As the dad of a preschooler and a baby, Patrick O’Sullivan is getting some fast lessons in the concept of how kids view sharing.
In a word, skeptically.
With his 4-year-old already laying squatter’s rights to the television, O’Sullivan is giving some thought as to how he’ll manage access to the family computer.
Lucky for him, he’s well equipped to sort it out, as he is associate professor of communications at Illinois State University in Normal and teaches classes on computers and society.
It seems like one computer should be enough for the average family. But then, it used to seem that one television per family was enough, O’Sullivan pointed out.
With kids going back to school and parents using technology at work, it’s easy to see how competition can break out over who gets first dibs on the hardware for homework, work, family bookkeeping, games and so on. Setting up space with everyone in mind can clear the decks for homework and personal computer pursuits, without disputes.
Before giving into whines for another computer, consider how you’re using the one you’ve got now, O’Sullivan advised.
“This is a chance for the family to come to a consensus on what is the computer and what role does it play in the family,” he said.
Evaluating how you and your family use the computer will help determine where it should go. Will it be used mostly for entertainment? Then try putting the computer where the entire family will have access to it, such as a kitchen or living room corner. If the computer is strictly for business, find a dedicated space away from commotion–whether it’s a den, guest bedroom or even a converted closet.
Make sure, too, that the space can be wired properly. A broadband line, coupled with sufficient memory, ensures that everyone can do their research, e-mailing and game playing at top speed, and that means there is more productive time for each family member.
“The real problem is being online. When kids are IM’ing each other [using instant messages] while doing their homework, they are multitasking and when you multitask, things take longer,” said Diane S. Kendall, editor of Children’s Software Press, a Houston-based education and technology advisory and consulting firm. “The frustration goes down and you can get things done much more quickly if you aren’t tossed offline.”
At school and work, children and parents often have access to the latest, greatest software. If they don’t have the same or compatible software on the home computer, it can be a headache to work on school or work files and remember different commands for different computers, said Merle Marsh, director of special projects for Worcester Preparatory School in Berlin, Md., and author of the 1997 book “Everything You Need To Know But Were Afraid to Ask Kids About the Information Superhighway.”
Location-scouting
Exactly where to put the computer is an ongoing annoyance for many families, agree family computer consultants. There’s no obvious place to park the thing.
Put it in the family room, where parents can keep an eye kids’ surfing habits, and computer users are easily distracted by the phone, television and other family members. That’s not a good set-up for concentrating on homework. But if the computer is located in a quiet nook conducive for studying, it’s harder for parents to collaborate with kids on a moment’s notice–and, of course, it’s easier for family members to hide nefarious surfing.
The first step, advises Krysti Lyn, a design consultant with the Home Depot store on North Avenue in Chicago, is to figure out where the family tends to congregate and put the computer nearby.
If an underused kitchen desk is the solution, be sure to stow the computer tower under the desk, and the keyboard on a retractable tray. “If anything spills, you won’t get it on the computer,” she said.
And though nobody really has a spare closet, many families she works with are willing to sacrifice a closet for a tidy computer niche. The standard closet is 27 inches deep, and the typical desk, 24 inches deep. Plus, the wall behind the desk can be used for bulletin board and hanging files for papers, giving each family member a slot for his stuff.
The biggest advantage of a closet is that it has doors. “Most people are honest about how much clutter they put around the computer,” noted Lyn. Closing the door on the mess is an appealing option, especially when the closet opens to a highly visible part of the house, like the family room.
Glen Charles, showroom manager for Home Office Solutions Inc., a specialty furniture store in Glenview, said that “one of the biggest trends out there is the common room for all the kids to use for homework, to avoid buying multiple computers.”
Often, parents assume that a U- or L-shaped setup that runs the computer counter along a wall is the most efficient.
But don’t overlook a central peninsula, because the computer can sit on it and kids can cluster around it, said Charles. When the computer screen is in the center and the keyboard on an undermounted tray that can swing in any direction, kids can spread out their homework in their own spaces, while still turning the computer to their side when they need it.
Not all homework needs to be done on the computer, pointed out O’Sullivan, who also suggests creating a quiet “homework central” near, but not next to, the computer, which should be in a more trafficked area.
In fact, it might even be good for kids to use a pencil and paper to write out drafts longhand and work their math problems.
“Writing isn’t typing. It’s what happens in your head,” he said. “You write differently when you use a pen. And maybe it’s OK to use some books for a research paper. Too many young people think that if you Google [search on the Internet] something, you know everything that there is to know about it. What about reading the encyclopedia for a while?”
– – –
Plugging in at home
Once you’ve figured out what you want to do with your computer and who will use it, determine where you want to park it and how much space you’ll allocate to it.
Placing a computer in a nook adjoining the kitchen allows parents to keep an eye on their children’s homework or game playing while they’re preparing meals.
A computer area at the top of a stair landing utilizes what otherwise may be wasted space. It’s away from the commotion of the main floor but open enough to monitor kids’ activities.
Carving a computer area from closet space can be practical in smaller residences.
If a computer is going to be used mainly for entertainment, consider putting it where the entire family may access it, such as an armoire in the living room.
– – –
The balancing act
Here are ideas for cutting down on squabbles for the computer:
– Create a schedule that blocks out computer time for each family member, based on the daily urgency of the use. Kids with homework get guaranteed daily time, even if that means that Dad has to wait till Saturday morning to send around family e-mails.
– Be sure that the computer schedule works around other set-in-stone family obligations, such as music lessons and soccer games.
– Set up a file-folder system that parallels the personal file folders on the computer desktop. This is where family members can put passwords, account information, printouts and other information that complements their computer files.
– Make sure that the chair used for the computer desk adjusts to accommodate each family member and that kids know how to make the adjustments.
– Review your policies for filling out online forms and ordering with kids, particularly preteens and teens. Pop-up ads and unsolicited e-mails often invite viewers to create accounts, gamble, use credit cards and order items. Kids need to know the family rules for rejecting marketing come-ons and for purchasing through retail and auction sites.
— Joanne Cleaver
