High School - Supplies - Laptop

[irish dancer]

Our oldest will be in HS next year. DBil just asked if she'll need a laptop (hoping that means he will buy it for her ). Told him we have no idea, guess it's not out of the realm of possibility but it hadn't occured to me.

Does your high schooler have a laptop? If so, did they have it as a freshman?

 

[golfgal]

We have computers for our kids to use and yes, they needed them as freshmen. They have several papers each week they need/needed to type and that alone was enough to buy more computers for us (at the time we had 3 in high school). Many of their books and assignments are now online so they use computers for that as well. They don't take them to school. Some schools provide laptops for students so check the high school website to see if your school does.

 

[sistersledge24]

Got it towards the end of eigth grade, was not new, was father's old one since he got a new one. First new one came on 15th birthday, so before start of 10th grade. I don't believe it's necessary but I do believe we are living in a world where desktop computers are going to go instinct so laptops are the way to go. I find that most high school students DO have laptops of their own. Today it's also easy to find a 300 or 400 dollar laptop, so it's not too big of a deal to get one.

 

[Hannathy]

My DD had a computer but she didn't have a lap top until she was a senior going to college.

High schoolers need a computer they have pretty much complete access to but I don't see that they NEED a lap top as freshman.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

DS14 is a freshman this year, and currently uses my laptop for assignments.

I specifically asked the school about a computer and they said to NOT bring one to school because they couldn't guarantee it wouldn't be lost or stolen.

Next year he is signed up for all Honors classes and since they will be very project heavy he will probably either get a new laptop or I'll get one and he'll inherit this one.

 

[sistersledge24]

A computer is definetly needed for high school, but not a laptop. But like I already said I would still get one because soon that will be all there is and because they are reasonably priced now.

 

[EveDallas]

The high schools here supply a laptop to each student at the beginning of the year.

 

[mamacatnv]

Laptops were not required.
DS got his first laptop when he went to college. Now he has a laptop at his house and a netbook he takes to class/library etc.

DS's highschool had a very mixed demographic, some of those kids didn't even have computers at home so the library had them. They were definately needed but not mandatory to own one.

We have several desktops and when DS was a Freshman we put one into his room with printer and internet access.

 

[mousebymarriage]

DD14 is a freshmen in High School. She attends a public school but, in order to attend the school you must apply and be accepted. Last year there were approx. 1000 applicants and only 266 were accepted(your grades must be excellent as well as the scores on your entrance exam). The school is considered an "academy" and each applicant must choose a major when they apply. They have regular classes and then a class based entirely on their major. DD's major was engineering so a computer was very important. She had a regular PC laptop for a couple of years but, she got a Mac Book Pro for High School and she uses it almost daily for school.

 

[xJenna]

I didn't have my own laptop until this past summer before I came to college. Freshman and sophomore (edit: in high school) year I used the desk top that was in our basement. Then my parents got a laptop and I alternated between the desk top and lap top. Then our basement flooded and the desk top got destroyed so I used the laptop. A high schooler most definitely needs the internet, a lot of assignments are online or need articles. Whether she needs her own computer/laptop is your choice.

 

[shortbun]

The high schools here supply a laptop to each student at the beginning of the year.

Wow, we don't even have basic supplies here in the schools. We bought our son a laptop for his birthday between 7th and 8th grade. He uses it everyday. He has several flashdrives too so he can take his work from home to school without having to take his laptop.

 

[AllisonK]

I graduated in 2007 and while I didn't have a laptop, my family (my parents and I) had two desktops. One was the family computer and the other was, essentially, mine. (My uncle had built it for me when I was in 8th grade - it ran Windows 98 but it ran really well) I used it all the time for homework and research (and printing as our only printer was hooked up to my computer - and our desktop, at the time, was about 7 years old).

We got our "new" desktop in 2005 and after we got that one (it was new then! It barely works now!) I almost never used the old one that was "mine." I got my laptop after graduation. But I always needed a computer - especially the semesters I was taking English (block scheduling).

My mom's best friend's daughter is a freshman in high school and she has a netbook that she uses for school (she has a desktop, too, but she uses the netbook more).

 

[clh2]

DD (a junior) has always had access to a computer. She got her own desktop about 4 years ago. We just got her a laptop at the beginning of her Junior year. It just seemed easier. She is in 2 sports, works, is doing a ton of group projects. (She is in 2 AP classes this year as well.)

There are times when she has an hour or two that is easy to spend at the library working on homework. Having a laptop has made doing homework "on the run" a ton easier.

I agree with the other posters - a high schooler will most likely need internet access as well as easy access to a computer. In our case - the laptop wasn't needed until junior year.

 

[irish dancer]

Thanks everyone for your feedback. She does have computer/internet access at home, DH has a desktop, I have a laptop and we have a very old desktop that is the "kids" computer. She will be comuting quite a distance to/from school so I thought a laptop would give her the flexibility to get work done outside of home. Don't know that we'll go to the expense but if DBil is willing to foot the bill I'm certainly not going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

 

[RitaE]

My High Schooler - we bought him a laptop for his 8th Grade Graduation. He hardly ever uses it now though because he uses his iPAD for nearly everything.

He has a keyboard dock so he can type his papers on it easily and he uses Dropbox to store his files in the cloud for easy download.

 

[PatsGirl]

DD is in the 8th grade and just bought her own netbook to carry in her backpack. She asked for one for Xmas but I didn't really think she needed one and def didn't want her to have unsupervised internet access so I just skipped over that line item on the list Several weeks later she sold her WII stuff (with my permission) so she could buy her netbook. She uses it all the time and its really helping her keep up with her schoolwork. Its a Dell and she paid $179 for it.

 

[hj0519]

She needs computer access, but a laptop isn't necessary. I had a laptop when I was in high school, but that's because I went to boarding school and wasn't interested in lugging a desktop back and forth between school and home.

 

[Anne MN]

DD's are in 10th grade and this year the whole high school were issued netbooks. they have assignments and are required to have them.
we could have purchased the "insurance" thru a 3rd company at school- to a tune of $75 each- called our insurance company and they were added to our renter/electronics policy.
(we are currently in TX- the school district received a grant for the laptops from dell- we are also military- only military kids who live on-post or military kids, or DOD employees who are accepted can transfer if they live off-post- all grades are on-post)

 

[Disnydad]

We got our kids laptops when they were in their sophmore and junior years. Course that was a while ago as they are both off in college now.

 

[SC Minnie]

DD is a junior and laptops are not required at her school. She does need access to a computer and most of classes that require computers work in class have computers in the room for the kids to use. We have a laptop and a desk top at home. We are trying to wait to get DD a new laptop until Christmas. Hopefully we will know by then where she is going to college and what their specs are for a computer.