When did this start being normal?

delain

Well I was just having a poke about on another forum, and stumbled on a thread about laptops.

Most people seemed to think it was entirely normal for a 9 year old to have their own laptop, with some going so far as to say their 9 year olds have broadband access from their bedroom :eek::eek:

We are lucky in that I have a laptop from one of those mobile broadband contracts back in the day, and also a netbook. Generally I let the children use the netbook, my 8 year old likes moshi monsters and bin weevils, whilst the twins prefer Rainbow Magic.

But they do this in the living room, whilst OH or I is there and their use is monitored. No way would I let them have unsupervised access. Surely internet safety should be of paramount concern?

My 8 year old is the youngest in her year so kids in her class are now turning 9, occasionally she needs to look for info on something but not often.

The other thing was people saying they had bought a 5 yr old an ipod touch for Christmas :eek: and that one 8 year old has a psp, dsi, ps3, ipod and mobile phone :eek:

Please tell me I'm not the only one who thinks this is madness?

Nara

Yeah it is all a bit crazy I think. My daughter is 4 and she has a DSI but it was ours before she was born but she decided that she loved playing on it!

I let her play games on my laptop, like cbeebies/nick jr website and stuff.
I would not be happy letting her have her own laptop in her bedroom until she was a teenager tbh, and even then I would set parental controls on it.
I know how easily you can be 'taken' in by people on the internet, adults fall for it all the time and children/teenagers are way more naive.

My daughter loves computer games and stuff, i think its just that they all grow up with it alot more nowdays, even at school they have a whole computer room! But I won't be buying her everything, if she wants a mobile phone when shes older and stuff, then she can save for it herself! I never had a mobile till i was 18 and never had a pc/internet until i moved into my own place aged 20.

Kimberley82

My 7 and 8 year old have a laptop they got it off their grandad last year. But they are only allowed to use it in the sitting room where we can see them.

Plans_all_plans

It's absolutely ludicrous. What on earth does a child need their own technological goods for?!! I think it is extremely bad for them. My nephew was bought a Wii when he was 5 "cos all his friends had one." His parents are professional and intelligent people but my mind boggled at that. He should be playing outside and reading books not losing his mind to computers etc! I certainly wouldn't even have a teenager messing about in their own room on a computer, let alone a 9 year old!

I am evangelical about this sort of thing. I CAN'T stand this obsession with kids having everything cos everyone else has one and being left to their own devices with ipods, TVs and computers is incredibly bad for them.

stilernin

No you are not.

I also think it is madness for a 9 year old to have a TV set in their bedroom.

Tropez

Within reason, I would say it may not be normal but it is acceptable. Having a good grasp of using computer systems is becoming more and more important in the modern age and early exposure to using computers, such as laptops, can provide a very good platform for a child to build upon in the future, as well as aiding the development of skills such as learning where the keys are on a keyboard that improves memory and typing speed.

In computer terms it might as well have been a millennia ago but it was clearly obvious in our high school ICT classes who had experience of computers (such as myself) and those who had no experience at all. ICT classes were therefore boring to people like me who had been using computer systems since they were very young (I was using an Amstrad 464 from 5 years old, DOS-based PC from 8, Windows based PC from 11 etc.) because we were being held back in some ways by the others in the class who hadn't yet been taught how to find Word.

My parents were working-class but they appreciated the educational advantages that a knowledge of computers would give me and I can't thank them enough for it. The type of stuff I "studied" in high school I was already more than adept at by the time of our first lesson and since then I've learned so many more practical computer skills that they have opened numerous employment opportunities for me, with multiple industry qualifications picked up in my spare time without any real effort.

Of course, when I was this age, the widespread use of the Internet was non-existant. The 56k modem didn't become standard until I was around 14/15 and broadband didn't follow for some time yet. That said, the Internet was arguably a more dangerous place when I was 15 than it is now simply because nobody was policing it back then. Looking back, when the likes of MSN's IRC chat channels and ICQ operated virtually unmonitored it was much, much easier for children to encounter material and people any sane person would want them shielded from. That isn't to say that there isn't good cause for parents to be concerned about what their children are able to find on the internet because different threats emerge over time but reasonable precautions can be taken, which for the less technical minded parent can be monitoring their children at all times while they use the internet, to more sophisticated methods of blocking access while the child is left unsupervised, which can even include monitoring software on another laptop or computer so the child is never truly unsupervised.

Learning how to use a PC at a young age is far more advantageous than learning how to use a games console.

Want_to_be_free

My son is 13, he is wiz when it comes to computers however he has no laptop but I let him use mine ...I will get him one when he is 14 , but he has a PC and he has been using various PC's since he was two. He learnt how to write when he was about 3 years old but struggled with pencil when he went to school. I don't think he can imagine himself without PC, laptop, PS3 etc... This is the reality today. I try to limit the time spent on the games, applications but this is the main cause for arguments in our house. I hate PS3 with passion:mad:

Sparkles79

My son is 11 and although he is free to use the family computer, he does not have a laptop in his room.

