Of course, giving kids unsupervised access to computers they don't know how to utilise is going to provide little educational value. But the article distracts from the fact that with the slightest bit of guidance, computer access can be a tremendous asset.

I remember being taught Qbasic as a kid - before then, computers were mysterious gaming devices to me. But with just a few weeks of of guidance by an interested teacher, a whole new world was opened up.

It sickens me that even now, many kids here in Sydney don't have computer access in schools until they're in their teens, and even then it's at atrocious student-to-computer ratios and with little guidance.

Part of the problem is that Luddites in the community misrepresent articles like these, thereby diminishing the public interest towards computers in education.