One Laptop Per Child Doesn’t mean squat

Pictures of third world children receiving a laptop on television commercials caused me to turn my head to the side slightly much in the same way that my dog does when hearing a high pitched noise. It is a wonderful idea of making the world a smaller place and more accessible to these children and I got a warm fuzzy feeling thinking that we are doing something to enrich the lives of less fortunate children. The reason for my head turning to the side was a question of “how are they connecting to the Internet if they live in a third world country?” I can understand that maybe the school they attend might have a connection, but what about in the homes of these children? Do you mean to tell me that they have dirt floors and one water source for the village but they have an Internet connection in their home? I was hoping that these children were using this to enrich their minds to become an asset to their villages and found that these laptops were of no help at all. After reading in our book that families in countries such as Brazil and Peru value television more than electricity I was shocked and horrified. The culture of the United States is seeping into these countries and throwing their values out of whack. I am happy that these laptops are proving to not be of benefit to these children because it shows that technology is not always the best answer. If these children are not scoring any better with the laptops over the children who don’t have them, then let’s just leave them alone and try to find other methods to help. Perhaps we should be looking at help for the teachers so they can help the students.