My, how the back-to-school kit has changed !
02 September 2008
Back-to-school shopping: words that sink the spirits of Hayes Major and Minor, who have been running amuck since July. But now it’s not jumpers and pencil cases on the shopping list.
In my day, a furry pencil case was the epitome of chic on the first day of the new school year. In the US, the shops are full of back-to-school deals on notebook computers, of course. But I found some suggestions that made me think how times have changed. There is an iPhone, of course and an alarm clock for an iPod/iPhone to make sure they get up in time; a digital camera, billed as being used to take photos of the whiteboard in case you can’t write it down quickly enough before ‘teech’ wipes it clear. The best one though, was the Voltaic backpack. Even though it is made of recycled materials, it costs $249 and ‘harnesses and stores the sun’s energy’ to charge an iPhone, a PSP and a digital camera without the need for an AC outlet.
For older students, there is the obligatory TV for the student digs, of course, only the most compact portable TV has been upgraded to a HDTV flatscreen. There are digital photo frames, so they can remember the folks back home; a digital camera with WiFi so photos can be uploaded to photosharing websites – beats a leather-bound photo album as a gift. Another essential for uni is the Wii Fit, apparently and, this is more like it, a portable fridge for under your student desk which has a car adapter so you can take it with you to beach parties !
Sadly, none of that is available for Hayes Major. He has to be content with packing a calculator with sine, logarithms, tan buttons etc that fits into the palm of his hand; a mobile phone, obviously, so he can talk to his friend at the bus stop while walking to the bus stop; and the odd text book if he remembers. For cool kit, America is ahead of us, but America cites the UK as an aspirational example of technology in schools.
They are only just introducing web-based access for parents. Most schools in the UK have a website, which has the term dates and details of trips and outings. There are school intranets for pupils to communicate with each other, although it is more along the lines of what football team is more rubbish rather than ‘Where can we find Pythagorus’s theory?’. Parents are emailed and sent text messages to remind/advise them of meetings and extra-curricular clubs. Most secondary schools post timetables and the homework on the school website for parents to view, as well as that day’s register to see if junior has checked in ! Teachers have their individual email addresses so any problems can be discussed. Even Hayes Minor’s primary school sends text alerts to parents, usually about after-school clubs being on/cancelled/moved, and issue CDs with all the photos from school trips.
Some things never change though from generation to generation. Hayes Major’s school has not digitised his planner yet, it is still a paper book in which he has to write his homework assignments and in which his teachers write comments – which is why Mr H and I refer to it as his ‘detention record book’ !
School days – were they the best days of your life, or are you glad they’re behind you?
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