Techno Kids Is it Equal Oppurtunity for All?

Techno Kids Is it Equal Oppurtunity for All?

I’ve been planning a dinner party for a week now. It’s my first time doing this and I’m a little nervous. At first I wasn’t sure whom to invite but my English teacher helped me decide. He encouraged me to invite people who will help me learn about how children are becoming more computer literate at such a young age, and if it is all children or only a select group.

The guest list consists of Anne Hird, the author of the book Learning from Cyber Savvy Students. She researched a school called Cityview; it is a privatized, college-prepatory school for children who come from low-income families. She studied the students’ knowledge and expertise at exploring the Internet. Through one-on-one conversations with individual students, Anne found that even though the students often knew more than the teacher did, they never questioned the teacher’s authority or knowledge. Anne was able to get on the students level and listen to what they had to say. Even when a girl rambled about how she liked downloading Loony Toon posters off the Internet, Anne put it in her book as valid information.1

David Trend, next on the list, is the author of the book Welcome to Cyberschool and he has very strong opinions that the Internet is geared to middle to upper class white families. He sites the U.S. Commerce statistics that show low-income families are twenty percent less likely to have Internet access then middle to upper class families. David’s tone is harsh when he speaks about conservative people and corporations. Descriptions like crass and “solitary and internally embattled men” sprinkle the pages when talking about big businesses and authors of cyberpunk novels.2

The last guest is Barbie. She has her own Website with educational games and links to sites that encourage individualism and education for girls around the ages of six to ten. Plus, she’ll add a little spice to the mix.

I decided to make Paia, a Spanish rice dish. The main ingredient is yellow rice, but I put in chicken and green peas, too. I stayed away from a meat and potatoes type entrée because David seemed like he wouldn’t appreciate the typical Middle America food. The Paia gave the meal some culture.