I did it, I changed the grades! You don't really expect him to say that do you? Give him the trial, let the lawyers duke it out over brunch and give him what he deserves.

If he's guilty, he's guilty, if he's not, he's not and everyone needs to line up to kiss his ever loving typing hands that he used to change the grades in the first place.

There are a few points that bother me with this case. This student has allegedly changed his grades using a laptop requiring a username and password and the evidence we are presented with is as follows. A fellow student (probably a friend as he would probably hide this activity from a stranger) said he did it (one man’s word against another) and there is video evidence showing them together on the day of the event (not surprising to see two students who know each other hanging out every day let alone that specific day).

So, my question is why would he be arrested on such flimsy evidence when, if he did it, there should be evidence of him signing into the database and making changes (it says in the article that a username and password were required but does not say they have evidence of him using it). And the most obvious missed point is that his teachers should know what grades he earned and can illuminate us to whether or not they were changed.

I’m not saying he is guilty or innocent, and perhaps we do not know all of the details, but from what we do know according to the article above, this arrest seems to have occurred prematurely and is a stark example of today’s school system gone wrong (see articles relating to a 4 year old student being expelled in
November for sexual harassment after hugging his teacher’s aide).

According to some of your reactions above, you would have this student fried for his behavior as you worked so hard to get where you are. I doubt you are all so perfect as to have never done anything wrong in your life. To be honest, after seeing this crime comically performed in the 80’s movie War Games, I’m not surprised people still try to do this. But I will say, that imprisoning someone for thirty years for changing a grade without any proof of monetary gain, seems rather radical and not a fitting punishment. Expulsion from the school and being trotted out in front of everyone in handcuffs seems quite adequate given the circumstances as we know it.

We need more dumber kids in college and the workforce. Keep these A+ students at bay. Smart move on everybody's part.

What ever happened to innocent until proven guilty. It's amazing how now everyone is automatically guilty until they are proven innocent in court.

Even then people still doubt they are innocent. It's a real shame.

I've got better things to do than comment on some stupid story.

Kids these day.

We used to change our grades on the computer in high school too, but we weren't dumb enough to give ourselves all A's and get caught.

What he did wasn't worth it. It is very easy to make an A in this country in the public school system. All he would have had to do was apply himself.

I give Ryan an A++ for his ingenuity. At least he didn't bend over for his A's.

I am sure this is not the first time that something like this has happened. It's only now that it is being publicized. It is time for this type of behavior to be brought out in the open and dealt with publicly. Too bad for Ryan that he is the one who got caught, and now has to "pay the piper."

come on fellas,alot of important facts are missing...perhaps he beleived al gore(inventor of the internet)and thought he would get "stuck in iraq" if his grades weren't high enough,perhaps he did not have a school funded breakfast and was light headed from lack of sugar,or perhaps at some point in his life mommy and daddy didnt show the required does of attention and suffers from post traumatic stress disorder(high school can be alot like combat remember) really all this kid needs is perhaps a hug or at worst maybe time out.if he really wants to go to college maybe he should tackle affirmative action so kids with good grades go to school just not kids to fill seats on skin color

I stole a rankbook and let me tell you... i got 5 days out. this kid gets arrested

If he did it, fine, his own fault.

Gotta love the fact that half the people who post on here seem to think they have all the evidence, are ya'll part of the police department?

All of those people who are claiming this kid is guilty should remember that they probably thought the Duke lacrosse players were guilty too.
Doesn't anyone think 30 years is a little excessive for a grade change?

The last time I checked we still lived in a state and country where due process was necessary, and there were still laws against illegal detainment- unless of course the president wants to do it and there are "exigent circumstances" and those were not mentioned here - yet.

As a member of the police explorers the child would know what not to do- i.e. have a witness, video or person, should he decide to be that stupid, as a class president cognizent of what the qualifications are for admission into FSU, he would also know that it is his full GPA, not 3 classes. Not to mention it wouldn't have taken the guy 21 tries to change the 3 grades.

We have become a nation of lemmings and sheeple reacting to media coverage and all too willing to throw others under a bus for perceived misconduct because we see it on the news- without looking further into it.

"According to the report, Shrouder's grades were changed 21 times for the better."

- That to me is a bit ubsurd, and if it is true could be the smoking gun. High school pressure is real.

Something here smells fishy. The best they've got is that an acquaintance claimed he did it and a camera has them together that day?
How do we know the "friend" didn't read the login and password?
21 times? How many classes does the guy have?
What's more, usually if you're class president, you tend to have pretty good grades in the first place.
It sounds like a fishing expedition and he's the most convenient fish in the pond.
Innocent until proven guilty on this one. And they better have a LOT better evidence than this story indicates or else his college education may be courtesy of the Cooper City Police Department.

"Innocent until proven guilty" only applies in a court of law. In the court of public opinion sometimes it is the other way aroung

The sysadmin of the school should be charged with negligent conduct. Why would you allow regular users access to such a database? Why would the username/passwords with change permissions not be restricted to limited individuals who are tracked and controlled?

If not charged with some form of criminal act, at the very least the sysadmin should be immediately terminated. Find someone who actually takes system security seriously. If the proper precautions were taken, this kid wouldn't have even had the chance to perform this act.

This is not to say that the kid isn't responsible, just that the sysadmin bears some responsibility too.

I'm sorry but that's what he gets for cheating. I think that it was good that he was arrested in front of everyone someone needs to show these kids that this is what happen when you cheat. It's crazy how cheating is the norm today. Good luck guy maybe this will teach you cheaters a lesson including you old adults that cheat also what a shame!