When is the laptop rite of passage?
With the "back to school" season in full swing, MarketWatch (registration required) engaged parent bloggers through a story it published this week posing the question, "When is the right time to buy your child a laptop?"
Same goes, I suppose, for the appropriateness other high-tech gear... as young as six, for example, brings up such questions.
Bloggers offered a wide range or response to the MarketWatch article, which was posted on Slashdot and received almost 850 comments.
Blog community response:
"Why people think we should force computers on kids is beyond me. Use them, yes. Learn how they work, yes. Do everything on them? HELL NO...Kids need to learn the basics--how to read, how to write, logic, math, curiosity for the real world, not curiosity for the Web site."
--Musings del Club Dumas
"A desktop sounds like an excellent solution, as you can better monitor what your child's doing with it--writing reports, or listening to stolen music? And I wouldn't even consider a laptop for my kids without maxing out on the manufacturer's tech support and accident insurance policies."
--Blogging Baby
"With the affordability of laptops, I opted to purchase my child one as opposed to an Xbox or PS2...He quickly became proficient and amazed me how much I actually learned from him about computers...I think in today's society you're doing your kid an injustice if you wait until their high school years to introduce them to this technology"
--Bigwavejas on Slashdot
"My first laptop I got for my senior year of high school. I didn't have parents who just went out and bought me expensive computer equipment, of course, and that's why I'm kind of laughing at this article. The only way for the kid to really grasp the value of his new laptop is if he works his ass off all summer to earn the money to buy it himself"
--The Warlock on Slashdot