Laptop for Every Child?
I was listening to NPR on my way to school this morning, as is my wont on occasion. They were talking about a goal some people have to give every child (?) in developing countries a laptop. Work has been in progress to produce a $100 laptop that would serve this purpose.
Well, well. A laptop for every child. What a great, fantabulous idea. I mean, every child should have the opportunity to play Bugdom. To spend their afternoons blissfully painting with a track-pad. To type stories and then scramble them with the drag and drop function. Without these aspects to life, a child is severely deprived -- it would be almost the same as if they did not exist. To not own a computer at the age of 10 is to negate all opportunities for employment in later life. To ascribe oneself to a state of social incompetence. To set oneself on the fast track to poverty.
Humph. To the contrary, I say. I mean, sure, learning to type and navigate around a computer is great -- but they can learn that in school. To give a 10 yr old a $100 computer that will likely fail within 4 years or less is superbly, well, er, foolish. A child's development is much better if his leisurely hours involve people -- connecting with them face to face, learning to work through relationship issues. Give him a computer and he will spend fruitless hours by himself, performing activities which may improve hand-eye coordination (computer games) but which do not provide him with tools to really succeed in life. Children, IMNSHO, develop much better and become more intelligent and better suited to living if they are in a non-artificial environment.
A laptop for every child? Where are the priorities? Give them a piece of rather worthless electronics when people are starving? Give them one of the most collossal time wasters in the world when they need to be learning life-skills?
Just doesn't make sense.
Well, well. A laptop for every child. What a great, fantabulous idea. I mean, every child should have the opportunity to play Bugdom. To spend their afternoons blissfully painting with a track-pad. To type stories and then scramble them with the drag and drop function. Without these aspects to life, a child is severely deprived -- it would be almost the same as if they did not exist. To not own a computer at the age of 10 is to negate all opportunities for employment in later life. To ascribe oneself to a state of social incompetence. To set oneself on the fast track to poverty.
Humph. To the contrary, I say. I mean, sure, learning to type and navigate around a computer is great -- but they can learn that in school. To give a 10 yr old a $100 computer that will likely fail within 4 years or less is superbly, well, er, foolish. A child's development is much better if his leisurely hours involve people -- connecting with them face to face, learning to work through relationship issues. Give him a computer and he will spend fruitless hours by himself, performing activities which may improve hand-eye coordination (computer games) but which do not provide him with tools to really succeed in life. Children, IMNSHO, develop much better and become more intelligent and better suited to living if they are in a non-artificial environment.
A laptop for every child? Where are the priorities? Give them a piece of rather worthless electronics when people are starving? Give them one of the most collossal time wasters in the world when they need to be learning life-skills?
Just doesn't make sense.
posted by Claire at 19:46
2 Comments:
Claire's right. Somebody better listen to her!
I think they should work on the "one meal a day for every child" initiative first.
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