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There are many people who have filtered internet and let their kids use internet. What does a frum yeshivah kid “need” or have on the internet? Please enlighten me? Just because hes bored, let him read a book or get him some games even computer games or a nintendo DS or whatever these hand held time wasters are called if necessary?
I feel like its bad chinuch to let your kid on the net for no reason. He has plenty of time to surf when he’s an adult.
Please define “kid.”
The Wolf
I’m guessing that kid in this context does not mean Child specifically (thus excluding teens), WIY probably means anyone who is still under a parents control and doesn’t need it
WIY; I couldn’t agree more, people today are just looking for trouble, however some teenagers that are in college going for degrees need the net for research & assignments.
I mean anyone pre college age and still under their parents authority.
Well, I have three high schoolers at home right now. All of them have school assignments that require the use of the internet. All of them have friends scattered around the country and globe and use it to keep in touch with them.
Do they “have to” keep in touch with friends? No, of course not. But I think that it’s good that they do so.
Do they “have to” do their school assignments? Absolutely.
Yes, sometimes my kids use the net for “play,” and yes, perhaps there are other options available for that. I should point out that my kids do a lot of play away from the net as well — board games are a strong component of parent-child bonding in my household.
Your question of “What does a frum yeshivah kid ‘need’ or have on the internet?” and follow-up sentences implies that there is no need whatsoever. I disagree. Of course, that doesn’t mean carte blanche either — like everything else in life, there is a happy medium.
I’d rather my kids retain their childhood friendships rather than lose them. I’d rather my kids be able to keep in touch with family around the globe. And I’d rather they learn to use the Internet responsibly. And I’d definitely rather they be able to do their homework.
Of course, that’s what I determined is right for *my* kids. YMMV for your own.
The Wolf
They should be taught to use the Internet responsibly while still under the parents control. They will get to it eventually, better have them prepared for it.
“Well, I have three high schoolers at home right now. All of them have school assignments that require the use of the internet.”
Thats interesting, when I was in high school i was able to do my assignments without internet…Do they really must use it or is it a matter of convenience? Just curious if now its mandatory to use internet for schoolwork.
Thats interesting, when I was in high school i was able to do my assignments without internet…
Well, so did I. But then again, when I was in high school, we still had to chisel our assignments onto stone tablets.
Do they really must use it or is it a matter of convenience? Just curious if now its mandatory to use internet for schoolwork.
Required. Two of the three schools regularly post assignments and supplementary materials on the school web site. They also encourage students to sign up to the schools’ mailing list. The third is less tech-savvy, but still encourages research on the web.
In addition, keep in mind that, when I was a kid, I (like many people) had an encyclopedia in the house. If I needed to do a report on boron, for example, my first step would be to go to the encyclopedia. Nowadays, bound encyclopedias are going the way of the dodo. In addition, telling my kids to go to the library doesn’t help either — very often they don’t get home in time to go to the library to do research.
The Wolf
The internet has up to date information for school assignments. Encyclopaedia’s information is stale by the time it is printed. Where we live in Israel, my young grandchildren [in a dati school] have a couple of school subjects via the internet instead of books. The internet can be very dangerous if not supervised by parents and teachers properly, but if it is used properly it can open a whole world of information to growing young minds.
“But then again, when I was in high school, we still had to chisel our assignments onto stone tablets.”-
Ha, how many lines did you get:)
But im not as old as you….and i find it quite surprising that schools are advocating internet, and what if someone doesn’t have it? They switch schools?
and what if someone doesn’t have it? They switch schools?
Perhaps they simply recognize that everyone who would apply to the school has access to the internet. Heck, the application asked for the kids’ email address.
The Wolf
And then ppl wonder why there are so many kids with internet… I mean i know that for college, its a necessity to have internet and i can understand that, but for kids? Thats a hard thing to understand.
Bad news if a yeshiva or bais yakov requires internet usage to complete assignments.
Bad news if a yeshiva or bais yakov requires internet usage to complete assignments.
On the contrary… I think it’s a good thing.
1. It helps to teach them to use the Internet.
1a. It gives parents the chance to teach them to use it responsibly when they are younger.
2. It helps to teach them some of the research skills that they should have by the time they get to college.
3. It helps to ensure that they have access to the most up-to-date information for their assignments.
The Wolf
To be exposed to the brilliant, insightful,and inspiring analyses of Popa.
(I didn’t misspell analysis, I made it plural- you flake!)
when i was in high school (and college actually) i had papers that required at least one internet source.
“Just because hes bored, let him read a book or get him some games even computer games or a nintendo DS or whatever these hand held time wasters are called if necessary?”
“I feel like its bad chinuch to let your kid on the net for no reason.”
Trying to understand why internet usage properly supervised in any worse a “time waster” than any of the “approved” time wasters mentioned. I cant wait until my favorite “time waster”, Plants VS Zombies is available for the Blackberry.
I suppose “wasting time” isnt considered a “reason”?
Why? I’ll tell you why, First of all they DON’T need it.
We live in the age of technology, so parents instead of giving their children the time of day, playing board games and taking them out to the park, or arcades, they put them online, so
they can have some peace and quiet so the parents themselves
can poke at their own blackberries & blueberries, palms, & laptops & i-pods, j-pods (in the near future!) (with a hechsher!!)
(and i’m $ure double the price!!!)
Knowing how time consuming the internet can be, thus guaranteeing them some real time for themselves. Not all Parents of course.
instead of giving their children the time of day, playing board games and taking them out to the park, or arcades, they put them online,
I know you’re not addressing me specifically, but I would like to state that I mentioned above that board-games (parents and kids) were an important “ritual” in our home.
While I’m all for kids spending quality time with their parents, there also has to be some “down time” for parents as well. If I take a nap on Shabbos afternoon and allow my kids to go out or read or play by themselves, I don’t consider that neglect. Likewise, if I allow my kid some time to play a game on-line, I don’t consider that neglect either. On the contrary, it’s allowing the kid to learn to entertain themselves for a while — something that they should be able to do after a certain point.
Are there parents who are irresponsible and use the internet (and, in the previous generation, the TV) as a babysitter? Certainly. But don’t paste everyone who allows their kids to go online for fun with the same brush.
The Wolf
Kids don’t “need” the internet, but nobody “needs” it.
In certain schools, like Wolfish said, the teachers post the homework assignments online. Or in school they have filtered internet and you have to do research for assignments during class.
If you don’t want your kid to have to use the internet, send them to a different school. I went to a school that when kids asked if they could do stuff online, the teacher wasn’t allowed to say yes, she had to say it in a roundabout way cuz the school doesn’t want to promote internet usage. (And half the kids have email :))
Bad news if a yeshiva or bais yakov requires internet usage to complete assignments.
Why?
WellInformedYid hit the nail on the head. All of these reasons for allowing kids to use internet are logical and reasonable. But they don’t take into consideration the other side of the scale–that just one wrong move to a bad website can draw a kid into a dark world that will be very hard to extricate from.
Of course kids need internet, how else will the be able to keep up with YWN!
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