Considering getting him one soon, but even then will be looking at suitable options to ensure what he can access online, not so much worried from a child protection view but him searching for inappropriate material in a couple of years :eek: Mind you at the mo he won't look in The Sun because of page 3, also got very embarrassed when a copy turned up at school, bless him!

Some of his friends have laptops, but when asked what he needed one for he just said to play games......

Kimberley82

Plans_all_plans wrote: »

It's absolutely ludicrous. What on earth does a child need their own technological goods for?!! I think it is extremely bad for them. My nephew was bought a Wii when he was 5 "cos all his friends had one." His parents are professional and intelligent people but my mind boggled at that. He should be playing outside and reading books not losing his mind to computers etc! I certainly wouldn't even have a teenager messing about in their own room on a computer, let alone a 9 year old!

I am evangelical about this sort of thing. I CAN'T stand this obsession with kids having everything cos everyone else has one and being left to their own devices with ipods, TVs and computers is incredibly bad for them.

They can do both, out side playing and using technology, its a matter of balance.

delain

Tropez wrote: »

Within reason, I would say it may not be normal but it is acceptable. Having a good grasp of using computer systems is becoming more and more important in the modern age and early exposure to using computers, such as laptops, can provide a very good platform for a child to build upon in the future, as well as aiding the development of skills such as learning where the keys are on a keyboard that improves memory and typing speed.

In computer terms it might as well have been a millennia ago but it was clearly obvious in our high school ICT classes who had experience of computers (such as myself) and those who had no experience at all. ICT classes were therefore boring to people like me who had been using computer systems since they were very young (I was using an Amstrad 464 from 5 years old, DOS-based PC from 8, Windows based PC from 11 etc.) because we were being held back in some ways by the others in the class who hadn't yet been taught how to find Word.

My parents were working-class but they appreciated the educational advantages that a knowledge of computers would give me and I can't thank them enough for it. The type of stuff I "studied" in high school I was already more than adept at by the time of our first lesson and since then I've learned so many more practical computer skills that they have opened numerous employment opportunities for me, with multiple industry qualifications picked up in my spare time without any real effort.

Of course, when I was this age, the widespread use of the Internet was non-existant. The 56k modem didn't become standard until I was around 14/15 and broadband didn't follow for some time yet. That said, the Internet was arguably a more dangerous place when I was 15 than it is now simply because nobody was policing it back then. Looking back, when the likes of MSN's IRC chat channels and ICQ operated virtually unmonitored it was much, much easier for children to encounter material and people any sane person would want them shielded from. That isn't to say that there isn't good cause for parents to be concerned about what their children are able to find on the internet because different threats emerge over time but reasonable precautions can be taken, which for the less technical minded parent can be monitoring their children at all times while they use the internet, to more sophisticated methods of blocking access while the child is left unsupervised, which can even include monitoring software on another laptop or computer so the child is never truly unsupervised.

Learning how to use a PC at a young age is far more advantageous than learning how to use a games console.

But... all children (certainly in my DD's school anyway) start using the school laptops at the age of 5 and have loads more ICT time than we did (I suspect you're about my age).

I did not have any use of computers in school time until secondary school. I did however have acces to one (on windows 3.1!) at home.

My 8 year old is more adept on a PC now than I was at 12.

Not having 'your own laptop just for you' at home certainly won't hold the rest of the class back.

Tropez

delain wrote: »

But... all children (certainly in my DD's school anyway) start using the school laptops at the age of 5 and have loads more ICT time than we did (I suspect you're about my age)

My 8 year old is more adept on a PC now than I was at 12.

Not having 'your own laptop just for you' at home certainly won't hold the rest of the class back.

Perhaps not but nonetheless, I've seen the latest ICT curriculums and they're still severely lacking in the type of skills I had already developed through self-learning at home by age 15. I have always had access to my own computers, I've been building them since I was 14, and I was trusted enough to use the internet for self-improvement, which is largely what I did. I'm not going to lie and claim I didn't look at any naughty pictures when I was a youngster but at the same time I've been able to develop so many skills that have gave me such a great start in my adult life that I wouldn't change a thing about it.

ICT classes don't give children the chance to practice, develop and enhance their own skillset and they're very limited in the areas which they did cover. Back when I was at school, perhaps learning how to use Access, Excel and Word was considered cutting edge but if I had allowed myself to accept this as a be-all-and-end-all I wouldn't be in the position that I am today.

I'm not going to advocate that all parents should go out and buy their kids laptops and let them do as they please on them but nor would advocate any sort of restrictive process of learning, like what is found in schools, due to fears of technology or dangers. Computers evolve at a rapid pace - I remember a guy at the local computer store when I was growing up stating you would never need more than 64Mb of RAM. I remember an ICT teacher in college denying the existence of a ZIP 250 drive, despite the fact I owned one. It is far too easy to learn a skillset at school and still be left behind by technology developments and I believe that it would be more beneficial in the long term if children were encouraged to continue to try and enhance their skillsets on computers.