People used to lambaste me for saying that every American born in this country should have a firearm given to the parents for his/her use at the appropriate age. That firearm would provide training, teach responsibility, increase youth awareness of our Constitutional rights, enhance awareness of surroundings, and provide a tool for protection of life and sustenance of health during war or famine.
Now they want to give kids electronic devices that, in the wrong hands, as shown by your example, could be costly, require power from those dastardly coal-fired power plants, expose children to online smut and predators if unsupervised, and turn our society into technology-dependent drones.
I asked a young 20-something what would happen if power was out, cell towers were down, Internet was unavailable, and your iPhone died? The expression was that of a child who’d lost a puppy.
That’s not to say there aren’t positive aspects to these devices, but I believe our social evolution is focusing on the wrong stuff anymore.
“what would happen if power was out”
That very thing happened as I was making a purchase at the cash register. Sad to say this is a true story.
Power went out.
The cute 16something yr old girl clerk valiantly tried to figure out my bill - long-hand. But she got stumped.
She hollered out to her fellow girl clerk, “How much is 3 X 5?”
Fellow girl clerk hollered back, “I don’t know, but I think it’s the same as 5 x 3”
Funny yes, but still a cold shudder ran down me knowing these kids are our future.
I am all for iPads replacing administrators in education.
Extra bonus - iPads run on batteries.
‘I asked a young 20-something what would happen if power was out, cell towers were down, Internet was unavailable, and your iPhone died? The expression was that of a child who’d lost a puppy.’
I had the pleasure of describing that very example to my elderly parents last week in trying to educate them as to the socially dysfunctional digital generation that is now present.
These devices will be how future generations interact with society. I think it is a good idea for them to learn on these things at a young age. They should also know how to live without them, but like most every other technological advance, if it was suddenly taken away our society would likely not be able to function.
AGREED!
It's one thing for a public school to provide a computer lab. It's quite another for a public school system to force the general population to pay for an iPad for EVERY student that crosses the threshold of those learning institutions. ( many of which are not TEACHING our children )
Will the school system be going out to bid for the different computer manufacturers? Or has Apple been given "Favorite Son" status? I have a feeling it will be business-as-usual and the public will pay through the nose.
I work as an IT Director and CTO of a company that provides systems for the disabled. Will my company be given a chance to bid on systems for children with disabilities with a more suitable tablet computer?
The funny thing is...these computers become personal property and turn into game pads eventually. And what happens when one is accidentally dropped? Is the child SOL? Or does John Q public get the cyber screw for another iPad. If I were the Apple regional Marketing Manager I would be elated with the new found business opportunity. If I was a Maine resident, I'd be looking for a new state to reside in.