Consent is paramount when doing that type of exploration. Without explicit permission, how would an IT administrator distinguish the difference between a curious student and a malicious attacker?

You're not wrong, but I think it might be helpful to think of this in different terms. Teenagers, with burgeoning agency, are being denied the ability to meaningfully impact their environment yet are bound to it for most of their lives.

I agree with you that explicit permission is important, but it is also something that young people are frequently and explicitly denied. I don't think the solution is condoning that sort of 'extracurricular', but I think we should recognize the problem is probably starting with the adults in the situation.

You would think so, only this is a bit opaque when dealing with a local school and a district bureaucracy with various computer labs, internet and phone systems. As a student, you may think that the right person to ask is the local teacher who has control of the asset. Especially if that teacher has been assigned IT duties.

But to many school administrators consent of teachers is meaningless. Those assets aren't owned by the teachers but by the district, even if they are the apparent authority figures and stewards in the eyes of the students.

Well, I imagine that would require using a brain, which may an onerous requirement.

People on HN always act like what they were doing was almost noble. You weren't. If you had been picking locks or even rummaging around unlocked desk drawers you'd get the same treatment and deserve it.