I am teaching simple linux installs and other little such things to a class that must have A.D.D. Now, 33% of them is playing Unreal, 33% of them are using GAIM or MSN Messenger, Web version, and the rest are trying to pay attention. NOW, one of the solutions I have used is simply cut internet access to the whole class. It only works for those using MSN, PLUS, it is unfair to the rest of the class who are actively tring to participate and work on Linux.

Now that you have my situation, here is what I have thought of. Remotely shut down the students' computers from mine.

So I can watch their monitors, and if I see any of them using either Unreal, GAIM, or MSN web Messenger, I can shut down their computers from mine.

Now these kids can be pretty crafty. Since I do not have root access to their computers, is this still possible? Can I shut them down from my computer still?

What would I need in order to do this?

yes it's possible.. you can use "ssh" [ssh root@ip_from_the_computer_student] to access any computer in your class, and you can see if they are runing MSN, or unreal.. doing:

ps aux | grep msn (for example)

and you can shut down.. doing:

halt -p

=)