This makes about as much sense to me as banning all personal computers in the eighties from schools. You are putting these kids at a decided disadvantage.

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protimewaster 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

It's limited to "younger students", and keeping younger students away from computers also isn't a bad idea IMO.

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hgoel 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Keeping younger students away from computers is dumb, but we do need to go back to the basic computer literacy classes of the early/mid 2000s, e.g. typing, basics of desktop operating systems like the filesystem, using word, powerpoint etc. It's appalling how lacking high schoolers seem to be in these kinds of skills.

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esalman 2 days ago | parent [-]

> Keeping younger students away from computers is dumb

No. There's proven research that shows reading a book or writing with a pen or pencil is much more stimulating and beneficial compared to looking at a screen or tapping/typing on it.

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hgoel 2 days ago | parent [-]

But they also need to have computer skills if they're going to survive in this world... it's too late to teach them once they're old enough to have the safeguards removed.

	▲	esalman 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		If you let them develop critical thinking skills, it'll actually be easier to reach them.

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anonymars 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

I think young exposure to real computers (where you create, and have to figure things out; not consumption machines) provides access to a level of fluency that is otherwise difficult or impossible to achieve, just like many other skills (language, music...)

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orwin 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

I'm pretty sure we ran these experiments in France in the late 80s/early 90s, it was pretty clear that exposure to real computers was useless in elementary school, and even in middle school technology teachers weren't a big fans of teaching computer skills before 14 (basically around the same time as they taught tin soldering).

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protimewaster 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I think that can be done without having them sit in front of a computer or even really using a computer, though. Lots of kids have stories about wandering over to a college campus when they were in middle school, wandering into a room with the keypunch machines, and learning about computers that way. Very few of those kids directly used a computer, but they learned it anyway.

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anonymars 2 days ago | parent [-]

How prevalent do you think are children that live within wandering distance of a college that lets random children enter and use their computers?

	▲	protimewaster 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Colleges with key punches? Probably pretty close to zero. My point was more that, I think it's incorrect to assert that it's necessary for kids to directly use a computer in order to effectively learn about them. We have tons of concrete evidence of kids learning to be excellent at programming and understanding computers without directly using one. It happened with the kids I described.

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SoftTalker 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

So give your kid an Apple-II or TRS-80 then?

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dymk 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Kids can play on slot machines when they’re older. An 8 year old doesn’t need Claude.

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jansport123 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

i wouldn't let my kid use a phone or a computer till a certain age. age 1 - 11 is about having strong foundations in basics and these basics haven't really changed in a couple of decades at least. Reading, critical thinking, math etc... all don't need computers to a certain age. I say this as someone who got on a pc at age 10 and have made a living off being interested in computers.

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boredpeter 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

[dead]

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GlacierFox 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

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kolinko 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Current chatbots are better tutors than an average school teacher imho.

Not saying that we should replace ones with the other ones, but I’d say from age 11-12 and up kids should be taught how to use AI well.

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nekiwo 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Communicating with adults and handling the friction of conversing with others is a skill students need to gain, especially at this age. Talking to a machine that will always suit your style of talking isn't always good.

	▲	jjk166 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		The purpose of a teacher is not to be a challenging conversational partner.

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azuanrb 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Sure, if the kids want to learn. But let’s be honest, most of them, or even us, are just going to use the chatbot directly for the answer.

	▲	jjk166 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		If the kids don't want to learn, and the schools aren't looking for anything beyond their ability to produce an answer, that's not an AI problem.

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lkey 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

There is significant evidence against this, and very little for it beyond your 'honest opinion'.

A recent study showed just 2 out of tens of thousands of children in China improved their performance after beginning to use AI assistance.

People will take the shortcut in front of them, absent enforcement, and this is how it works in work and in school. Putting it onto any individual to 'use it well' is to misunderstand the system that is being constructed.

	▲	kolinko 2 days ago \| parent [-]
		Link to research? The papers I’ve seen didn’t really claim what their headlines claim.

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lazzlazzlazz 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

There's nearly zero AI zealotry on here. As of the time of my posting, almost every comment here on Hacker News is both supportive of the measure and largely against AI. This is now a neo-Luddite messaging board.

	▲	orwin 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		You should try to read books on the luddite movement (or use an AI to dive into the specifics I guess) before trying to use it to disparage someone. As it stands, to me the luddites were pragmatic workers who stood up for themselves, so it is quite a compliment.