Kids Can't Use Computers... And This Is Why It Should Worry You

[Cassius2]

I agree rouge that the article is written in a fashion that is not cool and is elitist. but i do feel that it can offer valuable discussion and raises some important points particularly towards the end. well, it did for me

and I think you may have slightly missed the point in referring to author writing only in relation to teaching children. the author refers to family and friends and colleagues that are showing lack of understanding and insight. and this:

"These people don’t know how to use computers, yet they are going to be creating laws regarding computers, enforcing laws regarding computers, educating the youth about computers, reporting in the media about computers and lobbying politicians about computers. Do you thinks this is an acceptable state of affairs?"

it is not a well written piece, in fact, i agree that it is quite atrocious in its construction; regardless, i like what it offers in terms of a call to arms: to equip ourselves with knowledge and to understand what is at stake in relation to dissent and censorship and how policies that are being created now in terms of computer uses and development.

but then again, i like any promotion where we are supported towards empowerment for ourselves and our children and supported to defend our rights to self-governance.

As for computer safety and government censorship it's not something most kids are blind from. In fact it's quite the opposite. I know more adults that are easily led to believe everything they read or hear than I do most 10 year olds. And especially not my nearly 12 year old.

I too as a child understood that there was censorship and that there were 'bad people' on the Internet. that does not translate into understanding it or understanding the mechanisms that make regulation work and why it might be problematic. so our children are not blind from it. ok. i agree. but then what? what tools are we teaching our children to help them navigate this? why are we, in our generation allowing it to simply happen? to allow policies and regulation and surveillance happen on this level without barely a ripple in our consciousness. that is not informed consent. this article is IMO in no way about older generations slamming down on younger generations (a simple reading could suggest quite the opposite - that it is the older generations that are creating the barriers in this case).

it is one thing to 'know' that your emails and your google searches are being monitored but it is an entirely different thing to know why, to understand how it is working and whether that is ok or not.
and if your child decides that, actually, that might not be ok? what then? what are they going to be able to do about it? Nothing, something, anything? is that ok? It certainly does not feel ok for me. Snowden was just one example, wikileaks in and of itself is just one mere example. and yet nothing. the rise of computer technology gives rise to a sense of 'facelessness', a sense of some safety in anonymity. we know that there is no such thing, and yet as a result of it not really 'being us', of not really affecting 'us' in the IRL identity sense then it appears that people dont find the increasing rise of regulation and restriction all that scary - and like the author suggests, it is that that is scary.

what is wrong with asking for more in terms of computer science education in schools anyway?

[Cassius2]

I agree rouge that the article is written in a fashion that is not cool and is elitist. but i do feel that it can offer valuable discussion and raises some important points particularly towards the end. well, it did for me

and I think you may have slightly missed the point in referring to author writing only in relation to teaching children. the author refers to family and friends and colleagues that are showing lack of understanding and insight. and this:

"These people don’t know how to use computers, yet they are going to be creating laws regarding computers, enforcing laws regarding computers, educating the youth about computers, reporting in the media about computers and lobbying politicians about computers. Do you thinks this is an acceptable state of affairs?"

it is not a well written piece, in fact, i agree that it is quite atrocious in its construction; regardless, i like what it offers in terms of a call to arms: to equip ourselves with knowledge and to understand what is at stake in relation to dissent and censorship and how policies that are being created now in terms of computer uses and development.

but then again, i like any promotion where we are supported towards empowerment for ourselves and our children and supported to defend our rights to self-governance.

As for computer safety and government censorship it's not something most kids are blind from. In fact it's quite the opposite. I know more adults that are easily led to believe everything they read or hear than I do most 10 year olds. And especially not my nearly 12 year old.

I too as a child understood that there was censorship and that there were 'bad people' on the Internet. that does not translate into understanding it or understanding the mechanisms that make regulation work and why it might be problematic. so our children are not blind from it. ok. i agree. but then what? what tools are we teaching our children to help them navigate this? why are we, in our generation allowing it to simply happen? to allow policies and regulation and surveillance happen on this level without barely a ripple in our consciousness. that is not informed consent. this article is IMO in no way about older generations slamming down on younger generations (a simple reading could suggest quite the opposite - that it is the older generations that are creating the barriers in this case).

it is one thing to 'know' that your emails and your google searches are being monitored but it is an entirely different thing to know why, to understand how it is working and whether that is ok or not.
and if your child decides that, actually, that might not be ok? what then? what are they going to be able to do about it? Nothing, something, anything? is that ok? It certainly does not feel ok for me. Snowden was just one example, wikileaks in and of itself is just one mere example. and yet nothing. the rise of computer technology gives rise to a sense of 'facelessness', a sense of some safety in anonymity. we know that there is no such thing, and yet as a result of it not really 'being us', of not really affecting 'us' in the IRL identity sense then it appears that people dont find the increasing rise of regulation and restriction all that scary - and like the author suggests, it is that that is scary.

what is wrong with asking for more in terms of computer science education in schools anyway?

[Rouge]

Well I guess my social environment and my children's knowledge is not the norm. Because they do know a lot about the safety and the basic workings of the computers. And even though we are a mac house we have both so they don't get left behind. They are always involved in any conversations we have about anything that happens with technology. Their school is also very involved with this type of education. And DD's high school is even moreso. To me it's part of the responsibility that comes with computers, Internet usage and any iDevice they may have access too. They understand the fundamentals. They are aware of their surroundings. And I have no doubt the older they get the more they will learn. The same way I did. My point is I think this article really is behind the times. Most high school kids these days have way more understanding about computers than 70% of the people around me at that time. In fact I'm pretty sure I was 1 of 3 students in my entire school that had my level of understanding.

If you saw the level of technology my kids will be using in high school it would probably floor you. And they will have basic understanding of computer programming (DD already does) with thanks to the classes available to them.

So my next question is how did this person come to understand all that they do? I can hazard a guess it wasn't from being sat down and taught. I can hazard a guess it was no different to me, your social environment and playing. And not only do our kids get to play. But they also get to google. And follow newsfeed, blogs, forums, tumblr, reddit etc.

Geek is mainstream baby. Embrace it.

[black_rose]

Geek is mainstream baby. Embrace it.

So agree with that! My 3yo ds knows his way around the iPhone he turns the sound up/down off, moves his games to the folders he wants he also uses the computer confidently swapping from my profile to the kids one and uses the web favourites or games. We teach all our kids safety and have safety features built in. They will grow up with the technology especially as its their dads industry but they definitely learn from other sources too. The article seems a bit dated to me too, dd is surrounded by technology in primary school with computers/iPads and panels instead of whiteboards.

[Cassius2]

i need more sleep...hit wrong button lol.