A family friend told me about a school in Australia where the parents of the primary school students have to promise to not let the kids watch TV or use computers at all.
I found an example of a similar school in the UK:
The parents seem intelligent though since they are wealthy:
As far as the reason for why the school has this policy:
On the other hand I know of schools where laptops and/or iPads are used from a very young age in schools.
Initially I was totally against the policy of schools like the one in the link but if the students end up better off educationally then I guess it is a good idea.
They are sure going to be ready for college - where communication with professors is on the computer, many assignments are turned in on the computer, and research can be done on a computer.
Sure too much computer use is bad. But far better to teach the kids proper computer use instead of banning it, such as how to find reliable sites.
Are they allowed (wired) telephones at least?
OK, they don’t ban all computer use. It seems they ban internet use below the age of 16, and they don’t use computers in the classroom until the age of 14. If the newspaper report is accurate, there is not ban on computers at home for purposes other than the internet.
Realistically, of course, small kids are not going to be that interested in using word processing apps or spreadsheets, or doing basic coding, or doing any of the myriad other things that you can do with a computer that don’t involve the internet, but if and when they are interested in engaging with these things they are free to do so. And of course they can e-mail away to their hearts’ content once they have mastered the basics of typing.
What they won’t learn until their later years - or what they will learn only to a basic extent while in the homes of friends who go to other schools - are (a) use of the internet for research or plagiarism (or anything else) and (b) how to navigate the social spaces of the internet. I’m open to being convinced that this will not result in any educational disadvantage by the time they get to college, and could possibly result in an educational advantage, since they may have developed more rigorous reading and research skills without the internet in their formative years (much like the theory that children learn basic calculation skills better if they can’t use calculators).
wow and to think here where I live they hired a history teacher put her in a math class… in which she wasn’t good at and told every one this… so she looked up some you tube how to videos and had them watch them for homework although she did help her class get an a in their history class that year
I posted it the link on Facebook and found out what the Australian schools that do this are called: “Steiner”
A friend who is a Steiner teacher said “I have had children that are 12 years old who have never seen a television show or a movie. I think it’s fantastic!”
Which gets into the question of the value of popular culture and social interaction. Is popular culture inherently worthless and detrimental to the mental and emotional function of a human being?
I also wonder what else they ban, especially with books, and how parents have enough time to enforce such bans.
BTW I grew up in the 80’s. I used Commodore 64’s [looks weird without the quote] a bit in primary school and read about computers and programming in books. I learnt BASIC but in University they said that BASIC isn’t a very good language for beginners to learn so they initially taught Haskell. I only was introduced to the Internet when I was about 16. Anyway now I’m extremely computer literate. I did use DOS/Windows 3.1 computers in grade 8 at home but now I’ve had to learn Linux/Mac OS X, etc, and what I learnt earlier on didn’t really give me an advantage.
As far computer literacy goes I think it can be introduced in high school without those who missed out in primary school having much of an advantage in the long run. I think proper computer courses can be more helpful than just experimenting as a young kid (edit: well experimenting is good but perhaps similar knowledge can be gained in other ways). As far as being a computer programmer goes (like I am), which may involve the greatest amount of computer literacy, it is taught in university anyway and the languages I use now (PHP/Javascript) were self-taught and initially learnt using textbooks. (though now I use things like Google to learn). Good programming (not hacking) would involve being able to see the big picture and know how to combine things in the right places - kind of like woodworking or an organised essay or mathematical techniques with algebra to arrive at an answer, etc.
Does it really disadvantage a youth if they weren’t very knowledgeable about the latest pop stars, etc, in their younger years? They can catch up when they are a teenager. BTW I’ve learnt a lot about popular culture like 80’s stuff, etc, when I was in my 20’s and 30’s.
It could be better in an educational sense to be interested in geometry or woodwork, etc, in your younger years than being a popular culture expert.
The woman who was talking about Steiner schools yesterday (a family friend) also talked about how an English teacher had very controversial poetry in class. Perhaps they’re similar - controversial content in English can expand the mind in a educational/personal development sense which I think is in the spirit of the Steiner schools.
The one I looked at sending my kid to (which a couple friends’ kids go to now) doesn’t allow any plastics. As in, no plastic lunchboxes or waterbottles…
They’re overall the germ of a good idea, but the more Fundie Steinerist they are, the nuttier - that man was a great illustration of having your mind too open.