Schooling, 2070 style., How does the ABC look like in Shadowrun? Options

[Tiny Deev]

So, what does a school look like in Shadowrun? Are they all corporate, or are they just sponsered? How well would security be? You think a corp could do some tentacle like experiments with schoolgirls?
Basically, what I am asking about is; If you're playing 12 year olds, how would you do a run into a school?

[Mongoose]

Read Vernor Vinge's new book, "Rainbow's End". Its a near future novel set in a school for 12 year olds (and technologically inept adults). One of the main thrusts of the book is the impact of ubiquitous computing and AR.

quick edit- the corps (in Vinges book) are a lot more interested in sticking tentacles into the kids BRAINS (and imagination / social networking / careers) than their bodies.

[Khyron]

I'd imagine the public school system in UCAS would be more or less a giant prison with beatings rather then lessons. Corpschool and private school academies would be better.

[Draco18s]

Don't forget The race to educate the world by 2050! ;D

Ray Kurzweil (and some other futurists) are so naive. "2010 World Summit on Cognitive Development," my ass. What crisis caused that to happen? I ask. The article merely states that it happened, and would happen "in the next 10* years."

*This number hasn't changed in 10 years, I might add. I haven't re-read the article in its entirety, but I don't think we're any closer to solving all of the world's issues than we were in 1999 due to things like politics and human greed, which they didn't take into account.

[Tiny Deev]

quick edit- the corps (in Vinges book) are a lot more interested in sticking tentacles into the kids BRAINS (and imagination / social networking / careers) than their bodies.

Sounds interesting, for what purpose though?

[nezumi]

1) The current paradigm of one teacher teaching 30 (or even 100) kids is unprofitable. Instead, you'll see chirpy expert systems with encyclopedic knowledge at their disposal, programmed by psychologists and sponsored by corporations, teaching 90% of all kids. (Clippy is back - and this time, he's taking attendance.) The exception would be the very rich and the very poor.

2) Schools will still exist. Parents need daycare, and schools provide a better nutrition and health program, and better multimedia involvement than at-home teaching in most cases. Schools will be staffed by plenty of low-wage 'assistants' to help keep the kids safe. Imagine a school full of cafeteria ladies and crossing guards, where the classes are all taught by animated characters.

3) Schools will emphasize things that make money - critical skills (math and science), recognizing and working with/around magic, etc. They likely will have a scaled down music program (i.e. an online keyboard or somesuch) because those things are shown to increase grades. They will teach highly modified 'history'. They will be heavily subsidized by a single corp (either outright owned, or run by on behalf of the government) which will constantly spam their advertising message and get first pick of aspiring students.

4) 'Dropping out' at fourteen will be tolerated. By this age, you can generally tell who will put themselves forward and who won't, who is smart and who is dumb. The lazy, stupid people are not likely to provide more value by staying in the system longer (at least not value significantly comparable to the cost). Ergo, letting these people go straight into 'work programs' set up by the parent corp will be encouraged. Of course, the brilliant or hard working will be kept on, likely with barely concealed bribery and flattery.

5) Social networking will be hugely more important in successful schools.

[Daylen]

They will teach highly modified 'history'.

already happening. and the latest attack on history is the elimination of american history before the 1870s. Seems Independance and Freedom are not relevant anymore.

[The_Vanguard]

In my campaign classic schooling, i.e. a room full of pupils and one teacher, is only encountered on the very high or very low end of the social ladder. Most corps favour the traditional system because it allows them to keep a close eye on the kids, including monitoring their in-the-meat social competence which will be very important in their work life later. On the street level firm and usually secluded communities like the Tarislar elves, the Ork Underground and the First Nations use the system out of necessity. Here, outstanding community members take turns to teach the kids something about their specialities, usually very practical minded. The curriculum depends on who has time to spare or debts to pay right now.

The public schools in between have been replaced by virtual classes with tutor soft access. These are often corp-sponsored and full of ads and propaganda - get 'em while they're young. Access to them is usually a work benefit for middle-class jobs, but individual children can also get an account through social wellfare (not likely) or through a scholarship (even less likely).

Street kids that grow up in an anti-social community cannot expect to get any education at all. Sometimes, a socially minded hacker from the hood might fork over some faked accounts for the virtual classes, or the china import-export on the corner might give away a box full of tutor soft chips that were supposed to be BTLs (and maybe there is a couple of actual beetles mixed in-between), but these are just lucky exceptions.

