Breaking a school rule?

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somethingtodo

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Would one consider breaking a school rule grave matter? We have been given laptops to rent from the school that are tied to our school accounts and closely monitored. Well I decided to do something stupid and found a way to erase laptop and then sign back in. Many of the settings that were previously unavailable are now, well, available. I only use my school account with it so they can still see everything I am doing through that, so it’s basically the same. This happened at the beginning of the school year and I didn’t give it much thought until now. I had recently remembered it but neglected to confess it because I did not think it could be mortal, but now I am having second thoughts and am worried that I omitted a mortal sin.

Also, the school’s policy didn’t really mention anything about resetting the computers, and I still use the account they require me to, so I don’t see what rule that would be breaking. Thanks, God Bless.
 
That sounds like a venial sin at worst, and could be nothing more than foolishness. I think you should tell them and let them reset the laptop; but so far I think you haven’t yet done anything seriously wrong.
 
somethingtodo said:
Would one consider breaking a school rule grave matter? We have been given laptops to rent from the school that are tied to our school accounts and closely monitored. Well I decided to do something stupid and found a way to erase laptop and then sign back in. Many of the settings that were previously unavailable are now, well, available. I only use my school account with it so they can still see everything I am doing through that, so it’s basically the same. This happened at the beginning of the school year and I didn’t give it much thought until now. I had recently remembered it but neglected to confess it because I did not think it could be mortal, but now I am having second thoughts and am worried that I omitted a mortal sin.

Also, the school’s policy didn’t really mention anything about resetting the computers, and I still use the account they require me to, so I don’t see what rule that would be breaking. Thanks, God Bless.
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Uhh yeah. You subverted a filter they put on there for a reason. That is breaking rules.

Give the computer to your tech department so they can fix it.

If you don’t then you should confess because you are purposefully misusing property the way the owner does not intend you to. Even if you think logging in makes it above board, it does not.
 
Considering that I didn’t realize it was mortal and neglected to confess, did that invalidate my confession?
 
If you did not think it was mortal and did not intentionally lave it out of your Confession, no. You are fine.
 
At the time it happened I did not think to question whether or not choosing to do this was mortal, I knew it was wrong but didn’t have reason to believe it was grave. When I had remembered it I worried it was mortal, but came to the conclusion it was not. I then neglected to confess it because I figured it was venial and already forgiven because I had made valid confessions up to that point and decided to leave it out.
 
It sounds like you didn’t mean to do anything seriously wrong.
Just get the school tech department to fix it and ask your priest about this next time you go to Confession.
 
Also another question: would breaking small school rules be considered grave? For example being late to class or something. It’s obviously against the rules but I don’t see how that could be a mortal sin.
 
somethingtodo said:
Considering that I didn’t realize it was mortal and neglected to confess, did that invalidate my confession?
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You can’t accidentally commit a mortal sin, so no, your confession is fine.

As to your current state, you should be pursuing every remedy to solve this situation even if it means a burden to you (ie no computer for a time and you have to use your parents or the library).

Choosing to make use of the exploit you discovered and not getting it repaired is sinful. The degree of that sin really just now begins to compound. You did something silly you didn’t think much about–totally normal. Now you have had a chance to reflect and you realize it may be more serious. It’s at this point that you begin “collecting” venial sins (not a serious matter, not full intent) and could potentially get to mortal if you knowingly misuse property for gain. (ie a serious matter with full intent to do so)
 
somethingtodo said:
Also another question: would breaking small school rules be considered grave? For example being late to class or something. It’s obviously against the rules but I don’t see how that could be a mortal sin.
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It really depends. 99% of the time it’s venial. Being late to class because you were being lazy knowing that you were part of a presentation and the others would have to do all the work–that’s getting into more serious territory…especially if their grade was riding on your behavior. Similarly, if you are banking on a scholarship to help you pay for college and you know that being tardy could cost that scholarship it’s entering mortal territory because you are dealing with something adding to a serious matter. Just like it isn’t sinful for someone to be late for work, but if this person has a family to feed and knows that another late day will cost them their job, then it IS sinful (if they had control over their arrival time but were just lazy)
 
One last thing, what about playing online games during school?
 
I agree, but maybe if by doing so you are neglecting a group project that could affect other students? That’s the only thing I could think it might be mortal.
 
somethingtodo said:
One last thing, what about playing online games during school?
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Stupid, disrespectful and dishonest but again, it doesn’t rise to the serious needed to be mortal unless there are other factors involved.
 
somethingtodo said:
I agree, but maybe if by doing so you are neglecting a group project that could affect other students? That’s the only thing I could think it might be mortal.
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You’re harming someone else. While it’s true “one bad grade” won’t kill you. You are being neglectful towards others. School isn’t overall “serious” but it doesn’t mean that it’s not serious at all. You don’t know what kind of stress or issues you cause with someone else when you neglect your workload.

Too many teens have burdens that they shouldn’t. Did one of the group members have to skip his shift at the grocery store to write your part and now his family has to skip dinner? We often see things in the scope of our experience but we need to move beyond that.

I think it would be good for you to sit down with a priest and help create a good moral compass. While your initial post seemed scrupulous you seem genuinly concerned with creating a formed concience. It seems you’ve not had much guidance on moral matters. Do you have someone you can trust to talk with this about?

Perhaps this is the first time you are becoming aware that your actions can really impact others. Everyone needs an advisor when they realize these sorts of things.
 
Don’t tell me what to do! 😜 but yeah I should probably look into that soon
 
You have made the computer (valued at what, $600 or more?) vulnerable to everything from cyber breaches of the school system to ransomware. Confess this and don’t be surprised if you just cost your parents the price of a computer.
 
Um not quite. It’s a chromebook, and all I did was figure out a way to reset it and allow myself to sign in with a regular google account that is not restricted by the school.
 
somethingtodo said:
Um not quite. It’s a chromebook, and all I did was figure out a way to reset it and allow myself to sign in with a regular google account that is not restricted by the school.
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LL has a valid point. What you did is subvert school restrictions. They are on there for a reason. Like it or not you did open the entire network to issues that they had blocked.

Now there’s no way you should have been able to reset without an Admin so their entire system is questionable, but it doesn’t change the fact that their network is built around these restrictions and they are not planning for malware or attacks outside of that.
 
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