by Daryl Bagley

Created on: June 06, 2009   Last Updated: June 09, 2009

I believe that there are both pluses and minuses to kids being allowed to possess a computer solely for themselves. I have found there are a few solutions for the minuses. I will start with the pluses, then the minuses, and finally the solutions.

PLUSES:

If a child has their own computer, it will usually leads to less selfishness. For instance, my younger brother is semi-addicted to our one family computer. Before we even leave from after school care to go home, my siblings have the knowledge that if they want a chance on the computer, they have to call it early on. But, when we are at our after school care,

TechPlayzone, they really don't care about the computers. I am led to believe that if my brothers know they are going to have access to a computer whenever they want (at TechPlayzone) then they will be less likely to spend time on it. But, when we are going home, they realize that if they don't claim the computer, then they might never get a turn. This means that they will keep trying to get the computer until they feel like they are addicted and need to have the computer to survive. If my brother had his own computer, he wouldn't be so addicted and would feel like he didn't need to always be on the computer to get a turn computer.

Another plus is the security of files. If a child does any kind of work on a computer and someone else comes along and uses the computer, then there could be a problem with the deleting or over-writing other people's files. With a computer just for one person, the child can have all the files they need without anyone disrupting them, or them disrupting anyone else. They can also have special upgrades to their computer that will help them with work but will make work harder for others. I am currently using Florida Virtual School, and I would enjoy the safety of knowing that my siblings would not be able to mess with any of my files.

MINUSES:

When someone has a computer solely for themselves, they could be doing anything. The Internet provides unlimited resources, not just good, but also bad. A child today can accidentally find inappropriate pictures on the internet as well as doing research on the computer. They can start spreading viruses, meeting people online that they shouldn't be talking to, giving away personal information, buying things with your credit cards, the possibilities are endless. The challenge is the fact that you may never find out about this until it's too late. There are passwords and other things that will keep you off someone's computer, much less checking the history or installing programs to send you the history through email.

The next minus is under use. If you buy a computer for a child who uses the computer an hour a week, then you have wasted your money. A computer should not be over used, but it should be used. I would recommend about 10.5 hours a week. 10.5 hours per week is about the same as 1.5 hours a day. This amount is good for a child who uses the computer for playing and one class of homework. This number can be adjusted for a kid who takes multiple classes online or classes about the computer.

SOLUTIONS:

For my first minus, you must have trust. You must trust that your child knows the difference between right and wrong, and won't do anything just because he/she thinks you won't find out. Some of this trust can come from how your child uses other computers.

The solution to my second minus is in the actual minus: make sure your child is actually going to use a computer but not over use it.

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