BISD 5th Graders to Get Internet Ready Tablets by October. Is 5th Grade Too Late?

BISD's latest superintendent to likely to be fired and receive salary in full, Esperanza Zendejas, was quoted in today's Brownsville Herald, stating that BISD fifth graders will be soon receiving a tablet with a keyboard.

Great move!

Kids are already getting educated by the computer. Recently Nena and I were behind a three year old girl in the passenger seat of an H.E.B. shopping cart, pressing all the buttons on her tablet.  We have no idea if she was gaming, buying stock or messaging her internet boyfriends.

What we do know is that any education in 2016 that excludes computer skills will not satisfy her or her peers.

Superintendent Zendejas, choosing to issue tables to fifth graders, may have felt that younger kids would not be responsible with a tablet, but millions of other kids, much younger, all across the U.S., are already exploring the internet, pushing themselves far ahead of Brownsville kids.

Give the kids a tablet in kindergarten or first grade, not 5th grade, at nearly the halfway point of their secular education.  Incorporate keyboard training with learning the ABCs. 

Yesterday, CNN interviewed 5 kids from an up north school about the presidential election.  4 of the kids were 7, one was 6.  All were loquacious and informed about Clinton and Trump.  Even if they were handpicked, their skill set was impressive.

These are the kids Brownsville students will be competing with in the next dozen years or so for well-paying jobs outside the region.  Locally, the jobs will be limited.

Young kids need keyboard and ten-key instruction to navigate 21st century equipment.