Don’t teach your kids this stuff. Please?
August 26, 2009
398 Comments
dear parent
teacher
administrator
board member
don't teach your kids to read
for the Web
to scan
RSS
aggregate
synthesize
don't teach your kids to write
online
pen and paper aren't going anywhere
since when do kids need an audience?
no need to hyperlink
make videos
audio
Flash
no connecting, now
no social networking
or online chat
or comments
or PLNs
blogs and twitter?
how self-absorbed
what a bunch of crap
and definitely, absolutely, resolutely, no cell phones
block it all
lock it down
keep it out
it's evil, you know
there's bad stuff out there
gotta keep your children safe
don't you know collaboration is just another word for cheating?
don't you know how much junk is out there?
haven't you ever heard of sexting?
of cyberbullying?
a computer 24-7? no thanks
I don't want them
creating
sharing
thinking
learning
you know they're just going to look at porn
and hook up with predators
we can't trust them
don't do any of it, please
really
'cause I'm doing all of it with my kids
can't wait to see who has a leg up in a decade or two
can you?
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Poetic, yet you got your point across very well. I myself am curious as to who will be more victorious in a decade or two. Well done.
Hripsime M.
Very true and a great message to those who resist the inclusion of technology and collaboration in the classroom. But, I will say from a school where we have one to one laptops and fairly decent technology training and use, some of the basics are still lacking. Are we preparing students for the future if they are capable of reading and utilizing the web but can’t sit down and read a whole book? To be able to analyze what they are reading?
Jim, here’s another angle: Many of us don’t have to worry about those “blog-stopping/wiki-blocking” filters because we don’t have the technology and access to take advantage of these tools anyway! Our own community has twice defeated a tax levy that would enable our District to update its aging equipment and networks. Where will we be 10 years from now? Right here on the outside looking in.
BF
The issue revolves around can students focus on appropriate uses and learning activities for the technology. Without teachers embracing and knowing the technology, its a crap shoot.
I know that whole thing “Don’t Teach Your Kids This Stuff. Please?” was written tongue-in-cheek, but…
I “only” teach in K-5 buildings, but many times hear coments that I shouldn’t teach elementary students such things because… well, because… well there’s bad stuff out there and you’re just leading them into all that bad stuff.
Too often, we don’t know why we “shouldn’t” teach somethings, but we don’t because… well, we don’t really know why.
Yes, who will have the advantage next year, in 5 years, or in 10 years?
I love sarcasm and this is full of it.
BF
Thanks for the inspiration Scott. I think I’ll write a letter to the editor of the local paper somewhat along these lines. The local district is woefully inadequate in addressing all of these issues. If I do it, I’ll post it to my blog and give you credit for providing the inspiration.
Nice!
do u mind if I translate it and put it on my blog (with the reference and a link to your blog).
Scott,
Good one! When I hear push-back about using these tools to teach with, etc I too suggest that it’s OK not to. Go ahead, then. Let’s stop raising the bar at the PowerPoint level. And, let’s keep your blog-stopping/wiki-blocking filter in place, too. Let’s freeze time right here and now – which of course is REALLY at a point ten years ago, but let’s stop it right here and now.
Now, let’s write an article for your District’s newsletter that defends this position to the parents.
ARGH!
Trouble, oh we got trouble,
Right here in River City!
With a capital “T”
That rhymes with “P”
And that stands for Pool,
That stands for pool.
We’ve surely got trouble!
Right here in River City,
Right here!
Gotta figger out a way
To keep the young ones moral after school!
Trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble, trouble…
Interesting comments! Judy
You can keep it out of the schools, or you can embrace and use the technology. Either way, kids WILL learn it. Not teaching it because you aren’t comfortable with or don’t understand, appreciate or get the subject matter is unacceptable and does a disservice to the next generation. It’s the whole sex-ed debate all over again.
Nice
Excellent article.
All the irony of Marc Anthony over Ceaser’s body.
Bravo!
Too true. Although I was reading an argument recently that said that in UK middle-class homes parents are restricting laptop-time, so that their kids developed more advanced speaking and listening skills.
The more enlightened English schools are finally starting to recognise the inequality access gap and are bringing social networking, blogging, mobile phone apps, into curriculum time, so that less well-off kids aren’t disadvantaged.
But we’re still outnumbered by the Canute-ists!
Collaborating, sharing, learning. All fantastic things! But there’s got to be some balance though…
I don’t want to be some kind of head-in-the-sand Luddite, but at the same time, let’s ensure that kids have adequate opportunities to learn how to thrive in the real world before thrusting them headlong into the cyberworld.
And I absolutely disagree with the notion that children need cell phones. Cell phones steal the independence & rationale from children (and truthfully, many adults as well) who carry them. Few adults even have a legitimate need for a cell phone. Children certainly do not!
Well, I mean, I’d rather they know how to do the basics then learn what a chat room is. However, I think having a class mailing list, or IMing the teacher if you need help (or whatever!) is great. Use technology as a tool, but don’t have a class all about blogging.
Think about it: we all learned it without having a class. Didn’t we?
