It's all the more important now that parents are finding it harder to spend time on their children's schooling because of longer hours commuting, he said. At Holmes Middle School in the Alexandria section of Fairfax County, Principal Roberto Pamas persuaded 80 percent of his teachers to set up their own Web sites. But only about half of the students have computers at home. You have the ability to learn more, to access more resources. Jorgensen said she lets students without computers spend time at the school's computer lab.
Teachers also encourage parents and students to go to their local public library.
The group has asked people in the community to donate old computers. The availability of that resource at home is invaluable to my daughter. Still, the practice is gaining momentum among parents of middle school and high school students, the age at which they begin to lose a grip on their increasingly independent children. But to some, the hand-holding has to end at some point. They're getting ready to go to college.