Geekery and Parenting

It takes an awesome parent to raise kids who have a healthy appreciation of technology. They will not be afraid to let their children know more technology and they will even teach them how to become responsible as they use various technologies in their lives. It does not mean that they will just let their children run wild among the many internet forums or let them use technology irresponsibly.

Sometimes my co-workers joke around about how they will raise their children. They joke that they will teach them how to program even when they’re just babies. Sometimes they say that they will teach them how to fight against boys (if they have female children) so that they will not get boyfriends right away. (Haha. I think that this could actually backfire. But, as one of them said, at least she’d grow up knowing how to defend herself against jerks.)

But I like it more when they say that they’d teach their children about Linux, aside from Windows and Mac OSX, etc. I like it that they want their children to be more well-rounded in terms of their perspectives. They want their children to grow up not limiting themselves to only a specific technology and that’s something inspiring. It’s not just a matter of growing up with a good set of values but a healthy appreciation of technology we are exposed to. Hopefully they will also have this attitude towards other technologies that are not necessarily related to computers.

I heard that one of my co-workers plans to take a picture of his daughter with a penguin plushie. I wonder how he’d introduce her to Linux and programming when she’s older. I’m pretty sure it will be very interesting.