Laptops and Kids/Teens?

Question

Do you think Middle school/High school students NEED their own laptop?

Why or why not?

Answer 1

No.  The home computer should be just fine for work projects and so forth.  This way you can monitor them better too.

Answer 2

It depends.  I mean how many other people use the family computer?  My  14 year old daughter has one because my 10 year old and myself share the family computer.

Answer 3

it a double edged sword they need to know how to use them and so many schools are requiring them, but most kids today don't know how to write and that is a shame

EDIT oops I was thinking just needing a computer in general, but if you're talking about a laptop in addition to a home computer absolutly not. THey might want one but they don't NEED one. the other poster even said it himself he needs one to listen to music. last i checked you can still listen to music on a $2.00 radio  might not be the best but its not something they would NEED

Answer 4

Well no, they don't NEED a laptop. I dont think there is anything wrong with them having one though. Computer can teach a lot, there is a lot of good things on the internet, you just have to moniter what they are doing on it.

Answer 5

high school yes/probably. middle school no. college YES!!

Answer 6

Me and my twin bro do-we're entering 8th grade. I need it because my younger sibs are usually on the comp and when i want to be alone i just go in my room on my laptop and listen to music.

Answer 7

it would be helpful, if you can afford it, my son had a laptop since he was 10, now hes 16

Answer 8

i don't think kids teens need their own computer because they only need it for school junk and research.

now the want them but they need 1 hour at least a day of exercises.

and this is coming from a 18 female who spends all my time on my laptop i bought with my own money.

i say they can have their own when they can buy it themselves

Answer 9

im entering high school and just got my own laptop, but my parents agreed that i needed my own laptop b/c the 'family' computer i was always on and i would be in the middle of something and my mom would need to get on..ands its better this way now b/c we can both get the things done that we need to get done w/out getting in eachothers way..

plus my mom knows all the websites that i use/get on a regular basis so she trusts me with that..and then i just have all of my pics and music for my ipod on here..but besides that thats all i use it for then pf course the internet for research and stuff..

it should really depend on what the parents think and how it would fit into your budget..

Answer 10

No.

My daughter (14) is in high school and she has her own desktop pc, it's in the kitchen so we figured it was public, but apparently not public enough....  Last spring we found out she had been talking to a 19 year old online whom she had never met (she started talking to him when she was 13), but her friend insisted she had, so my daughter thought it was safe.  When we found a chat they had with him saying he loved her and was coming to our city to visit her during the summer we did some investigating and found he had lied to her about his name, and sent false pictures.  The only thing that was true was that he was 19...still too old for her.  And her friend that said she met him, lied about that too.  

Terrified she was speaking with a dangerous pedophile I tracked the guys phone number (I could be a PI, lol) and called his mother.  His mother put a stop to their contact.  I told her if she didn't, I was calling the police.  

My daughter's pc has been unplugged all summer.  She uses our computer now and when school starts she'll have as much access as she needs for school projects and 1 hour a day for social networking...supervised.  Same goes for my son.  I'll get less computer time, but oh well...I'll live.  

Teens get more than a day to do a school project. They don't need their own computer, only access to one.  

Answer 11

When I was growing up I had my own lap top. I didn't need one but it did help with school.

Answer 12

I got my first laptop for my Bar Mitzvah in 7th grade. I have used it as my personal computer--I write essays, stories, browse the Internet, IM, and listen to music on it. It taught me responsibility--it was one of the few expensive things I had at the time, so making sure that the laptop was safe, was top priority.

In homes where there are multiple children, it makes sense for there to be multiple computers--especially when they're so affordable. It's a lesson in life that kids can appreciate. I know that it also saves parents nightly arguments when everyone wants one, solitary computer.

Answer 13

In general I think it's just a want not a need.  I'm 17 and a junior in HS but I go to a private school and am not required to have one.  I bought a notebook last year and I use it for web development and design.  http://www.brianswank.com/

Under the circumstances I think I almost might have needed one, but that's cause I live on the computer to make money.  I still could have used my parent's computer but it would have been annoying sharing esp since I need virtual servers, etc.  So NO...Teens do not need their own laptops.  

Answer 14

Yes, it is definetely a want. I was fine using our home desktop computer (it was actually mine, my brother gave it to me when he got back from Iraq as a present because he's a technology freak. It had been in my room but I actually put it in my moms room, she didn't even tell me to, it was just easier). Between that, the school's computer lab and the public library I was fine!

I'm starting college now, however, and I do have a laptop since I'll be travelling back and forth from campus. I agree that it is ridiculous for schools to require them. I really wouldn't want my future children to have them in middle school and high school. Home office computers are enough, they don't need to be on them 24/7.

Answer 15

You dont need a laptop until college. It may be convent but they could manage just fine in a school computer lab