The rules I follow with students

The boundaries depend on the group

I'm Josh Brody, the only instructor at BugClub HQ. I teach every live session and read every write-up. The high school group has stricter contact rules. Those rules apply to the whole group, including students who've turned 18. Parent or guardian involvement applies only to students under 18.

Students have an ethics agreement to sign. These commitments explain what they and their families can expect from me.

College and adult students

Some students already work in tech. We might know some of the same people or already be connected online. An ordinary follow or connection request from someone in the college or adult group isn't a rule violation on its own.

I don't solicit those connections or promise to accept or answer them. Course questions, feedback and disclosures still belong in BugClub HQ. If I ask someone to stop contacting me elsewhere, I expect them to stop. Harassment and pressure are a problem in every group.

Eleven rules I follow

1. Course work stays in BugClub HQ. In every group, questions about the work, feedback and the disclosure conversation go through the app and its group live sessions on Zoom. For the high school group, all contact with me stays there: no texts, personal email, social media, Discord or gaming DMs. BugClub HQ emails students a copy of my feedback and replies from its own address.

2. I don't connect with high school students on other accounts. I don't follow, friend or message them, and I don't accept their requests. Students in that group must not add me or contact me there. For college and adult students, the distinction above applies.

3. No one-on-one course calls with high school students. I don't have video or voice calls alone with a student in that group. The course's live sessions are group sessions for everyone. I record them for anyone who misses one and post the recording inside BugClub HQ for the group, without the chat. The recording is stored on Cloudflare R2. Only the group sees the link, though anyone who has the link can open it. The application call comes before any of that, and when the applicant is under 18, a parent or guardian is always on it.

4. Private course threads are with me, inside BugClub HQ. They're about the student's own work: my feedback on their write-ups, and the week 7 disclosure conversation, where I play the company. College and adult students can also start a thread with me about anything in the course. High school students can't. Once a message or a piece of feedback is sent, BugClub HQ has no way for me or the student to edit or delete it. BugClub HQ keeps messages until you email privacy@bugclubhq.com and ask me to delete them. Parents don't see what's in those threads or in a student's notes, because students stop trying rough ideas once they think someone is reading them. If the student is under 18, a parent can ask me about anything in them.

5. I only view a student's account to debug a problem. BugClub HQ lets me open a student's account the way they see it, notes included. Nobody else has instructor access, and parents and other students never see their notes.

6. Student course discussion stays in the group's sessions and forums. BugClub HQ has no private messaging between students. Each group has two forums of its own, and the other students in a forum can read everything in it. I approve every post in both forums, Questions and Finds, before anyone else sees it. If a student is under 18, their parent can ask me to turn the forums off, and I will.

7. I never ask a student to keep anything from their parents.

8. No personal meetups, gifts or money with high school students. That applies in both directions, and the course fee is the only money that changes hands. For college and adult students, crossing paths at a tech event or knowing each other professionally isn't a conduct issue. It doesn't change how I assess anyone's work.

9. I redirect contact from a high school student back to BugClub HQ. If they add me or message me elsewhere, I don't accept the request or reply there. I explain the boundary inside BugClub HQ, and if they're under 18, I tell their parent or guardian. An ordinary connection request from a college or adult student doesn't call for that response.

10. If I think a student under 18 is at risk, I tell their parent or guardian. Even when it's something the student told me themselves, I tell their parent or guardian. Where the law requires it, I also tell the authorities.

11. Nobody researches a real person. Week 5 is about what's public online, and the target is a fake company built for the course, not a classmate, a teacher or the student themselves.

How I talk to students

I talk like a normal person: jokes, plain words, the occasional mild swear word. I'm still their instructor. These are never okay, from me or from a student:

• Slurs.
• Sexual jokes or comments.
• Put-downs about someone's skill or who they are.
• Comments about anyone's appearance.

That goes for live sessions and the forums. The course rules also cover how students treat each other and what happens when those rules are broken.

Questions about a conversation or a boundary

Parents can ask me about anything in their kid's thread, even though the parent account doesn't display it. Use your own parent-account thread, or email hello@bugclubhq.com. Students can raise questions inside BugClub HQ.

You can also ask about any of these commitments before applying or on the application call. A parent or guardian is always on that call when the applicant is under 18.