From NetworkWorld.com via an email from Steve Hargadon:
When Victory Baptist School, a small private school in Millbrook, Ala., was struggling to keep its computer network together last year, an 11-year-old student named Jon Penn stepped in as network manager.
Eleven? Yes, eleven.
Jon not only runs the network, he fixed the virus and filtering problems, upgraded the computers to run faster and better, and helped write the school’s web policy.
The lesson here is not that Jon is a one-of-a-kind special kid. Of course he is. But he’s not THAT uncommon. The uncommon thing is that someone let him have this opportunity. Many, many schools have students with this potential. Given the opportunity, students can provide reliable, thoughtful help with school technology.
Suffering with a school network that lacks resources? The answer may literally be right under your nose.
Sylvia
Go Jon! I feel you are so right about giving student the opportunity to rise to the challenge. We hear so many GenYES stories that start with shy students participating in the program and end up doing amazing things for their teachers and peers. Great post, I love stories like this!
Thank you, GenYes! Finally someone gets the point of this whole story. There is so much talent in the next generation, and if we give them chances to use it in ways that make the world better, they will. If we do not, they will find ways to use it that are destructive. The hi-tech frontier may be relatively new, but raising children has always been like that, right?