One Lap Top Per Child Program

My View on OLPC Project

Mr. Negroponte showed enough concern about the children in developing nations, but his love and care can be better expressed in more appropriate ways. I don't think Mr. Negroponte is as same as other businessmen selling computers to the rest of the world and making money from it; on the contrary, I have no doubt about his motivations that not only offer a great tool for children in the third world to study and entertain, but also help them to be better educated. I really appreciate his good will to provide us a better world; I must say, however, the plan of One Laptop Per Child Project seems to be too Americanized. In long term, his project might result in an over diffusion of American popular culture and a shrink of ethnic and folk culture. In fact, what children in the third world really need in urgent are some basic supplies rather than a shiny laptop, or if he really wants to contribute to education, educate the mothers there.

OLPC project might cause an overspread of American culture and a shrink of diverse folk culture. In the last century, the invention of TV revolutionized our way of life; as a result, a large number of people around the world today are watching TV at leisure time. American programs have been translated into several languages that is gradually changing audience' values or beliefs. In the new century, surfing on the Internet becomes a popular culture, which is diffusing to other parts of the earth in the same way. OLPC plan accelerates the world's Americanization by making children watching Hollywood movies, TV dramas, playing American football or idolizing Michael Jordan. As a result, kids rush to the pop music from Beyonce or Janet Jackaon instead of enjoying their own folk songs; similarly, they are more exciting about celebrating the coming of Christmas with the ignorance of their own traditional festivals. I feel painful seeing a unique kind of ethnic culture disappear day by day, as watching a species of animals dieing out from the earth. Maybe in the near future, we can find an article on newspapers entitled "the Last Land without A Laptop" and regret our doings; sadly, there is only one piece of unpolluted land survived from disastrous human activity even if they haven't realize before.

Many American kids today are using laptops to learn and play, so people might easily follow that give the children in the third world what our kids are using is the best way to express love and care. Cases are not always like that. After examining the other side, we find that children in the third world only require some basic needs such as food, shelter, clean water and clothes. I don't think we have right to help them make decisions and change their way of life only because we think it is better for them. As the paper mentioned in the last paragraph: " It's a technological breakthrough, for sure. Now let's just hope it breaks through the human barriers." From my point of view, a technological breakthrough is not a reason to violently push our own culture, traditions, values and beliefs into the children' vulnerable mind and makes them Americanized.