What a joke ...

[nihil]

Yep, that is quite right IMO. When you are in your formative years you are at your most receptive and find it easiest to learn.

You are also being supported by your family.

I wouldn't wan't my children going on into junior and senior high, socially and educationally disadvantaged because they knew nothing about computers............ only how to toggle the fire switch on an X-box console.

One you have gotten the important things under your belt and behind you, there is plenty of time to play games

Being able to play an X-box won't help you support a family, buy a fancy car, afford exotic vacations, like I do................. qualifications and education will. Just one of the cold hard facts of life?

[ShagDevil]

Growing up, I had the atari...with the crappy old black & white tv (and the rabbit ears - remember those things?). good times baby! Who would have thought that bouncing a block back & forth between two bigger blocks would keep kids entertained for so many hours.
Anyway, every parent has their method for raising their kids. so be it. Bill doesn't let his kids use the computer for too long. Me on the other hand? When I do eventually have kids, I'll put a common sense limit on the computer. You can use it all you want, so long as it doesn't reflect negatively on your grades or social life. When - and if - that happens? Well, you're beat. You painted yourself into that corner, now deal with it. I think that is what many refer to as "tough love".

[nihil]

Hell, we didn't even have a TV until I was 17............ I used to walk across to my grandparents before then.......... I still don't watch that much TV.

Today, there is so much educational stuff available that TVs and computers can form an important part of education?

OK, you can now get ADSL and do a lot of research on the net, but I have given several young relatives and friend's kids encyclopedias, math courses language courses, and whatever on CD and DVD. Because they can be interactive, they are more attractive than dull textbooks, and for lookups they are much faster?

It is a new educational medium................. not much different when I was a kid.......... I could read a history/geography/economics/wildlife book or a comic. Not much different from the choice between that, and playing a game or studying?

Not that I am suggesting that "death by Powerpoint" is a reasonable substitute for proper teaching methods, but we have many more educational vectors than when I was 10!

[westin]

(and the rabbit ears - remember those things?).

I still have rabbit ears ...

My parents kind of took ShagDevil's approach, If my grades started slipping, the computer was the first thing to go... I usually didn't get grounded from social activities... just electronics...