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From: traiger@oxy.edu (Saul Traiger)
Newsgroups: comp.windows.ms,misc.kids
Subject: Re: Problems with children using Windows3
Message-ID: <126964@tiger.oxy.edu>
Date: 19 Nov 90 17:38:08 GMT
References: <719@retix.retix.COM>
Organization: Occidental College, Los Angeles, CA  90041
Lines: 40

In article <719@retix.retix.COM> garry@retix.retix.COM (Garry Star) writes:
>I have a 4 year old son that uses my PC for games.  He has
>learned to 'get around' in windows and play his favorite games
>(minesweeper, paintbrush, and solitaire).  In general I think it's
>great and am very proud of his abilities.
>
>The problem is that he is just as happy clicking and dragging any
>of the icons he sees.	I don't want to discourage his curiosity,
>but I have found that windows will no longer run in enhanced mode
>[yes a four year old on a 25mhz 386 ;-)].  I will probably end up
>just re-installing windows but the larger concern is how to limit this
>powerful environment so that he can't do any real damage (format
>hard disk, erase all files, etc.).
>
>Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

I have a similar situation - a 25 Mhz 386, windows, and a 5 year old.
I set up an application group just for my 5 year old, with his name
as the name of the application group. I've told him that he can click
away at the roughly 18 applications in that group, but not on any others.
I've copied some applications which interest him from other groups, such
as clock, notepad and paint, but things which are not in his group are
off limits. He seems to be respecting those limits so far.

I still have some concerns because he is interested in saving his work,
particularly his art work, and he's already discovered the misfortunes
associated with overwriting an existing file with a new file with the same
file name.  So he's lost some of his "work", but none of mine.

My worst fear: I'll walk in the door one day and he'll be sitting at
the computer and he'll say: "Daddy, I just found a great new game - it's
called Wipedisk!

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   o   Saul Traiger		 oooooo  Cognitive Science	   o
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   o   Internet:traiger@oxy.edu  *----*  Occidental College	   o
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