At what age do kids have computers/laptops

I think kids learning young is great and I know how invaluable the internet is as a learning tool. The amount of times I think "I wander how that works" or "what does that do" and I just google it and have the information in a matter of seconds. I can't imagine how clueless about everything I would be if I had to actually go look it up in a book or something. Obviously you would want some kind of site filter.

I think in south Korean schools they have lessons as early as primary school were every kid gets a laptop and they are asked to go research things using the internet.

Although in south korea starcraft is practically their national sport
 
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Just get here one, stick some security on it.

And its also the parents responsibility to teach them not to stay on it too long etc.
My PC, overtook the TV years ago, i only watch a couple of hours a week now.

Nowadays its naive to still think old fashioned.
 
I was 4 years old when I got my first computer, a ZX Spectrum with 48KB. I was programming, or at least typing in code from books when I was five. I think kids should have computers available ASAP, well I guess being able to read helps.

The Internet is a completely different thing though. I know it's hard to appreciate computers and the Internet as two different things... but computers dramatically pre-date the Internet and can still be fantastically useful things without the 'net.
 
I wouldnt buy one, get them intrested in sports rarther than sitting on there a** @ that age lol, thats what I told my sister with my nephew - there is plenty of time to sit on computers later on :D

I mean you see how addicted these kids are to games like world of warcrack, specialy the american server I used to play on - it was god awful, the kids lived on TV dinners didnt do exercise and ended up 300 lb @ age 8-10.

Ofcourse thats the parents fault lol, and WORST case scenario! but we all know that kids get what kids want eventually because most ppl break!
 
clv101 said:
The Internet is a completely different thing though. I know it's hard to appreciate computers and the Internet as two different things... .
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I think i should have made the thread title a bit different as i would think myself computer is the internet.

I also had a ZX Spectrum& Commodore 64 when i was younger,I dont find having a computer at a young age a problem but it seems nowadays parents are letting their young children have computers which is also used for the interent,I just think the interent can be dangerous if they are not supervised.

In my ZX Spectrum days there was no internet but nowadays its all about the internet facebook etc...
 
On the subject of this, my little one has access to the internet via an old XP machine. Is there an easy way to add parental control to this machine? I suspect it would be far easier on Windows 7?
 
I got mine when I was 8, between me and my dad - a super slow Celeron thing :p

But now i'm 15, so I built it myself :) - Through middle school (3tier schools) or high schools, there is need of PC to help with homework :)

+ Best to make you an admin account, and she is just a user on a pc, then you can set up security etc. :)
 
I had a computer when I was 3 (I'm 27 now), granted there was no "world wide web" (well not in the sense that people know it today, I was using BBS's and Compuserves browser by the time I was 9-10~), and I had to learn basic DOS commands, but I thank my father greatly for introducing me at such a young age, it helped me in more ways than I could have possibly imagined when growing up.
 
I've used PC's for as long as I can remember (22 now) but I got my "own" PC when I paid for it and built my Athlon 64 system when I was about 15. Been unleashed on the internet for a long time though, but it's a lot less innocent now than it used to be! (if it ever was, I think broadband helped good old internet porn a lot, could never be that bothered on dial-up :p)
 
I'm going to give my son one of my laptops at some point. He's 3 at the moment and is already showing an interest so I'll be doing some local security policy and let him have his own login. He likes counting games etc on kids TV sites.

Haven't quite decided when, but I doub't it will be too far off.
 
The laptop I have atm (in sig) is the first computer that was truly "mine" (as in, used exclusively by me). That said, my dad originally bought an Evesham 486-DX when I was about 5 - technically, it was a family computer since they were expensive at the time, but I ended up being the one who used it most often. I was about 8 or 9 when he then got a Pentium 200Mhz machine - again, I ended up being the de facto owner and user of that computer. We got dialup a few months afterwards, and broadband about 2-3 years later, never looked back.

Funny thing is, unlike most parents here nowadays, my parents being mostly computer noobs never bothered with any sort of restrictions (apart from time restrictions) and trusted that even at that age, I knew more than them about being safe on the internet. I had practically free reign over the entire computing set-up of the household, and we've been virus/phishing/paedo-free since 1997 as a result of it :)
 
Had my first computer at aged 4 - an Amiga :). Then got my first PC at aged 11. Gave me a huge advantage over all of the other kids and I am very thankful to my parents for getting both systems - especially given they would have had little knowledge/experience with computers - my dad even admits I knew more about the Amiga almost immediatly than he did!

Just be careful to manage their time on it - there were times when I did get slightly addicted, but in the end it didnt cost me much. It also kept me off the streets :p
 
My niece whos 11 has had a laptop from the age of 9 and my nephew has had a pc since the age of 5. But both are strictly monitored ie my brother has a network set up in his house that only allows them certain access to certain websites ie kids although my nephew loves youtube for his star wars clips lol.
 
I build my younger brother a computer when he was 10 during his last year in junior school. When the school found out he had a home computer with internet, they give a special login to upload his homework so he had no excuse to not submit it.
 
My friend's 3-year old is a wizz at getting on to youtube and finding episodes of Pocoyo! As a lot of the episodes on youtube are in Spanish, he's picking up a few words too. That's on top of learning English and a couple of versions of Chinese!
 
r3loaded said:
Funny thing is, unlike most parents here nowadays, my parents being mostly computer noobs never bothered with any sort of restrictions (apart from time restrictions) and trusted that even at that age, I knew more than them about being safe on the internet. I had practically free reign over the entire computing set-up of the household, and we've been virus/phishing/paedo-free since 1997 as a result of it :)
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My Dad has always been a software engineer, but he never bothered with any restrictions either! I only jumped onto broadband when I moved to France - went from 56k dialup to 20mb broadband :D
 
Im thinking if i dont manage to sell my pc as a whole system should i store it for a year or two to give to my child or in a year or two get her a laptop,I think most kids rather have laptops well thats all i hear from what chloe has said,I wouldn't have to worry about the internet because the only way she can get the internet is through a powerd network,And im not going to be buying that.
 
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I had my first computer around 10, but I was not allowed Internet unless I was supervised.

But I do agree that the Internet is a dangerous place, So I would ensure I would have strict rules set in place on my browser and in Internet security suite.
 
next doors 5 year old girl has her new laptop, 3.5 year old uses my pc for cbeebies and some hulk/iron man/spiderman stuff on youtube but only with my supervision, he's amazing with the mouse control after only watching me twice:eek:
we did get a hulk v wolverine episode (cartoon) where wolverine stuck his blades into Hulks back, that scared me and I stopped the visits for awhile and if it looks to adult I click out of it, best bet is cbeebies site as theres loads to do there
 
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