Kids have it EASY these days...

[WayAbvPar]

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KIRKLAND - The day of the stuffed full, backbreaking, weighted down backpack is going away at Kirkland's Eastside Preparatory School.

"A friend of mind has a backpack that's about 30 pounds," describes ninth grader Luke Eden.

The packs will be replaced by something so small.

The school is one of only four in the country using USB flash drives from California's SanDisk.

While flash drives aren't new, this is the first one designed specifically for students.

Eden has a graphing calculator, a dictionary, and a book for English class on his flash drive. Eventually, he should have all his literature and science books loaded onto the tiny drive, accessible anywhere there's a computer.

"It's a lot easier to use it on more than one computer with the SanDisk because you can take it to different places and just plug it in, load it up and you can use it," he says.

Teachers believe the way students can use it will help them focus on learning by cutting out some of the busywork.

Gone are the days of flipping through pages of a book to find a section for a report.

"It just does it automatically and highlights it so you don't have to skim through the whole book to find one little piece of text that you want," says ninth grader Katie Wecker.

Science teacher Jonathan Briggs will eventually download his textbooks plus his own notes to students and Web sites he wants them to check out on all his students' flash drives.

"It's almost like a toy to them to play with it. So if they can have fun playing with science, that's all the better," Briggs says. "I think anything that engages students is something that teachers should take advantage of."

The flash drives are so new to Eastside Prep, students are still lugging around their heavy backpacks.

But as they get to know their new technology, they hope to leave their backpacks at home and have everything from Shakespeare to Physics hanging on a flash drive on a lanyard around their necks.

Goddamn that is cool. I am jealous of these kids, and the ones after them who will have even cooler shit to make school more tolerable. And here I thought I had it good with the Atari 400 in the back of the classroom with "States and Capitals" on it in 1981.

[Llava]

Man, only 8 or so years ago I was carrying around a 500 pound backpack with every book for every class in it, and then some.  My school didn't have lockers.

[Arnold]

He gives them his notes too; sweet!  I wouldn't  go to class and could still ace the tests!

[Sobelius]

Maybe kids eyes will adapt, too.

Screen resolution is still not improving to the point where it even semi-rivals print. I've been reading from computer displays for 20 years and still do not find it suitable for more than brief periods of time, for gathering brief "info-bits". When I need to grasp or understand something in-depth, and when doing so requires hours of reading, I find I have to have printed text.

I often wish display resolution followed Moore's Law the way CPU power has.

[Sairon]

Every student got a laptop instead when I was in high school. A long with wireless internet access it was the pwn.

[Pococurante]

Damn spoiled kids.

[Llava]

They also didn't have buses when I went.  We had to walk.  And shoes hadn't been invented, so we were barefoot.  And global warming hadn't happened, so it was through the snow.  Uphill.  With a 300lb backpack.

[Strazos]

I too perfer printed text for long periods of research reading.

These kids will be shocked when they get to college and have to actually carry something.

I can't believe the kid was crying about a 30lbs backpack. That was pretty standard for a lot of kids I knew in HS who were honors-types.

I was too lazy to be an honors student, so I left books in my locker and didn't care.

[Nebu]

I can see long-term financial incentives for this: Fewer lost/stolen textbooks (assuming school districts buy copyright releases for the electronic form) and lower copying costs.  The problem I envision is that most school districts in this country cannot afford to maintain an appropriate number of updated computers to satisfy student demand.  This would also likely require schools to have someone on the payroll for maintenence and upkeep of the expanded number of terminals. 

On a lighter note: given the current administration, shouldn't we be preparing our children for learning in a post-apocalyptic world with only charcoal and bark as equipment?

[Shockeye]

I prefer books when it comes to studying anything. Down with technology! Burn the computers! Burn the admins!

[Pococurante]

Quickly Emile! Throw your sabots into the machinery! Eat the bourgois!

[NiX]

These kids will be shocked when they get to college and have to actually carry something.

I can't believe the kid was crying about a 30lbs backpack. That was pretty standard for a lot of kids I knew in HS who were honors-types.

Yeah, being in college now and learning that law books get mighty hefty. 30 lbs? I can reach that just throwing my psych and english book in the same bag. Add in my law books and we're well over 80lbs. My poor feeble body 

[Strazos]

Thankfully, my books are pretty light this semester. One class has no book, one has a small leaflet-like paperback. The other three have a few paperbacks each.


