the internet is only an up to date textbook. theres no reason they cant gather info off the internet at school and formulate it at home. then again, if they did more work in school then maybe they wouldnt need to do homework!

 

They have to do homework regardless of how well they do in class. I'm astounded at how much my daughter gets, 3 hours per evening. Far too much if you ask me. :rolleyes: They're told that it has to be in typed up and not hand-written. How do they do that without a PC then, unless they're a typist? I'm not on about the research part Rob but the final presentation of it to hand in. Costs me a fortune in printer ink in a year. :rolleyes: Sometimes they've to email it in too. If their school laptop needs to go in to the school laptop Dr. or even sometimes to Toshiba she lends them one so they must be necessary. She couldn't find the problem on my daughter's once so it was 2 weeks at a Toshiba service centre.

Edited January 13, 201015 yr by Victor Meldrew

This is old news. It was discussed in a long thread on DS last week and many said it won't happen as Brown makes promises and doesn't keep them!! I pay the same as everyone else, £13.95 a month for 4 years, for my daughter's laptop under her school's laptop scheme. The parents on Income Support or JSA were allowed to pay less monthly by the head-teacher as she said at the meeting that she didn't want them to not have one through not being able to afford it. She wouldn't allow any reduction for IB though. :(

 

Just seen this, f*** it I have changed my mind, if a scrounger like you can pay £14 a month towards laptop from schools then every scrounger can, most poor people/scroungers spend 10 times that a month on beer and fags etc so they should change their lifestyle to be able to pay 13.95 a month towards their kids' laptop, this scheme your school does should be extended nationally to every school then that way kids don't get free laptops from the state and their parents are paying something towards them, if any poor person made lifestyle changes they could easily afford £13.95 a month

Just seen this, f*** it I have changed my mind, if a scrounger like you can pay £14 a month towards laptop from schools then every scrounger can, most poor people/scroungers spend 10 times that a month on beer and fags etc so they should change their lifestyle to be able to pay 13.95 a month towards their kids' laptop, this scheme your school does should be extended nationally to every school then that way kids don't get free laptops from the state and their parents are paying something towards them, if any poor person made lifestyle changes they could easily afford £13.95 a month

 

:lol: .... soooo true!

Just seen this, f*** it I have changed my mind, if a scrounger like you can pay £14 a month towards laptop from schools then every scrounger can, most poor people/scroungers spend 10 times that a month on beer and fags etc so they should change their lifestyle to be able to pay 13.95 a month towards their kids' laptop, this scheme your school does should be extended nationally to every school then that way kids don't get free laptops from the state and their parents are paying something towards them, if any poor person made lifestyle changes they could easily afford £13.95 a month

 

Agreed B.A. and as I said the ones on the lowest benefit, income suppprt, got it for even less. Would only be about the equivalent of one pint less in a pub.

Edited January 13, 201015 yr by Victor Meldrew

I think it's apalling. I work very hard as a student and my previous laptop broke so I had to buy a new one out of my student loan which really I couldn't afford yet these scroungers get it for free?! Takes the p***. I do understand it can be difficult with children and stuff, but there really is no excuse to not at least look for a job, if you have an attitude where you believe you won't get a job and don't bother looking, of course you're not going to get one. :rolleyes: What annoys me is that they'll pass up simple jobs like cleaning, carers etc. where there is actually a huge demand for those type of jobs. My mother was a single parent when she had me and my sisters and was still working shortly after she had us so I think that single parent excuse is bull$h!t, of course it's difficult, but life's difficult, get over it and actually try to do something.

 

Sorry for going on a rant there. Not sure if I worded it as best as I could but eugh, it pisses me off so much. :/

I think it's apalling. I work very hard as a student and my previous laptop broke so I had to buy a new one out of my student loan which really I couldn't afford yet these scroungers get it for free?! Takes the p***. I do understand it can be difficult with children and stuff, but there really is no excuse to not at least look for a job, if you have an attitude where you believe you won't get a job and don't bother looking, of course you're not going to get one. :rolleyes: What annoys me is that they'll pass up simple jobs like cleaning, carers etc. where there is actually a huge demand for those type of jobs. My mother was a single parent when she had me and my sisters and was still working shortly after she had us so I think that single parent excuse is bull$h!t, of course it's difficult, but life's difficult, get over it and actually try to do something.

 

Sorry for going on a rant there. Not sure if I worded it as best as I could but eugh, it pisses me off so much. :/

 

youve got it spot on jack! well said.

Several people here are commenting as if the computers were for parents. They aren't , they're for their children. If children of low income parents are to do better for themselves they need to do well at school. To do well at school in 2010, you need access to a PC.

 

Of course, there's nothing to stop parents using it as well. They might even use it to look for a job or to create a CV.

Of course, there's nothing to stop parents using it as well. They might even use it to look for a job or to create a CV.

 

yeah right :lol:

yeah right :lol:

I would have put money on either you or Craig to respond in this fashion. But if you want to demonstrate blind prejudice against people less well-off than yourself, it's a free country.

I would have put money on either you or Craig to respond in this fashion. But if you want to demonstrate blind prejudice against people less well-off than yourself, it's a free country.

 

they could go to a net cafe or library if they were that bothered about using a pc.

 

me 'well off'?... im a fcukin GARDENER, taken nowt for a month now... im prejudice against slobs who want everything but wont work for it.

they could go to a net cafe or library if they were that bothered about using a pc.

 

me 'well off'?... im a fcukin GARDENER, taken nowt for a month now... im prejudice against slobs who want everything but wont work for it.

I didn't say you were well-off. I just suggested that you were better off than the people due to receive these PCs. Oh, and I've been out of work for 2 1/2 months and haven't claimed a penny.

