Dear LPG,

I want to give you an introduction to my grandson.  He is twelve and a really astute young man.  Children in general know about computers before they get to school these days and he was no exception to that rule.  If you have two-year-old grandchildren and visit them it seems, that you are likely to find them pressing the keypad of a tablet while you have a cup of tea with their mum.

I think that the computer is, in some ways a really great innovation.  It appears that there is nothing that they cannot do for you if your plan is to communicate electronically, but are they impairing our grandchildren’s need to learn how to spell and add up? 

The last time I visited, I challenged him to a test of mental arithmetic.  It was so bad that he asked me what it was when I first mentioned it.  I only asked one question, but I did my best impression of Anne Robinson as she delivered her questions in the programme the Weakest Link.

To my surprise he only managed the right answer on his third attempt when asked, ‘What is 7 multiplied by 8? ’.  He told me that the children in his class would have used an electronic calculator to work that one out and that he did most of his homework on his laptop. So, times tables are no longer vital mathematical tools and when it came to essay writing he relies on the spell check which irons out most of the spelling he is not sure of for him.

Now that I am getting to grips with what a computer can do, I have found him to be a really good teacher (as long as I only try to learn a bit at a time). He is an excellent teacher when it comes to showing me how to search for information or download a document but he still finds my spelling and basic mathematical skills useful from time to time.

So, I can only conclude that we elders can often challenge the young we come across when it comes to the basic lessons that we think should be learned and retained at school, but perhaps being able to depend on the computer for basic spelling and mathematical data leaves more space in their heads for the retention of other vital facts.

SC, Catford.

LPG found a couple of online points of view…

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