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Original poster

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

165 replies

zebramummy · 31/07/2009 20:46

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?

OP posts:
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NotanOtter · 31/07/2009 22:43

no i do not think the earth is flat

i respect different cultures, values beliefs

these are mine

georgimama · 31/07/2009 22:45

Are you the OP? No.

NotanOtter · 31/07/2009 22:46

are you?

georgimama · 31/07/2009 22:52

Er, no, obviously I'm not, I disagree with her. She may be stupid but I don't think she has multiple personalities.

NotanOtter · 31/07/2009 22:52

nice friendly return i see

cazzybabs · 31/07/2009 22:54

what do you think they use computers for? Where i teach they support what we are teaching them - you would be disadvantaging them because they would be missing out on content...they also motivate children, espically boys! Also I would worry about the stigma - I often have the computers on for the children to access as when they like (I choose the programme or the IT skills I wish them to develop and monitor how much - ie it is a part of the day) and I would worry other children may see that child as odd especially if they had to miss IT lessons! And where would you end it - interactive whiteboards at the start of lessons, use of a camera to take photos, Beebot (programmable robot) or even watching videos - sometimes I have used youtube in my teaching

NotanOtter · 31/07/2009 22:54

i would have thought it were obvious i were not the op
she asked if it were possible

i told her my experiences

georgimama · 31/07/2009 22:58

What I quite clearly meant was that my original comment was not addressed to you but to the person who started this thread. Strange that you assumed it was about you.

cazzybabs · 31/07/2009 22:58

Notanotter - sorry but if your children have ICT GCSE then they are using a computer at school - do you agree with the OP or not? Or when do you think it is appropriate to use computers for school?

I agree about handwriting eassys for the most - although it is nice to use a computer for editing - but as someone who has dreadful handwriting and spelling I agree this is important.

I also agree about not too much computers at home - although I am in favour of some....but this is about school in the early years is it not???

NotanOtter · 31/07/2009 23:02

cazzy

i wish they did not have to do the ict etc but bow down to the schools and would never dream of pulling them out etc

think it pretty irrelevent

if they want to work in it then fine but bill gates did not spend every day in school in front of a screen

he did physics and shakespeare

NotanOtter · 31/07/2009 23:02

i guess

Quattrocento · 31/07/2009 23:05

My response was to the OP and not to NAO

Although I'm not sure that a GSCE (at whatever grade) entitles anyone to be styled a whizz.

I'd worry about children not having their own pcs, or at the least access to a family pc, at secondary school.

Don't see how it is possible to keep them away from pcs at school.

msled · 31/07/2009 23:07

I am surprised at some of these responses. Handwriting? With a pen? Are you sure? I only let my children whittle their words into tablets of stone. Anything else inhibits the creative flow, I find.
Makes life too easy for them.
And chiselling keeps them fit - wonderful for the arm muscles.

NotanOtter · 31/07/2009 23:08

well whizz enough to get by then....none of them have expressed a desire to work in ict and i would feel saddened if they wanted as teenagers to have a career in front of a screen

even an author should hold a pen in my book

pointydog · 31/07/2009 23:11

If the op doesn't come bakc in 5 minutes, this is a wind up.

cat64 · 31/07/2009 23:13

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PortAndLemon · 31/07/2009 23:13

Bill Gates did a heck of a lot of time in front of a screen, though, including opting out of a lot of regular school to get extra computer time. There's some interesting stuff in Outliers on that.

I think there is a huge difference between trying to ensure that a child never touches a computer throughout his/her entire school career and choosing not to use them at home for children who get plenty of exposure at school and are "whizzes" at ICT. So I don't see how an argument that someone in the former group wouldn't be missing out because someone in the latter group didn't works.

Children will not always cut and paste, the same way that children will not always shoplift, if they are taught early on what is and is not acceptable and what is (shock horror at concept) "right" or "wrong".

cat64 · 31/07/2009 23:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

pointydog · 31/07/2009 23:35

It's a wind-up. Op trying to flush out nutters

applepudding · 31/07/2009 23:58

Why would you wish to stop your DC from accessing a large part of the curriculum?

ICT is not just a subject in itself but an integral part of curriculum for all subjects; maths, English and research for projects.

DS was introduced to computers at nursery, they used educational games as part of the 'learning through play', and at that age I also introduced the computer at home, playing occasionally on CBEEBIES. Ds is now 8, and whilst we have a variety of computer type games at home for different usage, PSP, Wii, plus more educational things like encarta, I have no need to limit the amount of time he spends on these things because, although computer time is one of his favourite activities at school, this does not mean that he is obsessed with playing computer games at home; and is a lot happier kicking a ball around outside or playing with his plastic dinosaurs.

FAQtothefuture · 01/08/2009 00:14

NaO

I suppose we should be sat working by candle light and powering our computers with a coal fire should we as well .

Oh and washing clothes by hand,

StewieGriffinsMom · 01/08/2009 08:32

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GrapefruitMoon · 01/08/2009 08:42

I agree Stewie. It is over 20 years since I finished university and obv computers were not as widespread then but I still felt disadvantaged not having used them at school (my school had bought one before I left but it was still not unpacked as none of the teachers new how to work it!) I struggled with the small amount if computer work we did all the way through.

Now my kids could control a mouse before they could write.... But they are not obsessed with them (we have several as dh is obsessed!) - they are just another tool to them like pen & paper.

seeker · 01/08/2009 09:45

At my dd's secondary school they are told what work they are allowed to do on the computer and which they aren't. For example, last term she had two essays to write, one of which HAD to be handwritten. The school's line is that they have to learn to present things well in both ways.

They are also expected to attribute every quotation and reference they use - on pain of a U - the worst mark they can get!

bruffin · 01/08/2009 11:06

"i feel it inhibits artistic flow with subjects like english etc"

Actually the opposite, DS is dyslexic,using a pc actually speeds up his artistic flow.