Most of the times that I have discussed anything “techie” related with friends and family they get a sort of glazed over look on their face as if I am speaking another language. Not too long ago, I got a little surprise from a friend’s kid who was visiting with my son for a few days. During his stay with us, I couldn’t help but notice his curiosity for computers. Instead of getting that glazed over look, his eyes were wide with excitement. I showed him a how a few of the programs operated and gave him a little tour of my desktop, until my son finally ended up diverting his attention with a “Mommmm”. My son Jasper was quite annoyed that I was consuming his friend Elijah’s attention with such things.
When it was time for Elijah to go home, he couldn’t help but ask more questions during our 2 hour journey back to where he lives. It started out as “Sooo…how do you build a web page?”. I started to describe to him what the source code looks like on the back end of a site, getting into the greater than and the less than tags for html. He responded with, “oh, you mean like an href”! I’m thinking this kid knows more about this than I thought. Then I started to get excited. Here’s a kid that is 11 years old, who wants to discuss source code?!? I asked him how he knew about this stuff. He replied with “oh, a friend told me about it”. This is coming from a kid who’s barely gotten his hands on a computer. His mom is (yes) still on dial-up, using an older machine which she only uses to check email from time to time. The kid is definitely cultured, he’s learning Japanese! I still couldn’t forget his techie minded words when he came to mind. The next time that I saw Elijah at a community event, he couldn’t help but ask more questions. This time it was “so Sü, how do you set up a web domain?”. I eagerly responded with answers to his questions.
When I was 11 it was 1984. I think that I saw a computer once at my cousin’s house, but it had no graphical display — only a blinking cursor. In the 11th grade I again saw another computer with a blinking cursor, but had never actually gotten my hands on it to do anything. I often wish that I would have started very young, to have years of experience on my back. If your child has expressed an interest in technical computing, please foster this activity.
In my next post, I will list some simple tips for getting started with your child, some of which “newbie” adults may benefit from as well.
About the author
Su - is a freelance web developer for StarSunflower Studio, LLC. Her interests include spending time with her son Jasper, geekery, indie crafts, wild edibles and medicinals.
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I as a child didn’t have computers,and realize that it seems computers are becoming intergrated in every form of life, and it will benifit our kids to this.
I think also that if a child shows an interest in anything benifical to there future they should be encouraged.
When I was about 7 or 8, my dad showed me how a switch, battery, some wire and a light bulb worked and that literally ‘sparked’ my interest. From there I got into computers and everything ‘tech’. After I was about 11 or so, I can remember my mom and I would go to town every Friday on our weekly shopping trip. She would go to K-Mart or what ever store she needed to, I would go right to Radio Shack. It got to the point that I would walk in, go to the back and hang my jacket on the store room door. Some times the guys that worked there actually told the customers that I might know the answers to their questions, it was funny. People would actually come up to me and asks questions. When my mom came to pick me up, I would always give her the line “How do you feel about furthering my education?” so she would ask what do you want? She never seemed to mind getting me something because I was not asking for a toy car or anything like that but rather a switch, resistor, an IC (Integrated Circuit) chip or some other electronic component. By the time I was in high school, I was able to get in the Vocational Electronics Program at my school and excelled to the point where I ended up in the advanced class by my senior year. After high school I continued to collage where again I did very well earning a degree in Electrical Engineering Technologies. Today, I work with some of the most advanced computer and video equipment on the market assisting local, state and federal law enforcement agencies when ever possible. None of which would have been possible without my parents helping to ‘foster my inner geek’ when I was a kid…
That’s awesome! My parents always fostered my creative growth, but not so much with technology related things. They were more likely to take me hunting or fishing or instigate some sort of artsy crafty type of project for me. What your mom did is super cool. Thanks for sharing your story Stan!
Well, I am hopeful that I am fostering my son’s inner geek. Last year when he was in the 5th grade, he came home with a paper asking if he would like to become a member of the West Michigan Flight Academy. In the paper, it said that this was not an activity that was to be taken lightly, because he had to be interviewed to be in the program, it was going to be hard, there would be sacrifices and lots of hard work.
After school they started building a model plane, last summer they spent it building rockets, I started thinking, “Ok, so this “flight” school is just building model planes and getting them to fly.” Oh boy was I wrong!!!! The session started up this winter, they now hold classes at a small airport, flying every other weekend in a plane, learning all different parameters of aviation and so much more.
This week there was some wonderful news that was announced, this fall, Dick DeVos along with a college that is out of state, they will be opening one of four Aviation High School, this will be a Charter School that will allow the kids to go tuition free. The kids from WMFA will be some of the first to attend the school.
The amount of effort that they are pouring into this flight program will have my son walking out of high school as a Commercial Pilot, and into a six-figure income. So, yes to better his life, to make him a great person and a pilot, I will continue to foster his inner geek as long as it takes!! With as much self sacrifice that is needed!
That’s really exciting! I have much gratitude for the grant programs which enable free tuition for intelligent and motivated young people.
Yes, I agree. We are very lucky that he was chosen for this program.