I read the article A Digital Back-To-School Checklist on August 29, 2013 from the website New York Times. I choose this article because I am very interested in what other people believe that they should give their kids for back to school time.

               This article is about what students of all ages need for back to school time. It gives advice on home electronics, middle school, and high school, and college. It gives what kind of devices are most helpful and even tells you where to buy them for the cheapest price.

For the home, it says that each house should have a desk-top computer with wireless internet and a reliable printer with a hefty supply of paper and ink. I agree with this completely and think every house should be equipped with this kind of technology for everyone to share. In middle school, they start to talk about how parents should give their kid the latest smartphone and laptop. I completely disagree with this, I didn’t get my first smartphone until the end of 8th grade and I just got my first laptop right before the start of junior year! You do not need a MacBook Air and iPhone 5 in 6th grade, it just isn’t necessary! High School is about the time when you should buy all of the nice technology because they can use it throughout grade 9-12 and bring it to college with them. There isn’t a need to buy new technology every three years, like the article is suggesting. Not everyone has the money to spoil their children with laptops and cell phones, because chances are, they won’t be getting used for educational purposes anyway.

As for educational purposes, it would be great if everyone could have their own laptop and smartphone, but unfortunately, that just isn’t probable for this day in age. All citizens in this country don’t have the money to waste $2,000 on a fancy touchscreen computer that will probably only get used for social networking. In my classroom, I will understand if my students don’t have the proper materials to get their work done, especially if I teach in a poor school district. I won’t expect each of my students to have the latest technology, and I find it sick how this paper finds it no big deal to suggest all of these devices that cost thousands of dollars when you add them all together.