There's a front page feature story in today's paper:  "Fighting the Modern Illiteracy."  What are they talking about? They're talking about people who lack computer skills.

More sub-headlines:  "Newbies are a dying breed," "Few remain: a handful in late 40s, 50s still lack computer skills,"  "A critical need: Life calls for at least some basic computer skills." 

The writer interviews a computer skills instructor from the local junior college and one of her students.  Most of he students are retirees and seniors wanting to learn how to send email.  But there are a few in each class in their 40s and 50s who have been left behind somehow in the workplace, and now want to catch up.

The classes are getting smaller. The teacher predicts that in five years, the classes will go away, for lack of need. It's just that everyone is learning the skills they need, except for just a few.

From the article:
"In some ways, that lack of computer skills fits into the modern definition of illiteracy, said Moez Limayem, chairman of the Deptartment of Information Systems at the University of Arkansas.

"In a society that grows more reliant on computers,  people without tech skills are missing out on things others take for granted. Consider the simple act of watching TV, which routinely offers extras -- additional information, bonus scenes and interaction opportunities--to anyone with access to the Internet.

"'Imagine living in a country where you don't understand the language - but everyone expects you to," Limayem said. "Those people feel embarrassed. They feel ignorant. And they are starting to be left out.'"

So, there you have it, homeschoolers. If we protect our kids from the Internet too much, we'll end up hobbling them.  It looks to me like we have to do whatever we need to do to educate our kids in this critical area. That will mean monitoring them while they are on the Internet. That will mean getting them some computer skills education, at the very least. This goes for all of our kids, not just the ones we envision as future engineers and programmers.

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