the LA Daily News. (More LAUSD stories.)