Plaid's Laptop

When I first heard of Plaid's policy of giving Laptops to all Welsh schoolchildren, my knee jerk reaction was the same as Peter Black's Having had time to reflect I have changed my mind

When I was in school, many moons ago, there were no computers. We had dictionaries and like most teenage boys I use to engage in the thrill of looking up dirty words in them; we had biology text books and like most teenage boys I use to ogle at the pictures in the reproductive chapters, my schoolmates and I even use to search out the lurid bits in the Bible during RE lessons. Nobody suggested banning schoolchildren from owning books in those days because hormonally driven teenagers abused the books they had.

A side effect of abusing books for teenage pleasures is that, in my dotage, I can now use dictionaries and textbooks with ease and I have a good knowledge of the Bible.

Computers, for better or for worse, are going to play an essential part in our children's lives. If they are going to succeed in life then they must have the best computer skills that our educational system can offer them.

Yes! There are dangers in Plaid's Laptop Computer scheme. Yes! Children being children, will abuse their laptops, but a Luddite reaction to Plaid's policy will put our children at a disadvantage as the world grows to depend more and more on computer technology. The best approach is to embrace Plaid's policy of enabling Welsh children to be at the forefront of computer knowledge by giving them an individual laptop, whilst also ensuring that they learn well the dangers as well as the benefits that computers can bring.

Cymraeg Hen Rech Flin: Cliniaduron y Blaid