Performed an illegal operation

Bill Gates forbade his daughter to use the computer for a long time

Bill Gates is trying to prove that he is not only the owner of a huge empire producing software for personal computers, but first and foremost a caring father. The founder of Microsoft and the man whose name has become a symbol of the computer era, forbade his own children to use a computer unless absolutely necessary. According to Reuters, Mr. Gates recently told a business meeting in Ottawa that his children are entitled to no more than 45 minutes of “screen time” on weekdays and an hour on weekends, although not counting the time they need to complete tasks. homework.

As it turned out, the eldest ten-year-old daughter of the head of Microsoft was not particularly interested in computers until she went to study at a school where all students carry mini-computers with them and use them constantly. “She was very interested,” said her dad, “especially since she discovered the existence of a large number of computer games, among which was the game Viva Pinata, in which you have to take care of the kindergarten.” It was a great discovery for dad that his daughter, like millions of her peers around the world, plunged headlong into the virtual world and began spending two to three hours a day doing this exciting activity. And Bill Gates was seriously alarmed. Even despite the fact that caring for painted plants seems to be a harmless activity, and again, the daughter did not run around for hours with a chainsaw through dark virtual corners and did not burn out alien settlements with fire and sword. But nevertheless, Mr. Gates and his wife Belinda decided to set a computer “curfew” for their offspring.

It is possible that it was the personal experience of the head of Microsoft that became the reason for the development of a new company product intended for parents. The program allows parents not only to control the websites that their children visit, but also to check the logs of their correspondence on various “messengers”, among which the most famous program in Russia is icq. Until a certain age, it is very desirable that parents have an idea of ​​what they see there and are ready to talk about it with their child, says Bill Gates. “My son asked: will I be limited my whole life? To which I told him: no, when you leave home, you can set your own restrictions,” the head of Microsoft said about his family struggle.

Bill Gates did not tell us more about the changes that happened to his children after becoming interested in computers: did his daughter begin to see worse, read less, be rude to her parents, or, in her passion for computer kindergarten, stopped watering real flowers. However, it must be admitted that his words do not differ from his deeds, unlike many other spineless parents around the world. In Russia, there is also a scientifically based document called “Sanpin” - “Sanitary Rules and Norms”, which defines safe standards for communicating with a computer. One gets the impression that it was precisely this that guided Mr. Gates when he separated his children from monitors. According to the Russian “hygienic requirements for video display terminals, personal electronic computers and work organization,” the continuous duration of classes should not exceed 10 minutes for 1st grade students (6 years old); for students in grades 2-5 - 15 minutes; for students in grades 6-7 - 20 minutes; for students in grades 8-9 --25 minutes; for students in grades 10-11, the first hour of classes is 30 minutes, and the second hour is 20 minutes. As for the games themselves, the document categorically prohibits “devoting the entire lesson time to playing computer games with an imposed rhythm.” Play is allowed only at the end of the lesson: 10 minutes is considered safe for younger students, 15 minutes for older students.

In addition, the document strictly prohibits playing computer games before bedtime, and every 20 minutes of work it is necessary to do special exercises for the eyes, as well as take breaks with outdoor games between two computer classes. However, unfortunately, few people follow these norms and rules.

Irina BELASHEVA