Then again, I never have to carry all of my books around at once, or even all the books for a single class.

I cry more about book Prices than their Weight.

[NiX]

Monday is like a test for my course. 6 hours of law and that means all my law books come too. Not to mention I have to go to work right after school on mondays too.

[Big Gulp]

Ah, poor baby.  A whole thirty pounds?  Is it now this country's goal to breed a generation of uber-pussies?

How about instead of all the fucking gadgets we instead focus on gutting the public schools root and branch, instituting vouchers so kids can get a real education from teachers who don't belong to a union that only encourages teacher apathy and laziness?  Great you've got your Flash drive, laptop and iPod; how's about we try actually teaching core curriculum like math, science, and history?

[Merusk]

Book load is one of the big 'soccer mom' concerns of the last 2 years, Gulp.  Realize you don't have kids, but I figured you'd have seen a story on it on your local news sometime.  All sorts of talk about kids carrying too much weight on their backs, and improperly and developing back problems. (That's why backpacks come with wheels and a handle now) Never give a percentage of the kids, just that it's happened in the usual sensationalist news manner.

As for college.  What the fuck, the only class I ever had to carry a book for every day were my Literature and English courses.  The rest were lectures that were supplimental to the books.  Notepads, pens, maybe a handout package... that's all I carried to 90% of my classes.

[Big Gulp]

Book load is one of the big 'soccer mom' concerns of the last 2 years, Gulp. 

I get really really tired of this whole phenomena of people in their McMansions living vicariously through their kids while chauffering them to karate, soccer, play dates, yadda yadda.  How about a little bit less indulgence here, folks?  The entire goal of having kids is to raise them to be self-sufficient members of society who can eventually move the fuck out of your house.  All this is other horseshit is just idiotic molly coddling.

[NiX]

As for college.  What the fuck, the only class I ever had to carry a book for every day were my Literature and English courses.  The rest were lectures that were supplimental to the books.  Notepads, pens, maybe a handout package... that's all I carried to 90% of my classes.

I envy you. On top of having to bring books I have to bring binders to write notes in. A lot of my classes require the book as a means to give a more hands on feel so you can read, highlight and comprehend on your own time what the hell they're talking about.

[Strazos]

Sometimes, some of my classes refer to the books, so I like having with me...just in case.

It's not like my books are exceedingly heavy or anything.



And I just seethe when I see people using rolling backpacks anywhere....lazy fucks.
Though it is different when its a professor carrying a shitton of stuff. Profs carry a lot of stuff sometimes.

[MrHat]

Carrying books around are actually one of the reasons I stopped studying in high school and decided to just wing all the tests that came my way.

[TheWalrus]

 And still none of the damn kids we hire can count fucking change back to the customer. Sky is blue, I know.

[Llava]

Carrying books around are actually one of the reasons I stopped studying in high school and decided to just wing all the tests that came my way.

Hey, me too.  Except it wasn't about not carrying books, mostly just because I was lazy.  And because I aced the tests anyways.  And I found I actually retained the information better if I just concentrated on the lecture instead of worrying about copying everything down in time.

[Strazos]

Hey, me too.  Except it wasn't about not carrying books, mostly just because I was lazy.  And because I aced the tests anyways.  And I found I actually retained the information better if I just concentrated on the lecture instead of worrying about copying everything down in time.

Pfft, I still do that. I only have 1 professor whose class I can actually do notes for.

That's because he kicks ass.

[Llava]

Hey, me too.  Except it wasn't about not carrying books, mostly just because I was lazy.  And because I aced the tests anyways.  And I found I actually retained the information better if I just concentrated on the lecture instead of worrying about copying everything down in time.

Pfft, I still do that. I only have 1 professor whose class I can actually do notes for.

That's because he kicks ass.

Perhaps I should note that I use the past tense strictly because I'm done with school.  I stuck with that practice up until I graduated and, if I ever go back for a Master's, will likely still take the absolute minimum notes.

[schild]

I bought 5 [text]books total through my time at UMD. Mostly because I was a TA for 4 semesters. Keke? ^_^ I specify textbooks because I took some classes specifically for the books they were discussing, particularly the film ones.