[sunnyside]

I think something important to the flavor of shadowrun is that while corps are greedy they aren't stupid, and usually their actions make sense and aren't so bizzare.

One of the older sourcebooks when they still had almost as much decker chat as content, maybe corporate download or one of the matrix ones, featured one of the deckers brining in one of the teaching programs.

The upshot is that the kids at the school her kid at least had been going are indavidually taught by a copy of an expert program. Which would blend useful skills in with a shot of propaganda.

I'd imagine it a bit like the vulcan school you see in the new Trek movie, except with trode rigs instead of a pit.

I'd imagine there is a "teacher" present as well, but they'd probably have a room with a ton of kids and most days they'd just sit there as a teacher would while giving a test. Just making sure the kids are staying jacked in and diligent, giving out hall passes, and maybe doing a little troubleshooting.

Heck, you could probably rate the schools by the rating of the program used.

Poor schools have drekky rating 1 used stuff in a shoddy building. In an upper middle class one, every day is like being in an episode of "the magic schoolbus" or whatever.

[Tiny Deev]

The mini-runners are going to have to break into the school, plug in a device on the principal's office so the decker can connect to it and change some grades. (It won't be on the Matrix, I think) I want them to find out something dark, and try to survive/fix it. You know.

[nemafow]

I think Nezumi has hit the nail on the head, thats exactly how I pictured it, corporate tentacles into everything I say.

[hobgoblin]

One of the older sourcebooks when they still had almost as much decker chat as content, maybe corporate download or one of the matrix ones, featured one of the deckers brining in one of the teaching programs.

virtual realities 2.0 have a opening text where a mother have gotten hold of a matrixpal cyber terminal and basically plugs its tutorsoft into shadowland seattle, with hilarious results.

i think at one point one commenter talk about burning his own chips to break out of the walled garden of a school provided terminal.

[The_Vanguard]

The mini-runners are going to have to break into the school, plug in a device on the principal's office so the decker can connect to it and change some grades. (It won't be on the Matrix, I think) I want them to find out something dark, and try to survive/fix it. You know.

Sounds like a standard b&e run in a low to mid level security environment. Put maglocks on the entrances and the most important rooms, but everything else will have mechanical locks at most. Additionally, some motion detectors and weapon scanners in central areas. The latter ones are meant for the students, so they will bein plain sight for psychological reasons. Some sensors may be non operational due to vandalism. You can spice things up with one or two patrol drones, but they will be unarmed or carry tasers at most. Also, keep in mind that the security system will have matrix access because it needs to be able to alert the cops. That way the hacker will be able to mess with the security until the inside team sets up the connection to the isolated system.

Possible dark secrets:
* The principal has just struck a deal with a corp that will abduct kids with magic talent in order to stick tentacles into them. If one of the runners is awakened, his name may be on the list.

* Alternatively, the corp might want to test a new tutor soft with subliminal psychotropic brain washing on the kids.

* The new janitor is actually a toxic shaman that tries to sacrifice a hooker this night. He plans to blow the whole school up eventually.

* The principal is posessed by a toxic spirit of guidance that delights in messing up the kids' education as much as possible. He will surprise them while they're on site and, since they most likely won't have the means to fight him, a life or death chase will ensue.

Backup plan: If they don't manage to crack the system you can have the ghost of a pupil that was killed for knowing to much stalk the halls at night.

[Kumo]

I bet teachers in corporate schools often work remotely via AR and VR. And there are a fully virtual schools (like a "Matrix-based philosophy night class" mentioned in "Augmentation" - I love this story).
Of course, there will be some kind of goverment education program in a poor areas. Maybe even some corps will act this way - to find a potentially valuable future employees, help their PR or test new teaching/brainwashing/mind control methods (Horizon?...)
And there are always "nonexistent" schools for criminal education, like "The Faraday School" mentioned in "Vice". Hell - from what I heard, there is some kind of a RL school of thieves in my city (illegal, of course) in a present day!

They will teach highly modified 'history'.

Believe or not, but I know this from my own experience...

[nezumi]

The mini-runners are going to have to break into the school, plug in a device on the principal's office so the decker can connect to it and change some grades. (It won't be on the Matrix, I think) I want them to find out something dark, and try to survive/fix it. You know.

That I disagree with. Right now teachers' systems are connected to the Internet, so they can post grades, and schools rarely have the resources (in cash or knowledge) to properly secure a system.

In regards to security for a school facility...

Let's assume this is a "public" school, not on a corporate campus.

Primary concern is dealers/gangers/pedophiles coming into the school, and kids leaving without permission. There is no expectation of privacy.

