Back To Mayberry

How many times have you written an email and then swiftly hit the send button only to recoil in horror that you sent it to the wrong person or group of people? I think I have finally learned my lesson on that one…maybe.

So can you blame President Bush for not wanting to use email to communicate with his daughters? He’s right; any of his private communications could end up becoming fodder for the dailies and the late night comedians. He’s the President of the United States, who wouldn’t be tempted to try to hack his internet correspondences?

"There has got to be a certain sense of privacy," he told the American Society of Newspaper Editors. "I don't want you reading my personal stuff."

But just because he’s adverse to sending email doesn’t mean he has to be averse to teaching children how to use computers, email and the web. However, it’s crystal clear his fellow Texan, Joe Barton, Chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee for goodness sake, is completely opposed to America’s children learning these essential skills. Barton has fixed his sights on evaporating the E-rate.

“If I had to vote today, I’d vote to abolish it,” he said. “If I can’t kill it, I’m going to do everything I can to so under fund it that it goes away.”

How special.

The E-rate that funds the neediest and poorest school districts in this country and allows these severely disadvantaged districts to access telecom, internet services and construct internal connections. The E-rate that has helped hundreds of thousands of children in our public schools to have half a fighting chance of overcoming the digital divide. The E-rate that the telecommunications companies have been trying to murder ever since its inception because they are, after all, telecommunications companies and that’s the kind of stuff they do.

Meanwhile the University of Illinois just came in 17th at the Association for Computing Machinery International Collegiate Programming Contest or as it’s commonly known, the “programming Olympics.” China was first; Russia was second and then came a long list of Asian and European schools.

“The relatively poor showing of American students is a red flag about how well the United States in general is doing in technology compared with its global rivals,” said Jim Folery, chairman of the Computing Research Association.

Seems it could portend the shift of business from Silicon Valley and other areas to China, Korea and India. Great! More outsourcing. They’re celebrating in China while Joe Barton passionately declares his intentions right here at home. Of course that makes Barton an odd bird; he’s a politician who doesn’t pay attention to polls.

A couple years ago CBS News, National Public Radio and Gallup conducted separate polls regarding preparing youth with technology skills. Parents thought it was hugely important as did Teachers. But the group that really thinks kids need every advantage they can get was Bizness.

In 2002 alone, companies projected the aggregate demand for IT workers at 1.1 million, of which they predicted a shortfall of almost 600,000. Seems to me that were we serious about everyone who wanted a job being able to get one we would make darn sure that we started early in elementary school to prepare these kids for full employment. Seems to me that our national health is at risk as long as we refuse to admit that we are living in the era of the “knowledge based economy.”

Even Verizon understands that simple concept.

On their website at http://verizon.superpages.com/aboutus/literacy.jsp they have this whole thing about reading and computer literacy. They say:

“Verizon believes that the ability to read, write and communicate is the foundation for success in life.”

So maybe somebody from Verizon should call up Barton and clue him in?

My daughter is looking for a new job. She does all her applications through the net. She wouldn’t be able to get a new job were she net illiterate. My son is looking for a summer internship, he cruises the web looking for companies and organizations who are offering internships. My husband spends his whole day transmitting and receiving messages in his important role at the Defense Intelligence Agency. I sit here making a living and scrolling out pithy pontifications and certainly would not be able to do so if I didn’t have some command of how this whole system works.

Yet we got Barney Fife Barton running around Capitol Hill threatening to “kill” what may be some kid’s only hope for breaking out of a life of poverty and minimum wage jobs. I just hope that somebody forces this dolt to keep his only bullet in his pocket and his gun pointed at the floor.


Sources:
Preparing Youth With Technology Skills: What Voters Think (The Children’s Partnership, California Community Technology Policy Group, PolicyLink)
ZDNet News, April 7, 2005
Reuters, April 14, 2005
Forbes, April 13, 2005
TR Daily, April 12, 2005