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Voice-over: Computers. For U-High students, computers mean a lot, with many school assignments being posted online on Schoology and/or Turnitin.com. Computers also represent independence, especially for students who come from the environment of school-supplied Chromebooks in Lab’s middle and lower schools.

Voice over: Ninth grader Adrian Wyers is one such student. He has been here —

Adrian: … since Nursery Four …

Voice over: — and has stayed at Lab since. Adrian finds the computer he bought for high school was harder to maintain.

Adrian: I feel more pressure to take good care of it. It’s definitely a lot more fragile than the school Chromebooks and obviously more expensive.

Voice over: Adrian’s computer, a 13-inch MacBook Pro, also represents the responsibilities he gained in high school.

Adrian: It’s definitely important to be responsible with it, because having your own computer eliminates school, like, security extensions that would limit you accessing certain websites. So, it’s a lot more tempting to not be on task, and like I said earlier it’s also just important to take good care of it.

Voice over: From the perspective of eighth grade science teacher Darren Fuller, the school and parents of students do not teach their kids enough about safety online to aptly prepare them for having their own computer. On chromebooks, there are security extensions that stop students from accessing certain websites, as well as give teachers certain override permissions on the Chromebooks. 

Mr. Fuller: The middle school, in general, needs to do a better job at direct instruction on how to keep safe online and what’s appropriate and inappropriate.

Voice over: Mr. Fuller thinks this lack of instruction can lead to students making bad choices in high school.

Mr. Fuller: I think that Chromebooks are a fine tool for kids to have but I think we need to be doing better at guiding kids for how to use technology in a responsible way, the pitfalls of technology and how to avoid them, and that will then set them up for success further down the road.

Voice over: Computers represent many things for U-High students: Mediums through which teachers assign work, electronic devices for pleasure, and also very importantly, computers represent independence and responsibility. This is Declan Smith, reporting for the U-High Midway.

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