The building is large, three levels high and a sub-basement, and pretty old. The designer used to build prisons. Windows are placed high on the walls and don't open or close. The walls are unusually thick for this sort of a building. The building can be easily segregated into two wings and a gymnasium. The two wings each have two sets of stairs, a set of bathrooms on each level, etc. The wings can be locked off from each other with large doors. There is one main door past the office, two back doors, and a freight door. All are locked and controlled by the main office. The main doorway has a weapon/cyber detector built into the frame.

The building is on a reasonably large lot, with a large parking lot and several asphalt playing courts which are underutilized. The entire lot is surrounded by an eight or ten-foot tall fence, possibly topped with razor wire. The facility has a single officer, and several employees serving as security (mostly just keeping an eye out). Every entryway, several hallways, the parking lot and much of the grounds are covered by camera surveillance.


Now to take that real school and update it...

Each classroom is pretty large, holding 60-200 students. Kids spend most of their time sitting at desks, either reading terminals or watching via trode net. One TA is responsible for one or two classrooms. One teacher is responsible for 4-10 TAs. 1-2 techs are responsible for the school. There is an exercise period every day (there are still PE teachers). Lunch period isn't too different from now, except no one may bring in their own food. Bringing in food may not properly fulfill the stated nutritional needs, and invites the possibility of lawsuits.

Every student is given either a badge or bracelet. This is required to gain access to the building, and has a tracking beacon built into it. It may use biometrics. It may have a built in camera.

Every hallway is camera monitored. Chem sniffers are at every doorway. Locker checks are regularly scheduled. There is an intercom at the gate to access the lot, which includes a license plate/vehicle chip checking device. Every room door has a low-rating maglock controlled at the main office. The exterior doors have rating 4-5 locks.

Matrix access is highly limited. It can only access a certain corporate subnet, in order to limit undesirable content. This means a decker from the outside must break into the corporate subnet FIRST, then filter through. However, the school system is poorly maintained and poorly guarded. The software is out of date. The actual tutorsoft is locked down as hard as Fort Knox - that's a valuable piece of hardware/software that is likely run off a remote server. Breaking into the tutorsoft is extremely difficult. While the tutorsoft has the technology to verify the posted online grades, it has not been configured to do so, so actually changing grades is pretty easy.

Magic support falls under the local security contractor. The office had a low-level ward. It doesn't any more.


The principal is a business administrator. His primary concern is moving money. The vice-principal is the catch-all, managing teacher issues, disciplinary concerns, security, so on and so forth. Teachers are facilitators, making sure everything is ready for the tutorsoft, helping to present non-virtual artifacts or lessons, leading "real life" workgroup experiments, etc. The TAs do the closest thing to actual teaching, helping individual kids use their tools, explaining difficult concepts, spending extra time with troubled students, giving first advice on holding students back or moving them forward, etc. Teachers and TAs are under just as much security scrutiny as the kids, so they don't have much chance either to leverage their access for profit, or to teach anything outside of the curriculum. Teaching "more" is a serious offence that will be dealt with.

Techs have relatively free reign, since they belong to the tutorsoft's company, not to the teacher, officially have little or no contact with the kids, and they know all the ins-and-outs of the system. If anyone is going to skim a little off the top, probably by selling camera footage from the locker rooms to dedicated subscription lists on the matrix, it's these guys.

[Penta]

Nezumi's concept works great for an urban school.

For suburbia, you may want a different concept.

The way I view schools in SR, in the suburbia I grew up in at least:

The physical plant (the building and stuff) may be up to 100 years old, though retrofitted to take advantage of modern tech. It's cheaper to replace wiring than the whole building.

One teacher per 25 kids is a max in the lower grades (K-(IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool.gif) - they're more comfortable edging towards 25 than the usual 18 they have today because of tutorsofts, but there's still a good deal of "live" teaching. High School (9-12), you'll see closer to 30 kids.

A lot of your support staff (that, as most people can attest, really make a school run) like secretaries, custodians, etc. have been replaced by drones and tech, where possible.

Suburban schools have an advantage urban schools don't - the people in suburbia make more than those in urban areas, so the schools get a healthy flow of non-corporate private donations, plus appreciable tax dollars. (Never underestimate the power of nostalgia upon the writing of someone's will, either.) This means that while they may not be able to afford the latest in capital improvements, they hold their own with private schools and corp schools.

