Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ucbvax!UDCVAX.BITNET!TCORAM
From: TCORAM@UDCVAX.BITNET (maroC ddoT)
Newsgroups: comp.society.futures
Subject: Re: Knowledge Gap
Message-ID: <8712171619.AA06474@bu-cs.bu.edu>
Date: 17 Dec 87 14:29:00 GMT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Distribution: world
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 65

George W. Leach writes:

>         Although, our children are exposed to technology at an early age in
>school, there are other factors that determine how their futures will be
>shaped.  One of these factors is the childs parents and their emphasis that
>is placed upon education and learning.

I agree.  Education starts in the home.

>Without support from the home
>environment, no school can be expected to shape our children's futures.  The
>education must begin at home, and it is the rare parent who gets that involved
>in the first place.  Furthermore, those types of parents tend to be better
>educated themselves.  One rarely finds parents with low levels of education
>and low paying jobs, who can instill in their children the urge to learn.

No, I disagree here.  I think that many GOOD parents want thier children to
do much better than they.  You don't have to have a college education to
realize that a college education can lead to higher paying jobs. A parent
with a low level of education may depend more on schools as the source of
learning for the child simply because they lack formal education and the
'learning' motivation to provide education in the home.

What they can motivate is the urge to 'get ahead' and do well.  The way
toward this is through education.

In fact, I have found that some children from highly educated families tend
to be discouraged from learning and higher education. Is this rebellion?

Don't mistake bad parents (ones who don't encourage thier children to do
well) for low income (poorly educated) parents who cannot educate thier
children themselves nor afford private schools.


A great deal of these kids don't get ahead (or care to learn) because of
the overwhelming social/peer pressures caused by the enviroment.

> In fact, many people in technical
>positions here send their kids to private, not public school, to keep the
>influence of the local people out of the way of their kids' education.

Trust me.  It doesn't always work.  I went to a private school (Catholic school)
and I still found that I was influenced by the locals.  It was like two
different worlds.  I went home everyday from school to a place where I was
looked down upon because I went to a private school. This did not help
encourage me to pursue learning.  School is only 6 hours out of a day...

>We must find a way to not only improved educational opportunities for all,
>but to provide kids from a disadvantaged background with a greater level of
>desire for education.  Throwing money at the problem is not the answer, it
>never is.  There must be a way to help kids overcome the negative influences
>that come from a background that does not encourage education and bettering
>oneself.

Yes. And until we find a way, current technology will always be science-fiction
instead of science to most people.

         _____________________________________________________________
        |                   maroC ddoT | Todd Coram                   |
        |         tcoram@udcvax.bitnet | tentib.xavcdu@maroct         |
        |                   remmargorP | Programmer                   |
        | retneC retupmoC cimedacA CDU | UDC Academic Computer Center |
        |_____________________________________________________________|

"Trust me, I know what I'm doing..."