I e-mailed this to all the teachers at my school, my administrators, the district instructional technology department, and the content curriculum specialists. Booyah!
Well done. I really enjoyed it.
Great points. I really enjoyed the ending. Feel free to check out my full response at http://www.carpenteralanaedm310.blogspot.com
I think this is a great way to look at the issue about children and technology. The pros out-weigh the cons in this one definitely.
Mr. McLeod,
I greatly enjoyed this post. I think you definitely hit the target. Children and students who’s parents and teachers don’t teach them to the “technologically literate” are going to be the cause of the same students and children not having the same opportunities as those who are technologically literate. Yes, I did say they were the cause and I think teachers and parents should feel a responsibility to who they are teaching and know that their future rides on what they are being taught today.
I read your blog as an assignment for Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. Feel free to check out my class blog as well as the blog for the class.
Mr. McLeod,
I thoroughly enjoyed reading your post. Your use of sarcasm was hilarious. I, too, believe that students exposed to the internet early will have a heads up on life.
Mr. McLeod,
It seems you are advocating using these internet tools exactly how they are intended, as TOOLS for education. It’s not about a “blogging class” or wiki assignments, it’s about using these things to meet instructional objects in the classroom.
I really enjoyed reading your post. I agree with you completely and can not wait to look back and see how far we have come!
I really enjoyed your post! I completely agree. If we don’t put this stuff out there for kids now, they will never have a leg up in the world.
I enjoyed your post and completely agree. Parents and teachers should definitely incorporate technology in students’ curriculum at an early age.
Very nice, and to the point. Few words, but powerful in what they say. Http://marshalljamesedm310.blogspot.com
I loved the approach and delivery of the passage. It was very powerful and gave insight to many of the fears that technologically illiterate teachers and administrators have.
I am a student in Dr John Strange’s EDM310 class at the University of South Alabama. I thoroughly love your sarcasm. I agree that there are dangers to be found on the internet but there are dangers to be found everywhere. We let our kids play outside and they fall off swings and out of trees but we still let them play. It is all part of learning. We teach them to drive cars knowing what dangers lie on the roadways but they must learn to drive to thrive in our world. Just like driving a car , kids must learn to drive through the highways of technology in order to survive in our ever changing world. With that said, we as teachers must stay ahead of the kids so that we can teach them and properly instruct them on how to use the technology that is at their fingertips.
Mr. McLeod, I read your blog as an assignment for Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 Class at the University of South Alabama. You can check out my class blog as well as the blog for the class. class blog
I enjoyed this post. I think you certainly hit the objective. I agree that Parents and teachers should integrate technology in students’ course at an early age. Teachers are preparing students for the future if they are capable of learning. Now the school system has several different academic programs online for learning especially in the reading area. I don’t think you should take text teaching totally out, but limit yourself. Teachers and parents know their children and what they are capable of learning. Technology is helping advance the world; it contributes to the learning process in the classroom. However, I do agree it’s all about good teaching. Teachers who care about their technique will convey that passion to the students. I still believe that all teachers should be hi-tech.
After the first couple lines, I was preparing myself to be persuaded into not using technology. Then about halfway through, I realized, “Hey! These are all things we need to be teaching our children.”
So, I was a little slow to catch on to the sarcasm. But really, that’s because it wouldn’t surprise me at all if there was something written out there that said basically the same thing, but in a serious tone.
That’s what scares me. There are teachers and parents and administrators who believe using technology to teach is dangerous. But isn’t it more dangerous not to teach it and then end up with students graduating without any clue of how to live and be safe in this world ten years from now?
Thanks for your post! I can’t wait to share it!
Excellent article
Mr.McLeod, my name is Melissa Jones and I was assigned to read this post in my EDM310 class.Very cute, but effective poem. It’s funny how we have all heard those excuses not to let children use computers.Why not teach children to use computers responsibly and in a useful way. I think the classroom is the best place for that. I think anyone can find trouble without a computer. We don’t live in a perfect society and never have.
Every rose has its thorn. We can find bad in almost anything if we look for it. Of course we need to keep our children safe and cannot ignore the potential dangers of the internet. The internet is a tool and if we teach our children how to properly use this tool we can teach them how to avoid danger and open a world of possibilities and learning experiences to them.
Dr. McLeod, I thought this was a very good representation of parents today. Cyber sex crimes and sexting may be a good reason to be afraid, but not to hold your child back. That is what parental controls (which are most likely going to be taken off and reapplied when done) are for. Also, if fears like these, which are mostly from media hype, really dig into the parent, they should be active in learning with the child the effectiveness and usefulness of technology.
I really enjoyed reading your blog post and I am a student of Dr. Strange. If you would like to visit my blog, click here.
Dear Mr. McLeod,
I really enjoyed reading this post, but I have to disagree with it. Students need to know what technology is out there for their disposal. The classroom, I believe isn’t going anywhere, it’s simply getting a makeover that will be a tremendous improvement for students of future generations. Technology I hope will only encourage our students to want to do more!
I read your post for Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class and hope that you will check out my blog along with other students’ in my class.
