Before week 1 opens
Week 0 covers permission, ethics and the law. Every student signs the ethics agreement before week 1 opens. Students under 18 need a parent or guardian to sign it too. The terms include that agreement and the rules below.
The ethics and conduct rules apply to everyone. Contact rules are stricter for the high school group. Parent or guardian involvement depends on whether the student is under 18.
The ethics agreement and the rules
The ethics agreement is part of the terms. A student agrees to:
- only touch the practice targets the course gives them
- leave real people and real systems alone, with no exceptions. Week 5's research is on a fake company built for the course.
- stop and write it up once they've shown a bug is real
- never ask for anything in exchange for a report, and never threaten to make a bug public
- keep course talk in the open, and keep their password to themselves
- not try what they learn anywhere real, and not post lab details or other students' work outside BugClub HQ
- answer for whatever their AI tools do, and be able to explain anything they turn in
BugClub HQ has no private messaging between students. Course discussion happens in the group's live sessions and forums. In each cohort's Questions and Finds forums, I approve every post before anyone else sees it. Private course threads are with me, about the student's own write-ups and the week 7 disclosure. College and adult students can also message me in BugClub HQ about anything in the course.
The high school group has stricter contact rules, including for students who've turned 18. All contact with me stays in BugClub HQ and its group sessions. Students must not add, follow or message me on other accounts, and I don't accept their requests or reply there. I address it inside BugClub HQ and involve a parent or guardian if the student is under 18.
For college and adult students, an ordinary follow or connection request isn't a rule violation on its own. Some of us may already know each other through tech. I don't solicit those connections or promise a response. Course support stays in BugClub HQ, and everyone must respect a request to stop contacting someone. The instructor rules explain the boundaries for each group.
In the forums and in live sessions, students also agree to:
- be encouraging. Everyone here started as a beginner.
- critique the work, not the person
- assume good faith, and ask a question before jumping to conclusions
- skip the snark, the put-downs and the showing off at someone else's expense
- stay on topic
- keep personal information out of posts, theirs and anyone else's
When the rules are broken
If a student breaks the ethics agreement, their lab access pauses until I've talked it through with them, and with their parent or guardian if they're under 18. I let that parent or guardian know within 12 hours. Honest mistakes happen, and that conversation is how they get sorted out.
Breaking the ethics agreement can lead to removal from the course, and testing a real system on purpose ends a student's place in it. Other reasons I can remove a student:
- harassing, threatening or bullying anyone in the course
- posting someone else's personal information
- sharing their account or lab access with someone else
- continuing to break the rules after I've talked with them about it
A student who's removed gets a prorated refund for the weeks left in the course. That includes a student removed for breaking the ethics agreement.
I can also hide or remove a forum post that breaks the rules.
A lab needs a harmless proof
Each lab opens with its own scope. Only test the assigned target, use a harmless proof and stop once you've shown the bug. A write-up that breaks the lab's rules doesn't count. If you're unsure whether a step is allowed, ask me first.
Live sessions
Ask questions in the chat and stay muted until you're asked to speak. Never share findings from real programs or anyone's personal data. Don't record a session yourself, and don't share a recording or its link outside your group.
Slurs, sexual jokes or comments, put-downs about someone's skill or who they are, and comments about anyone's appearance are never okay. That applies to me too. My rules for working with students spell out my own commitments.
Late work and missed sessions
Nothing bad happens when a write-up is late or a student misses a week. Students can watch the recording, go back to any week, finish it and send it in until the course ends. They can ask about the work in their group's Questions forum or at the live session. If you're a parent worried about your kid falling behind, message me from your parent account.
For the timing and process of refunds, including a prorated refund after removal, read the refund policy.