[Ironwood]

Oddly enough, I agree wholeheartedly with Gulp.

Pussification of Kids is ruining them.

Really.

If we eliminate hardship from childrens lives, we refuse to teach them one of the most important of life's lessons.

Life IS pain.

(Everything said above stated entirely seriously.)

[Pococurante]

And like BG do you not have kids?

[Sky]

Ah, poor baby.  A whole thirty pounds?  Is it now this country's goal to breed a generation of uber-pussies?

I was in an antique bookstore on vacation. They had a guide for boys, dating back over a hundred years. I saw sections like 'amateur taxidermy' and 'snowball warfare' and sighed for the old days when being a kid weeded out the weak or at least gave them coping skills. I didn't have an easy childhood, being something of a geek, but it did make me a wise and strong man. I see people who have had a fairly easy life and they have an almost complete lack of problem solving skills and crumble under adversity. I get a kick out of it, honestly.

[Ironwood]

And like BG do you not have kids?

I'm not like BG in that regard, no.

Nevertheless, I don't think you can disregard someone's opinion solely on that reason.  Looking around today I find far, far too many examples of spoiled children who are taking the lesson that they are special and can get away with anything.  This type of attitude breeds all sorts of additional problems, which I won't go into here for fear that I sound like I'm 90 or summat.

Hooray for technology and bringing kids into the new millenium and whatnot.  But if it were the case that the sole reason for doing it is to make life easier on little precious, well, I think we lost sight of what we should be trying to teach the children, as I stated.  Of course, here is not really the thread to thrash all this out, unless you want a major derail.

[Llava]

Life IS pain.

Man.

Is there anything the Dread Pirate Roberts DIDN'T know?

[Pococurante]

Nevertheless, I don't think you can disregard someone's opinion solely on that reason.

It's not that I disregard the opinions - I'm just better equipped to understand when outrage conflicts with reality.  The problem with sweeping statements is that while fun and breezy to toss them out if there's too much heat in an under-informed opinion the person just looks silly... ;)

Children whose skeletal/musculature are still forming don't need to carry thirty pound backpacks all day - when this happens in the third world we call it abuse.  "Forming character" takes a backseat to causing lifelong physical problems.  Not to mention the psychological damage caused be teaching kids contempt for their books & studies.  I don't coddle my children but I don't toss them in the deep end while invoking Darwin either.

Besides, listening to the kidless foam at the mouth about "bad parents" is on par with hearing virgins talk about how disgusting sex is... one just has to smile. :D

[Ironwood]

Sigh.

Dude, a greater percentage of parents these days are bad parents.

There's a generic statement which I welcome attacks on.  But those assholes that you went to school with ?  They're your age now and breeding.

Yeah, that's right.

Couple that with the 'protections' of the law and you have a situation where Gangs of Kids roam streets looking for people to stab.  Seriously.  Not, like, vandalise or abuse or Apple Scrump, but actively stab another human being.  Yeah, that's right.  Where I used to live SUCKED.

My Mother is a Head of Department in one of the larger Strathclyde schools.  The stories that come out about Parents AND children these days just simply cannot be borne.  It's fine for you (and maybe I) to shake our heads at those 'blaming the parents' and say 'Well, I'm doing a grand job with Jemimah' but it's different when big fucking jimmy breaks your kids kneecaps at school and his parents SIMPLY DON'T GIVE A FUCK.

It's just as bad to make sweeping statements as it is to think that because you're fine, everyone's fine.  I put it to you that you're no more equipped to understand when outrage conflicts with reality.  YOUR reality, maybe...

Anyway, "Children whose skeletal/musculature are still forming don't need to carry thirty pound backpacks all day - when this happens in the third world we call it abuse. "

Do we ?  I put it to you that we don't give a rats ass.  Further, if Children who are 'developing' are SERIOUSLY carting backpacks that weigh too much for a single school day, I put it to you that someone, somewhere, is a Goddamn Fucking Moron.

 

[schild]

I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark here, but:

Your glass has no water in it at all, does it?

[Ironwood]

I don't even have a fucking glass anymore mate.

[Pococurante]

An empty glass is a tragic thing.