I didn't say you were well-off. I just suggested that you were better off than the people due to receive these PCs. Oh, and I've been out of work for 2 1/2 months and haven't claimed a penny.

 

id suggest im not ..... id put it to you that the people getting pcs get benefits, housing/rent allowances, council tax reductions, heating and even food allowances, the very things I work for.

 

why not? are you that well off that you wouldnt get anything? youre daft not to legitimately claim what you are entitled too, youve paid your taxes have you not?

Yes but having Net access isn't just about studying you know. :rolleyes: They surely deserve some leisure time surfing or on Youtube or whatever they want to do after studying. Watching Porn isn't illegal B.A. unless kids are involved. You talk as if it is!

:rofl:

 

 

It is illegal to view porn if you are under 18... and the laptop are for KIDS to LEARN. And by learn I don't mean learning how to find a g-spot... and why should they all get leasure free when everyone else pays for it?

Surprisingly i 110% agree with you. For like the first time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A friend of mine from work is a single parent who works 2 jobs and takes in just about as much as she would on benefits. She doesn't get housing benefit or anything like that, she has to pay for her council house. She can't afford to buy a pc/laptop so her son would benefit under this system. She refuses to sponge off the state and gets an infinite amount of respect from me for working hard to provide for her son when she'd earn more doing nothing.

theres a reason why the poor are poor.... they are either thick or bone idle or both! theres nothing wrong with being poor, nothing wrong with not being academically bright, nothing wrong with wanting a more laid back, easy lifestyle... but if you are in that situation you cannot expect the government to give you things others have worked for. it isnt 'classist' to subscribe to the notion that society isnt equal and if you want something you have to work to earn it.

No, it isn't classist to subscribe to the notion that society isn't equal and if you want something you have to work to earn it. It IS classist to state that the poor are only poor because they're either thick or bone idle. My mother had a 2.1 in Law and we struggled for absolute YEARS (indeed, at the time she died we were still poor even though things were getting better for her) as it just wasn't enough. She was neither thick, nor bone idle, and eventually had to settle for a job as a nursery administrator which paid awfully. You make it seem oh so easy to find a good job, but qualifications don't make it all that much easier - she was turned away from most jobs for being 'over-qualified', and getting a job at a law firm was near on impossible seemingly.

 

Oh, and for the record, your point is fine for things that are luxuries. Computers are essential for education these days, so it's only perpetuating poverty if you disadvantage the poor by cutting them off from making ground...

 

I think it's apalling. I work very hard as a student and my previous laptop broke so I had to buy a new one out of my student loan which really I couldn't afford yet these scroungers get it for free?! Takes the p***. I do understand it can be difficult with children and stuff, but there really is no excuse to not at least look for a job, if you have an attitude where you believe you won't get a job and don't bother looking, of course you're not going to get one. :rolleyes: What annoys me is that they'll pass up simple jobs like cleaning, carers etc. where there is actually a huge demand for those type of jobs. My mother was a single parent when she had me and my sisters and was still working shortly after she had us so I think that single parent excuse is bull$h!t, of course it's difficult, but life's difficult, get over it and actually try to do something.

 

Sorry for going on a rant there. Not sure if I worded it as best as I could but eugh, it pisses me off so much. :/

This bloody culture in Perspectives of just deriding the poor as 'scroungers' is really beginning to f*** me off (and, as we've now seen above, getting ridiculously harmful. I'm more convinced than ever that Crazy Chris is just a propaganda machine that people can hold up as 'proof' of the deserving poor). It's different with university students (I believe this is going towards secondary students?). You're making massive, MASSIVE generalisations about the parents of the children that will be benefitting from this scheme.

 

 

they could go to a net cafe or library if they were that bothered about using a pc.

 

me 'well off'?... im a fcukin GARDENER, taken nowt for a month now... im prejudice against slobs who want everything but wont work for it.

 

 

When you said you were a "successful businessman" I assumed you were a multi-millionaire Rob! Easy mistake I suppose!!

id suggest im not ..... id put it to you that the people getting pcs get benefits, housing/rent allowances, council tax reductions, heating and even food allowances, the very things I work for.

 

why not? are you that well off that you wouldnt get anything? youre daft not to legitimately claim what you are entitled too, youve paid your taxes have you not?

 

 

Only OAP's get heating allowances. People on benefits don't Rob. Neither do they get food allowance. People seem to think they get EVERYTHING paid. :rolleyes:

Edited January 13, 201015 yr by Victor Meldrew

I hope they get a really crap PC/laptop with low spec and the internet access is minimal. Entertainment/social networking and porn sites should be blocked. NO GRADES!

If they're given cast-offs from people or organisations upgrading, then I could probably live with that.. I mean, how many computers go to waste every year because they're considered "obsolete"...? The notion that they should be given some up-to-date, shiny new Dell or Alienware aint on though...

 

A laptop would be a huge benefit for students, but many cant afford it, so, I reckon they should be considered as well for this scheme...

Would it not be better to give the laptops to the schools? This way they could have something like "learning nights" twice a week where kids/teens who don't have access at home could come in and do assignments or some form of ECDL course? I just don't think giving out 230,000 laptops left, right and centre will really help anyone at all. At least if you kept them in the schools then there would be supervision and help if needed? (I don't mean "supervision" as in "monitoring what they're looking-up", more like "keeping track on how the kids are progressing" etc.)

This bloody culture in Perspectives of just deriding the poor as 'scroungers' is really beginning to f*** me off

 

Same. I actually thought this place was generally pretty liberal/left-leaning until recent weeks. Guess not.