The technology age hits high school

[golfgal]

Our twins are taking drivers ed this trimester in school. Every week they are supposed to get an article related to driving (accidents, new laws, etc.) and write a paragraph summary of the article. Not a big deal except they are supposed to cut the article out of a newspaper-they are not allowed to use the internet but WE DON"T GET A NEWSPAPER. The kids in the class keep telling the teacher this but he can't seem to understand that. Oh well.

 

[disney1990]

Makes no sense to me. The articles on the newspaper websites are the same articles that are in the newspaper. They could just print them out. DUH

 

[locolala]

A newspaper costs 25 cents at the grocery store, I don't think it's that difficult to snag one the next time you're there..

 

[Rora]

Makes no sense to me. The articles on the newspaper websites are the same articles that are in the newspaper. They could just print them out. DUH

This would make sense but if this teacher is really picky he's not going to be happy they're using the internet to get the article..

OP- this seems silly. I hope disney1990s suggestion works for your twins! If worse comes to worse, you'll just have to steal your neighbor's newspapers weekly...

 

[littlemermaidlvr]

It was funny to come across this discussion topic because I am a college student currently taking a class called "Writing in Cyberspace" (in fact, joining this forum is a part of an assignment). For the last few weeks we have been debating the physical written word (textbooks, newspapers, novels) versus the online medium. We are divided over which is really best, but I would love to know why you don't receive a newspaper? Did you discontinue your subscription when you found yourself on the internet more? Or did you never get one delivered?

 

[Handbag Lady]

When I was in High School, we had to write every question in black and answer them in all red by hand. This was for US History and we had 20 questions a day, some of which were essay questions.

We argued that doing it on a type-writer (showing my age) would have been so much neater and they can write in red...but nope, we had to do it all by hand.

You'll just have to find a newspaper. I still don't understand why in both of our situations.

 

[JLiz]

I'm 29. I grew up in the cell phone/computer/internet age. I'm also a teacher and I understand the teacher's point of view. He wants his students to be exposed to current events. He wants them to realize that driving laws change frequently and to instill in his students that they will need to stay abreast of changes in driving laws. That the "I didn't know" excuse won't save them from a ticket. Also, he probably wants it to be from a physical paper because then it is more likely to be a local paper (as opposed to USA Today) and therefor be more relevant.

I teach science, not driver's ed, but I know when I ask students to find a relevant, current article on a topic they all rush to the computers and google the topic. Then I get 30 papers all on the exact same article.

All that being said, I do not think it is fair to penalize students' grades because they don't get newspaper delivery. Your son can't just go to the library because he needs to attach the article, right? In that case, I think you should write a friendly, polite email requesting that your son will do the assignment, but will have to attach the article from the newspaper's web site. You should ensure that your son gets the articles from the paper's site and that they are current (within the week). I'm sure his teacher would be disappointed if he attached an article from 2007. He may be willing to work with you or he may not.

Or, as a last suggestion, you could just purchase the paper from the grocery store when you do your weekly shopping. That's what we do and we find the coupons alone more than pay for the $1 cost.

 

[golfgal]

It was funny to come across this discussion topic because I am a college student currently taking a class called "Writing in Cyberspace" (in fact, joining this forum is a part of an assignment). For the last few weeks we have been debating the physical written word (textbooks, newspapers, novels) versus the online medium. We are divided over which is really best, but I would love to know why you don't receive a newspaper? Did you discontinue your subscription when you found yourself on the internet more? Or did you never get one delivered?

Our local paper is a weekly paper and it is online as well. When we moved here we really had no reason to subscribe and got used to reading it online. I didn't want to pay for news that was a week old that I already knew.

We had MAJOR issues with the Minneapolis paper so we stopped our subscription to that. Yes, I could buy one at the store, actually we would need 2, but why should I when they can go online for free and print the exact same article? It can be a requirement that they have to take it from a local paper online too.

As for being exposed to different media, sorry, I just don't buy that. We live in an age where pretty much everything is on the internet and that is only going to be more of the case as our kids get older so why wouldn't you encourage them to use a media that will be around. I seriously doubt in 10 years there will even be such a thing as a "newspaper" any more. I used to be a teacher too and I don't see the point. To me it is like cursive writing, they still teach it but hardly any kids use it any more, it just isn't all that necessary since they are required to type papers.

 

[dislaney]

My kids have various assignments using the "newspaper" and not one of their teachers requires an actual newspaper- the internet is fine for all their assignments. I think the newspaper will become a thing of the past in the not so distant future.

 

[Breezy_Carol]

A newspaper costs 25 cents at the grocery store, I don't think it's that difficult to snag one the next time you're there..

I don't know where you get a 25 cent newspaper. Our local small town paper is 75 cents.

littlemermaidlvr We used to get the Baltimore paper but they stopped delivering to this area so we read online. And before that, the service was sporadic, another reason we stopped home delivery. We live between Wilmingotn and Baltimore and can check both papers online.

 

[Cindy B]

Check when the local library discards the newspaper.. you might be able to get iteor free. Some stores discard newspapers after the due date so you may be able to find something there as well.

Would a "free" paper work? Around here there is a small daily newspaper printed that is passed out for free near the bus/train stations (The Metro in Philly--) it may have what you need.

I had a few college assignment with an "actual newspaper" -- I never had an issue by asking libraries for the newspaper. (HINT: School libraries always were very accommodating! check your local public school or even university!)

 

[princessmom29]

I am a high school teacher and I think a PP hit the nail on the head about the internet and teens. They will often just submit the first garbage they find, even when you give specific instrunctions on valid sources or articles. I am thinking that mabye this teacher just finds it easier to limit where the article comes from than to wade through all the internet junk. My kids will shoot right to google and give me the first thing that pops up wether it really is useful or not, or worse, go to wikki and use that as a source for something, regardless of me telling them what is valid or not. They don't look at dates, and often try to use things that are very outdated. They don't really get that being on the internet doesn't make it factual. Not to mention the plagerism. I am a science teacher and have taken to using turnitin.com for research papers bcasue it takes me so long to backcheck sources from the internet and weed out the garbage I am getting and what has just been copied and pasted. I basically have to read everything they are citing, and that is really tough to do with 70+ papers to grade. I see it every year on the first paper until they get that I really am going to check. I think they are testing the waters to see which teachers check sources. It may be easier fort his teacher to avoid all that on such a simple assignment and limit it to newspaper articles. I would ask if internet printouts specificalyl of recent newspaper articles were aceptable. I cannot see it mattering if they are the same articles that appear in the paper.

 

[laurie31]

Could your kids look online at the paper, and then if theuy find an appropriate article THEN go buy it? That way you wouldn't waste your money buying a paper if there was not an article in there that would work.

I know it's a bummer to spend money on something you can get for free, but it's cheaper than a lot of unnecessary stuff the school makes you buy, so I'd probably just not worry about it. (the money I mean, not the assignment! LOL!)

 

[disney1990]

I wish you lived closer; we get the newspaper every single day -- and read it.

 

[Fire14]

A newspaper costs 25 cents at the grocery store, I don't think it's that difficult to snag one the next time you're there..

Ours are more like 75 cents now

 

[locolala]

Ok, 75 cents then lol. Shows how long it's been since I bought one! We have it delivered here, I'll look tomorrow to see how much it is. I hate reading news online, there's nothing like sitting with a cup of coffee and a bagel while reading the paper.