Question for the week of 9/25/16:
Consider
the poor adults trying to cope with the digital world. They have to decide what
kids should do in a world that is changing so fast nobody can keep track of it.
I’m going to describe ten decisions made by an adult. Your job is to decide
whether you agree with the decision. If you stand at number 1 on the continuum,
you totally disagree with the adult. If you stand at number 10, you totally
agree. But you don’t have to fully agree or disagree. You can choose a number
in the middle if you want. You can also change your mind if you like, and move
to another number after you hear what others have to say. Here are the
situations:
1.
A math teacher says I won’t let my students use calculators or computers. They have to
do all their math problems by hand and head. Otherwise they won’t learn a
thing.
2.
A mother says My
daughter is a wonderful piano player, so I don’t let her text. She might cramp
her thumbs if she doesn.
3.
A Christian minister says You can’t email God. You have to talk to God directly.
So I tell my families to ban all computers and other electronic devices all day
long every Sunday.
4.
A father says I
love computers and I trust my kids so I think they should use computers and
smartphones whenever they want.
5.
A parent says I
must be stupid. I keep having to ask my kids how to use my smartphone.
6.
A mother says I
hope my son studies computer science in college because that’s how you make the
most money these days.
7.
A police officer says Kids can get in trouble over the internet. So parents
ought to keep an eye on them every time they use a computer. Moms and dads
should always check the computer history to see what their kids have been
doing.
8.
A parent says Everybody
in our family has a computer and a cell phone, and we use them all the time. I
think we need to agree to turn them off for an hour every day so we can talk to
each other.
9.
A dad says I
promised to buy my daughter a smartphone as soon as she can recite the UU
Principles from memory.
10. A parent
says I won’t let my kids play real
sports. They can get hurt doing that. And I’d rather have them home where I can
keep an eye on them.
