1378 Internet access and schools
You probably saw the photo story two days ago about the "riot" in Richmond VA as 5,500 people showed up to purchase phased out, used laptops from Henrico County schools. USAToday described the stampede as causing 17 injuries with 4 hospitalizations.On the front page of that issue was a little "snapshot" chart that showed in 1995 only 3% of schools with a 50% or more minority enrollment had internet access; now 89% of those schools do. Ten years is a lifetime in cyberspace. But what about those children in the schools. Has the internet made any difference in educating them?
Do these children have fathers in the home; mothers supervising homework; are they in church on Sunday; are their neighbors watching out for their welfare?
Now, that would be a net to get excited about!
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I was in Henrico Co that day...going to see my step-grandchildren before they left for their dad's house in Ohio. In fact, I took my teenager grandson clothes shopping. It was fun -- he says he likes it better when I'm with him. Knows how to *win* my heart!
We talked about the 50.00 laptop sale. He'd wanted to go. His mom and my son explained those were the very laptops he'd been given use of last year --each child in his grade was given one. They reminded him that he hadn't particularly taken good care of the one he had and someone would be buying it. That made him pause a bit. Nothing like having gummit property you don't take care of and then get the chance to buy.
Then the grown-ups explained greed...that many people who were going there spent more on the shoes they would be wearing than they'd be putting out on the laptop. In addition, where "give-aways" are concerned, people can be most unruly...
It was a vivid lesson for him. All week Henrico county officials were excusing the mess they made. Personally, I think they all ought to be made to take IQ tests and the ones who don't pass should find other lines of work...sheesh.
Meanwhile, I think I will get Johanthan one of the T-shirts they're selling on e-bay: "I survived the Henrico County laptop sale" (he *did* survive, you see, by not going).
I think we met before at Neuro-Conservative when you were giving out liberal:conservative ratios among librarians. I'm still in shock...though it tells me why I don't get to the library much anymore.
I used to live there...told them my fines were endowing one of the new chairs that the homeless guys come in to sleep on for a few hours every day.
Ummm..speaking of IQ tests. Your first verification word was so strange I typed it wrong. It seemed to have a 'j' or was that dot on the 'l' next to it, making it an 'i'? Then what was the other letter. The last two *seemed* to be 'w' and 'n' but they ran together so that was a guess.
Obviously I made it eventually.
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