Aside from using printing services for books, work sheets, and tests, school are not introducing computers at a younger age. Even children who are very young can be taught to use a computer successfully. Many school districts are now introducing children to computers in kindergarten because they see the benefits of giving kids a jump on the world of technology. If they aren’t used to computers as they go through school, they’ll end up getting behind their peers. That could put them at a serious disadvantage when they head out into the ‘real’ world of college and a job when their required education is finished. There are arguments made that children are being taught computers – and a lot of other things – too early, but there doesn’t appear to be a change in sight.
If you’re going to teach your child computer usage at a young age, or if you’re going to allow the school to do so, it’s very important that you make sure what you’re showing your child is age-appropriate. Kids are curious, and that’s generally a good thing. It can become a problem, though, when you give them too much free reign over the Internet and all of the things out there. It’s usually a larger problem as children get older, but even very young children can be curious and may stumble upon areas of the Internet they should be leaving alone.
A kindergarten classroom will carefully monitor what a child is viewing on the Internet, so there really isn’t too much of a worry. Young children are not left unattended on computers at school and many districts have blocking programs that protect children from seeing sites that aren’t acceptable for their age. Of course, these programs also block some sites that aren’t inappropriate, so children will miss out on some of the information they could have gotten from the Internet. This is a small price to pay, though, for safety.