When kiddies attack!

[Jon 'maddog' Hall]

On Fri, 2007-02-09 at 16:47 -0500, Bill McGonigle wrote:
> On Feb 8, 2007, at 13:44, Jon 'maddog' Hall wrote:
> 
> >  He finds kids (sometimes referred to him by the
> > Brazilian FBI) who were using their spare time to break into machines
> > and Marcelo teaches them the ethics and responsibility of being a
> > computer user and systems administrator.
> 
> That's an outstanding idea.  If you ever run across a translation of  
> his coursework into English, please send it along.  It would be nice  
> to get something like this going stateside.  I'm especially  
> interested in how he successfully alters their ethical framework.
> 
> -Bill
> 
> -----
> Bill McGonigle, Owner           Work: 603.448.4440
> BFC Computing, LLC              Home: 603.448.1668
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> Blog: http://blog.bfccomputing.com/
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> 
They are translating the materials into English now, and he estimates it
will take 22 days to get it done.

I do not think I will be able to "send it along", as this is a
for-profit business and I think he wants to franchise it.  Before anyone
jumps on the "for-profit" part, it has kept the program sustainable and
high-quality.  Students whose family can afford it (after all, the kid
HAS a computer, right?) help to pay for the poorer families.  And there
are donations by agencies.

If you are serious about "wanting to do it stateside", then Marcelo
would be happy to talk to you.

> I'm especially interested in how he successfully alters their ethical
> framework.

Father Flanagan, Lord Baden Powell, that teacher you looked up to in school,
they all knew the same thing....kids crave attention, live for acceptance and
earned respect.

Marcelo has them work together in teams, respect each other, learn to respect
themselves.  In the later parts of the coursework they HAVE to come to the
office once a month and work with counselors and psychologists.

A professor from Harvard has looked at the program and declared it "Unique in
the world".

Marcelo is not successful with every kid...some drop out.  But the success
ratio is very high and a lot of kids get badly needed jobs.

I enclose a letter written as an endorsement of the program from a former
student who wrote it when he was 19.  I have met this student.  As you read
his letter, I recommend having a tissue handy.

Warmest regards,

maddog

P.S. 100-120 Reals a week is about 50-60 US dollars.  Not much for a family
of three, even in Brazil.
============================================================================

Strange things happen in life. When you least expect it, life and destiny
take you by surprise, trip you up and change your hopes and thoughts in ways
you would think impossible.

Why am I talking about this? About 10 months ago, or to be more exact,
in October of 2005, I was working at a taxi stand, where I hailed cabs
for clients at a business center.

At the time my life was full of uncertainty and insecurity and my son
had just been born. I was honestly worried, like every young father,
because I didn’t know how long I could work there earning 50 centavos
per car. This is precisely what I earned for each car that I hailed. It
wasn’t much; I was lucky if I earned 100 to 120 reals a week. I was on
my feet for eight hours a day, five days a week in front of that
building.

I paid close attention to the people going in and out of the building
with the hope that someone would notice my efforts and affable nature
and offer me an opportunity for a better job, but this didn't happen. 

Then one day I had started for home when I looked back over my shoulder
and asked myself when I would work in that building. When I arrived
home, I spoke with my wife and she told me that the community center in
our neighborhood where she studies was offering a free course in hacking
(HackerTeen). At first I thought, why would someone teach someone to be
a hacker. Weren’t they the ones who steal money from banks and spread
viruses on the Internet? This is what I thought and what most people
still think.

My curiosity took me to the community center and I registered to take
the HackerTeen course. And to my surprise, what I had thought of Hackers
was really just the opposite. I found myself among people, or rather, a
family concerned with the young people gathered there. Nice,
enthusiastic, funny people who were there to help and show us that it is
possible for all of us to have a good job. They answered all the
questions the group had about hackers.

To begin with, they gave us a “pre-belt” course (a brief explanation of
information technology) where they even taught us about hardware and
software.

After I earned my white belt (the first stage of the course), the
unexpected happened. I got a telephone call from a company (Atento
Brasil) that invited me in for a job interview. As you can imagine, I
was really excited. However, I then started to wonder how this company
had gotten a hold of my telephone number and personal information.
That's where the HackerTeen family helped out once again: the people
from HackerTeen had sent my résumé to this company.

I went to the interview at the company and was successful. A second
interview was then scheduled and I was again successful.

Today I work at a company with a fixed salary, health plan for me and my
family, transportation allowance, meal vouchers and dental plan. I work
as a level one help desk employee in customer service.

I'm still with HackerTeen and studying for my blue belt (fourth level of
the course). It’s very challenging and really neat. I'm learning lots of
new things on the course. It’s all very useful in my work and in
furthering my education. I only have two belts left, brown and black,
before I finish the course.

I don't intend to stop there. I'm working hard toward a scholarship to
study computer networks at college. It's not easy but I know I can do
it.

But what’s more important is that my family at HackerTeen made me see
that things may not be easy but they are also not impossible. You just
have to work hard and believe that one day everything will work out.

Obviously if companies like 4Linux (the company behind HackerTeen)
believes in and gives opportunities to people like me and my colleagues
on the course, I'm sure that discouraged young people, like I was, could
also gain confidence and better prepare themselves for the job market.

I'd like to thank my HackerTeen family for everything they've done!!!

[Name withheld for privacy reasons]