is it possible to opt out of using computers within the state system?

[zebramummy]

i hate computers - i know, i am sitting here staring at one - however, i managed to avoid them until i started working in my twenties and yes, they were around prior to this mainly for wordprocessing, designing and games although email and internet had not really taken off. i have always felt privately disgusted by the two computers at ds' nursery and i strongly believe that they are completely uneccesary and have no place within an early years setting. i have heard about ICT at school and i am starting to get the feeling that it is a non-negotiable part of school-life. am i the only person who feels this way?

You can control childrens use of them

DD doesn't have one and is can't msn/facebook all the time.

I didn't have MSN as a 15yr old........I didn't go out half as much as my parents wanted me too (well I did when at school in Edinburgh - except that was to the pub )

Oh goblinchild x-posts - same religious group!

Many go to our local schools and they are accomodated.

So OP it can be done.

i can see the upside of course i can
but particularly with boys the cons outweigh the pros

ds had to have letters from us explaining why he woud hand write course work at gcse

he came top in his year at a good good school

my dd would never leave facebook were she allowed on the internet at home ....

I may be condemned for it but believe i am doing the best by my dcs - they can spend their adult years screening

Well if your children aren't computer literate they will find it very hard now to access many areas of life and get good jobs. What they do at home is up to you. What they do at school - well why you don't you trust their teachers to teach them appropriately?

We have a friend who would not allow her dd near a computer until she was in Y3 when the school wouldn't let her have a say any more (probably hadn't before but who knows); she won't, even now, countenance having anything to do with computers herself, or having one in the house. Her dd was at a huge - really huge - disadvantage. She's caught up of course, but if you won't let your child have any computing experience or knowledge, then not only are you closing off possible lucrative careers, but you are putting her at a complete disadvantage in the entire job market, not to mention university. (I funded my way through Uni teaching people how to use their computers and cleaning up their messes.) Universities expect essays to be typed, not to mention all the other things you can do with them to make your work more presentable etc.

You'd be a fool to do it, but it would be your dd losing out.

If you tried withdrawing your child from every lesson that used computers you'd find they missed a lot of Maths, literacy, Science & topic lessons, not just ICT. They are a valuable tool in many lessons and far from inhibiting the artistic flow, they are a means of breaking down the physical barrier that handwriting imposes for many children.

As for googling instead of researching, google is a very effective research tool if the children are taught to use it properly, (as they are at the school I work at), and are not allowed to turn in great chunks of cut and paste.

As for the children using MSN, they are certainly not allowed to do so at our school, so that's up to the parents if they let them at home - it's perfectly possible to limit both the time and the programmes they use.

"my dd would never leave facebook were she allowed on the internet at home "

she wouldn't get on it if you blocked it

I disagree that with boys (see I'll be brave and not underline ) the cons outweigh the pro's.

Depends entirely on the child - and how you "police" it.

Rusty - I know DS1 has been learning how to use google effetively - he likes showing off at home.

And when faced with questions from FIL about various things that I'm not really sure of the answer of he's been piping up "why not have a look on the computer" LOL.

I wish I'd had access to the internet when doing research at school - so much quicker than trawling through 14 volumes of the encyclopaedia Britannica x 2 (we had an old edition and a much newer one at home). And yes you can use the index volume to help - but often information would be scattered throughout various topics making writing a essay (by hand as well which I was always horrible slow and awful at) an extremely time consuming and uninspiring prospect.

I - being old - didn't use a computer regularly until I was 20. I work on them and with them all the time. So I don't think that argument stands up really.

And tend to agree with NotanOtter and OP - although I am not sure I will have your strength. I do think the money would be much better spent on books though.

The trouble with books in a school is space - few primary schools have room for an extensive library - ours is currently housed in a corridor - we are trying to build a room in our courtyard & the lowest quote was over £100,000 - and that's just the building, without the bookshelves & stock.

vonsudenfed - like you I was in my twenties before I used a computer - in fact I used them first as a librarian- and now I'm an IT manager, but I still think the argument stands up because not everyone takes to them as readily as we did.

FAQ - at school we have Encyclopedia Britanniuca online - it's one of our most useful tools - and so we don't have to buy a new set of volumes to gdet the benefit every time it gets updated.

i think it is quite all consuming
screens in general

my dcs do not have tv or mobiles so its a complete package

i dont want to have to police the pc

when they are old enough - they can police themselves. i spend the money on books and films for them...

children will always cut and paste - you too would heve done at their age if it had been an option

google has been described as the 'white sliced bread' of research

i have seen many a 14 year old with reams of downloaded stuff not knowing where to start

i dont buy the argument

thats only my pov but i 'believe' in it

Crikey I am chuffed to bits that DD2s reception class has computers. She has special needs, is non-verbal and can't write with a pen or pencil so the main way for her to access a lot of the curriculum is through specialised IT methods. She has a computerised 'voice' to help her communicate (basically a touch screen portable computer that speaks the words as she touches the buttons) and does all her 'writing' on the PC at school.

I think with appropriate support and monitoring computers can be an amazing learning resource. Why would you want to deprive your child of that opportunity?

oh Rusty -how wonderful the EB on the computer

Those huge things at home used to hurt my eyes

and no - children don't always jsut cut and paste. DS1 at 8 is more than capable at reading something and putting it in his own words.

Mind you it's not a skill that everyone possesses, there are adults who cut and paste when writing stuff as well

in fact he's told be about ICT lessons at school where they've been taught how to use google to research and NOT cut and paste.

I do respect your right to set your own rules, but I think an outright ban on anything - TV, alcohol, PCs, particular friends, even food - can really backfire.

By limiting the opportunity for your children to understand the good and bad side of computers you're risking them being very naive about them when they're more independent - and that is only a few years away.

My two are teenagers and rarely type homework but they do use IT across the curriculum at school. Maths homework for the younger one is often done online - it saves marking for the teacher and saves money/space for books.

They still read extensively and spend a lot of time outside in RL and I do limit their time on the web.

and is cutting and pasting from google really any different from copying word for word from a book?? (something I know I did as a child ) (I didn't learn the skill of putting things into my own words until very late on )

boden groupie

'naive' not possible

outside the home and in school they are surrounded by screens

dont feel i am depriving my child of anything - they use them elsewhere

i am opening other doors for them - my children are playing when i know their friends are screening

not 'depriving'

choices

jux 'you'd be a fool to do it, but it would be your dd losing out.'

my son got 10 A* at gcse i do not see where he is missing out academically

his year head said his social skills for a boy of that ability made him stand out from the crowd

I meant 'depriving' in terms of school - I thought this thread was about computers in primary school, not at home?

Computer use at home is a completely different issue.

It's absurd to want to handicap your children in this way. My DCs are primary aged and both have their own pcs and all their friends have their own pcs. It's the norm.

I understand that people are worried about constant gameplaying and the disruptive effect that these things can have. But I think children need to learn a bit of self-control around them. Mine have.

Do you think the earth is flat, by any chance?

'handicap'

in what way?
they are all whizzes at ict- its core curriculum
ds1 got a*
dd took ict gcse this year (year9) no bother

at home they do different stuff