I always thought they should turn their attention to manufacturing windmills. They have the workers with the skills. They have the factories, if not quite the right machinery. They have at least some of the right suppliers. I suppose there are lots of reasons why they don't, but it's an idea.

The problem with trying to make money off of cars in a recession is that cars aren't scarce. If you really need a car you can pick a used one up for $2000 easily. If everyone usually buys a new car every 5 years and suddenly decides to put it off a year, you've lost 20% of your income. It's an obvious problem that they should have been prepared for.

Anyway. Windmills!

It seems like blocking at least some websites is necessary.

But that should be done at the server/router/whatever point. Put no restrictions on the laptops themselves.

If Facebook ends up causing problems, I'd recommend blocking it (while at school only!), but setting up a school forum (vBulletin or something) and allowing students to interact, collaborate, and plan events there. Moderate it to prevent bullying and bad behaviour, but not too harshly.