There are too many children that can’t read but can play games on an iPad or recite lyric to explicit songs. “There are some children that can’t even spell their names!” Many parents are concerned about the lack of rigor taking place in Georgia schools.
This Georgia mom, Nicole Kimbro, speaks out on the ongoing debate surrounding computers taking over the need for textbooks!
Yesterday I posted on the subject of how school systems are doing away with textbooks and are leaning toward more of a computer-based learning situation, for not only our secondary education students, but elementary education students as well.
In my opinion, I feel like that just shouldn’t be happening. Who is to say that every child owns a computer or laptop? Not to mention if their parents even afford internet usage in the first place. In some households every penny has to be accounted for and many households don’t have the necessary space for extra. There are schools that make families feel like they aren’t putting the children’s education first if they can’t provide Internet. Many families are doing all that they can. Parents are working two and three jobs to put a roof over the head, food on the table and clean clothes on the backs of the children is all that can be done.
I just feel like computers are not reliable, especially when there’s a bad storm, and we have many of those in Georgia at times. If this is the route that school systems are leaning towards, instead of textbooks then there should be personal laptops sent home with every child along with a wireless device so that students may excel academically. A lot of educators and parents had a lot to say about my post.
Some felt like where there’s a will there’s a way, as far as parents using their smartphones, going to the library, and so on and so forth. I feel like if the school systems can invest in apple and dell computers they can do the same by putting out new textbooks with new and updated history and information. It’s like the school system is making our kids very lazy and incompetent of a lot of things. For instance, there is no more cursive writing in schools anymore, now they are taking away textbooks, then we wonder why kids are so many brain tumors and such. It’s a lot that is entailed with this whole no textbook thing and going to a computer-based learning system.
These were just a few thoughts of mine and many parents.
Jason has worked in education for over 15 years as a teacher, blogger and community advocate. He speaks and writes primarily about the need to improve education for Black boys, particularly increasing the number of Black male educators in schools. In addition to blogging here at EdLanta, Jason is also a featured writer at Education Post.