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Times staff, wiresA program that gives computers to students has come with an unexpected problem.
An experimental program that gave Miramar high school students laptop computers has been targeted by gun-toting robbers who have been stealing the computers from the teens as they walk home.
Police on Thursday said 10 students have been robbed of their school-sponsored computers while walking home since last month. Eight of the incidents occurred with a weapon.
It's the latest example of unexpected issues raised by the growing popularity of programs that provide free computers to public school students.
A similar effort in Hillsborough County also brought up safety concerns. A computer giveaway at Tampa's Sligh Middle School was altered slightly to ensure participating families would not be robbed.
Sligh eventually will become the first public school in Hillsborough County, and one of only a few nationwide, where the entire student body will have home computers. The practice is more common in private schools, though some public schools in Maine, Massachusetts, Virginia and Georgia have loaned students laptops to carry home.
But the idea recently has created widespread concern in the Miramar area.
"It appears that maybe there are two to three people responsible for the armed robberies," said Officer Bill Robertson of the Miramar Police Department.
Police said seven robberies occurred with a gun and one with a hammer.
A 16-year-old was arrested in connection with the theft with the hammer.
Six additional laptops were stolen from the school.
All the students attend Miramar High School and are participating in a pilot program by the Broward school board, which assigned Apple iBook computers for use at home and school.
The program started in October with 2,800 laptops given to students of the school, which is one of four participating in the program.
Apple Macintosh has offered a $2,000 reward for information that could lead to arrests.
The computers are valued at about $1,000 each.
The computer giveaway at Tampa's Sligh Middle School is different, but produced concerns about safety.
Every sixth-grader at the school for the next three years is being offered a free desktop computer - installed in their home - through a partnership between the school and J.P. Morgan Chase.
Sligh is the first public school in Hillsborough County, and one of only a few nationwide, where the entire student body will have home computers.
During a pilot program last year, computers were installed in about 60 homes.
Afterward, boxes were left by the side of the road for garbage workers to pick up.
But J.P. Morgan Chase officials said that made the families a target for thieves.
When computers were installed last month, boxes were removed.