[geeks] Kids and computers...

[Peter L. Wargo]

I spent a good chunk of time last night on the pne with my sister in 
NY.  One of her sons had installed AOL Instant Messager on their iMac, 
and had roasted it but good.  He thought that there wasn't enough room 
(untrue!) so he trashed a goodly amount of stuff.  We finally gave up 
and reloaded from the restore cd, wiping everything out.

I think I've convinced her that her idea to buy an iBook is a good one.  
Then, she has a 'puter that she can keep her stuff on, and the kids 
can't touch.  Plus, if they f**k up the one they are using, THEY have to 
learn to fix it.  If they can't, then they need to learn to read a 
manual. :-)

This incident brights to light something I've said many a time to 
people: Why do you let your kids use your computer?  I had a co-worker 
who really wanted a Mac, but was worried that the kids couldn't continue 
to sign out games from the library and run them at home.  I told him 
that was GREAT!  Get 'em a playstation!

It's funny how parents today seem to be afraid to tell their kids: "This 
is mine, you cannot play with it."  My folks had stuff that was 
hands-off to us kids, and we knew the results if we violated that rule.  
Now, as grandparents, my folks have told the grandkids: "No, you cannot 
play on our computer.  We use it for work (they do genealogy, as well as 
other stuff), so it is not a toy."

I'd be interested to see how those of you with kids handle the situation 
at your home.

-Pete