Security is provided by staff during prep periods and the like - you don't get in past the front door except by buzzing in, and you don't get past the front office without a security bracelet issued to kids and staff only.

Weapons scanners are in evidence at every entrance.

Cameras are not uncommon, either.

Classes are still much the same as you'd find in RL, maybe with new electives added at the HS level.

Tutorsofts provide the basics, then texture is provided by the teacher - who in suburban schools usually has a Master's or a Doctorate in their field by this time.

Downsides:

It's boring. It's very boring. One of the first things to go in suburban schools in Shadowrun was probably the gifted and talented programs. Teachers make a good deal of extra money providing tutoring on the side, helping to keep the gifted kids in school, at least.

There isn't an obvious slant to the teaching of, say, history, but the atmosphere is one of almost smug self-assurance. It's suburbia. These kids know they'll grow up, go to college off mom and dad's savings or scholarships, get recruited by a corp, and go from there. Some do go on to the military, trade school, or whatnot...But most go on to college. 90-95% go on to college.

The weight of expectations is what keeps kids conforming - it's not expected that you'd drop out, so you don't even consider it, really, for example. The pressure from parents, teachers, friends, etc. is that you'll stay in school, graduate.

If you're special education? You're mainstreamed almost without a second thought. Fortunately, most teachers get a basic grounding in how to handle special ed kids by now, but that isn't perfect or even all that much. This covers kids with physical disabilities, mental retardation, emotional issues, you name it. There are alternative schools, but to send even one kid there requires a vote of the full school board. Most kids, schools try to deal with in-house.

I know, my version may be a little too rose-colored for some tastes, but that's how I see it in suburbia.

[Saint Sithney]

If kids try to skip class in my game, they catch 5S from the dumpshock.


Why would there be any physical public schools when you can just buy a Nexus per class and make the kids jack in for x hours a day? Government would just outsource the job to NeoNET and wash their hands of it.

[hobgoblin]

i wonder how much of suburbia in SR is really walled gardens for A-AAA corps...

[Draco18s]

Why would there be any physical public schools when you can just buy a Nexus per class and make the kids jack in for x hours a day? Government would just outsource the job to NeoNET and wash their hands of it.

If you read Psychotrope there is a brief description of a classroom environment where the kids did jack into a nexus, though they were all phsyically in a classroom as well.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

If kids try to skip class in my game, they catch 5S from the dumpshock.


Why would there be any physical public schools when you can just buy a Nexus per class and make the kids jack in for x hours a day? Government would just outsource the job to NeoNET and wash their hands of it.

Because kids should have physical education classes to avoid obesity and all the stuff that comes from living all your life without leaving your bed? (IMG:style_emoticons/default/grinbig.gif)

[nezumi]

Why would there be any physical public schools when you can just buy a Nexus per class and make the kids jack in for x hours a day? Government would just outsource the job to NeoNET and wash their hands of it.

There are a couple reasons.

One is parents don't like leaving their kids alone at home all day. Even if the kid is plugged in and thereby under remote observation, it just doesn't lend that 'your family corporation is taking care of all of your needs' feeling. If they drop Timmy off at school, they know he's being watched.

The second is simply control. Controlling your mind is great, but controlling your mind AND your body is even better - it means they can control your activities, they can verify your involvement, control your diet, monitor any behaviors, pick out kids for alternative tracks, catch any possibility of magical potential... and best of all, it gives a degree of control over the kids that even the parents don't have. The corporation wants the kids, when they finish school, to remember spending their best time with the CORPORATION, not with mom or dad. Finally, while the kids are held in a corporate/government controlled facility, mom can't defect to a competitor because it would require a double, simultaneous extraction - plus all the other leverage the corp has by having your child hostage for 8 hours a day.

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

plus all the other leverage the corp has by having your child hostage for 8 hours a day.

Something that the japanacorps might actually treat as keeping the offspring as hostages. After all, during the feudal age, the noble "prisoners" were actually hostages, well treated hostages that could pretty much anything they wanted except leave the castle.

[hobgoblin]

i think some european royalty did things the same way. Heck, the french knights expected to be ransomed, not killed, until they faced english forces.

[Saint Sithney]

There are a couple reasons.

I was thinking more for UCAS citizens than corporate citizens. Corps would totally break up the family unit as soon as possible for indoctrination purposes.

[Khyron]

I was thinking more for UCAS citizens than corporate citizens. Corps would totally break up the family unit as soon as possible for indoctrination purposes.

If the parents are already indoctrinated, there's no need to break it up as it would occur naturally and cheaper.