Re: Debian Graded for kids
On Sat, Dec 02, 2000 at 11:41:50AM -0000, Annie Pinder wrote:
> Hi all.
>
> I had an idea about making debian availiable to all. How about having
> differant groups of ages. Each age group has a group, with a name (perhaps
> based on something debian/unixy).
Got any suggestions for names?
> These allow differant levels of security
> appropriate to the target age. So for example:
>
> Group One:
> 2-4: X only, no delete access. Perhaps an orientation towards "pretty" programs.
Well, with good backups, no delete access may not be necessary. I never
had major trouble with ages 2 to 4. Restricting delete/write access may
make some programs break.
> Group Two:
> 5-7: Mainly X, introducing some cool programs where simple instructions
> should be typed in the command line. A reminder screen when opening the
> terminal what each thing does. Limited delete access
>
> And you get the idea. Instead of using age ranges, perhaps using names (with
> age recommendations) would mean that a child is not restricted.
I think we will inevitably do something along these lines. Perhaps an
early contribution to meeting the needs of specific age ranges would
simply be to create themes aimed at different ages in our initial target
range of "8 and under".
I don't want to stratify things too much, though, for two reasons:
1. I like kids to be able to explore stuff beyond their age range. If
it's really over their head, they just won't bring it up again until
they are ready for it.
2. Children 8 and younger often share their accounts. Children of
differing ages in the same household will want things that are
outside their age range so they can play with their older or
younger siblings.
But I'm all for doing different things for each age range. Let's just not
think "restrict" or "hide". The word to keep in mind is "focus".
Ben
--
nSLUG http://www.nslug.ns.ca synrg@sanctuary.nslug.ns.ca
Debian http://www.debian.org synrg@debian.org
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