Dr. McLeod,
I agree and disagree with you. I think the internet is a great teaching tool and wonderful for children to explore but you do have to watch what they are looking at. I also believe that it has made children lazy because texting on cell phones predicts words so they are not learning to spell and relying on that device. Teachers are also letting them use calculators and they can’t even do math anymore because they rely on that device. Thank you for your very interesting article!
Hi Dr. McLeod,
I read your post for an assignment in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama. I completely agree that students who are exposed to technology in their classrooms will be more prosperous. I especially like the way you bring up all the reasons people say we should not use technology in schools, such as the fear students will look at pornography, because although it is unfortunate there are so many bad things out there, this is the world we live in and we need to prepare out students to live in it successfully.
Thank you for your continuous efforts to get teachers implementing technology in their classrooms and for being such a great “agitator.”
Mr. McLeod, I read your blog as an assignment for Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 Class at the University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed reading your post.
Hey Mr. Mcleod. I am reading your blkog for Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class at the University of South Alabama in Mobile. This post was very intersting. i agree with you. I think that students should know the dangers of the internet and ways to prevent danger like predators. With the way technology is rising, I think kids should have access to the internet and other technology.
Hi,
I agree with your comment, I think teaching the kids the positives and the negatives about the internet, will give them a better chance of not exploring things they should be exposed to. But, you can also tell some children both views of a situation and they just sometimes have to explore for themselves, no matter what you tell them or how much you explain the importance of the situation. Some individuals are very curious about everything. Here is a link to my blog http://williamsrcassandraedm310.blogspot.com/. I am in Dr. Stranges EDM 310 CLass.
Thank you I really enjoyed your comment.
CORRECTION!!!
Hi,
I agree with your comment, I think teaching the kids the positives and the negatives about the internet, will give them a better chance of not exploring things they should not be exposed to. But, you can also tell some children both views of a situation and they just sometimes have to explore for themselves, no matter what you tell them or how much you explain the importance of the situation. Some individuals are very curious about everything. Here is a link to my blog http://williamsrcassandraedm310.blogspot.com/. I am in Dr. Stranges EDM 310 CLass.
Thank you I really enjoyed your comment.
Hello Dr. McLeod! I am in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class at The University of South Alabama. I really enjoyed this post and LOVED the sarcasm. Great way to get the point across!
Dr. McLeod,
My name is Alissa Logan. I read your post for a class assignment in my EDM 310 class. At first I was wondering where you were going with it, but I totally agree with what you said. Very nice way to hopefully open some teacher and parents eyes about the whole situation.
Hi, Dr. McLeod,
My name is Laura Ashley Butler and I am also a student from the University of South Alabama, in Dr. Strange’s EDM310 class. I really appreciate your ability to use sarcasm to state the main points of your beliefs without rambling on and making it into a dull lecture. To be honest I don’t know whether to agree or disagree with you. I do believe technology is important in our school systems, yet I also think there should be a line drawn as to when to start exposing our children to the internet. I think younger children are more gullible and therefore susceptible to internet dangers such as predators. It’s important to teach safety along with use of technology. However, our children should not be denied the best education possible, and I think that in today’s society, technology has to be a part of our everyday classroom setting. Yes, the internet may come with many problems, but it also leads to discovery, and I believe our passion for learning should be greater than our worries for trouble.
Feel free to visit my blog here . From there you can also find a link to my professor’s blog, as well as the blogs of all my classmates.
Hi Dr. McLeod
My name is Pauline and I’m a student in Dr. Strange’s EDM 310 class.
Your blog was very sarcastic and almost childish to me, personally. Technology and the internet are a part of the academic curriculum of this day and age, but at the same time it’s cruel to ridicule the adults who care enough to want to protect the innocence of the next generation.
I don’t know your age, but I’m only 25 and I’m grateful I didn’t have all this current technology at my disposal at a young age because I like reading books, being able to spell 3 syllable words without having to go to dictionary.com to check my spelling.
Yes, technology is needed because the current world we live in demands it, but certain people don’t take well to being bullied into a decision and name calling is beyond foolish when we are adults.
I’ve found it enlightening to read the comments from Dr. Strange’s class. While clearly many of them were simply fulfilling a class requirement, it was still interesting to get a few glimmers of thought. Future educators, especially, need to develop their logical thinking and online writing skills. I have a couple questions for the previous poster, Pauline. How is it logical to conclude that if you had had access to technology you would not be able to read books or spell 3 syllable words? Where in the post is name-calling used? And what part of the post led you to conclude that you were being bullied?
Hello Monica ^_^
I didn’t mean to portray that people who are good at all the digital age venues were not good at anything else. I was saying that older generations have a point in how younger generations are too reliant upon technology and not their own brains.
I work with teenagers and it makes me sad sometimes when they are so plugged into their facebooks, or ipods, or blackberries that they don’t notice other things. People who we consider geniuses of the past, like Einstein or the Wright Brothers or Edison, didn’t have access to the tools we have now, but we dare not degrade their genius or creativity because of it.
Further more, I don’t believe taunting people about their own child’s future is a good way to get a point across. I don’t have children yet, but suggesting that someone is not a very good parent because they choose to teach their children other values in addition to technology is beyond foolhardy.