Kids don't need computer lessons

[MkfIbK7a]

i am in highschool and they have the most idiotic computer class where they teach you how to use excell arrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh they act like we are complete morons!!!!!!!!!!!

i do programng in multiple languages and they want to teach me EXCELL

[mips]

Kids don't care about breaking stuff that doesn't belong to them, adults do. People don't get scared as they grow older, they learn respect for others.

I don´t agree with this. I´ve seen people go into a flat panic and it was not due to respect for others. Somehow we develop fear, itś a weird thing.

[Brunellus]

I don´t agree with this. I´ve seen people go into a flat panic and it was not due to respect for others. Somehow we develop fear, itś a weird thing.

Its' very simple. we learn (well, most of us do) about CONSEQUENCES.

As children, we are blissfully unaware of the consequences of our actions. Age and maturity make us aware of these.

As grownups, nobody will come along and make it all better for us. So we either learn how to fix things ourselves or at least try not to make things worse.

[euler_fan]

i am in highschool and they have the most idiotic computer class where they teach you how to use excell arrrrrgggggggghhhhhhhh they act like we are complete morons!!!!!!!!!!!

i do programng in multiple languages and they want to teach me EXCELL

I'm in college now, but my experience is similar from both levels of education. I have the distinct feeling with hindsight that one of the big reasons for some of the behavior described can be attributed to most teachers in high school (and quite a few in college) being barely better than computer illiterate, and hardly willing to let a student experiment, learn independently, or work creatively for fear if something breaks they will look like fools for not being able to fix it. Thus the prescriptive instructions to do things just like the teacher (which is the slow, hard way).

What is really hilarious is that my college has a "computer competency" requirement. In short, if you can you open a MSWord doc, type, copy, paste, search the Internet, use the electronic card catalog, and send an email you pass the requirement.

I'm tempted to ask for a refund on the tuition it paid to support the programs it takes to have and administer that requirement.

[mips]

I'm in college now, but my experience is similar from both levels of education. I have the distinct feeling with hindsight that one of the big reasons for some of the behavior described can be attributed to most teachers in high school (and quite a few in college) being barely better than computer illiterate, and hardly willing to let a student experiment, learn independently, or work creatively for fear if something breaks they will look like fools for not being able to fix it. Thus the prescriptive instructions to do things just like the teacher (which is the slow, hard way).

What is really hilarious is that my college has a "computer competency" requirement. In short, if you can you open a MSWord doc, type, copy, paste, search the Internet, use the electronic card catalog, and send an email you pass the requirement.

I'm tempted to ask for a refund on the tuition it paid to support the programs it takes to have and administer that requirement.

Can you not apply for exemption from these subject if you can prove you are more than competent in performing them ?

I did this for two of my subjects, English & Computer literacy and i was granted exemption with full credit and in the process saved some money.

[rabid9797]

[*]Bypass parental control software;

Over to you guys ......

funny thing about that.... a couple years ago(3-4) when i was in my early teens my parents put parental software to filter websites and the like and it all reported back to them by email. naturally, being a rebel and(already at the time) wayy ahead of them in computer use and content viewing(i was using websites like b0g.org and 4chan.org since i was 12), this was a huge problem for me.

i thought about the problem, and found the only solution that worked completey. i researched linux distro's and found ubuntu. the rest is history....

[LavaHot]

I find it funny that few have said that kids might need help with Linux. When I was younger (good god I'm only 20), I had friends that knew more stuff than I did, then I slowly surpassed them. I'm still the go-to geek for my circle of friends, and outside of that, I'm a geek god. (Not to be confused with Greek god, I'm nowhere near that good looking.) But taking all of that into consideration, I have little programming experience and even less Linux experience. Sure, there's lots kids know about computing and electronics, but they still don't know a lot more. Then there's lots of folks my age who are next to clueless about how computers work. All they know is what they need to know to run their favorite programs, i.e. iTunes, a web browser, etc. I really wish they taught technical skills in High school, i.e. linux, C, how to use forums for research. Its really too bad that we don't teach these basic things in our public schools.

[max.diems]

Yeah, C programming would b nice to learn. But I can't afford a twenty dollar book now (which is the cheapest I can find).

[euler_fan]

Can you not apply for exemption from these subject if you can prove you are more than competent in performing them ?

I did this for two of my subjects, English & Computer literacy and i was granted exemption with full credit and in the process saved some money.

Well . . . unfortunately where I go to school they are often less interested in actually matching you with the best curriculum and more with pushing you through. I did transfer in two English classes, and I tested past my entire language requirement and placed into integral calculus. However, the program is actually quite rigid without doing something like that to make space in one's schedule.

Also, there is no direct fee for the computer competency requirement. It is just rolled into everything else you pay. And to top it all off, it would probably take more effort to get that one little requirement waved than to just go ahead and complete it. Besides, how would I demonstrate I am more than capable of meeting the requirement? They would insist on my doing something equivalent. I didn't have the opportunity to get heavy into computing until college, so I could hardly say "go to my website" like some of the other people posting here.

The school I attend is a private Catholic university whose primary product is business majors and which caters to rich folks kids who are too well of to go to the public school down the road, and probably neither smart nor motivated enough to go someplace better. Okay, I will admit that is probably overstating things a bit, but it is more true than not.

To make matters worse, I tutor for the math department and see many of my fellow students who are basically scared blind of a command line interface and absolutely unwilling to learn a thing if it is not spoon-fed to them. Especially where computers are concerned.

[euler_fan]

Yeah, C programming would b nice to learn. But I can't afford a twenty dollar book now (which is the cheapest I can find).

Yeah . . . but at least there are plenty of books and free compilers, etc for that. I have to learn Fortran77 for a research project. I think I will invest in a newer C/C++ book after that and add a more "contemporary" language. Right now all I can really do is some Mathematica, R, and SAS code. None of those are all that useful outside their own environments, unfortunately. If I haven't made it completely clear I'm a math major by now, that sure should have done it