Ciggies in display ban planSHOPKEEPERS could be banned from displaying cigarettes under plans beingconsidered by the Government. The Department of Health said it is launchinga consultation later this spring to look at ways to stop kids smoking. In a bid to cut the number ofsmokers and prevent children from taking up the habit, ministers have drawn upproposals including a bar on displaying tobacco products and the removal ofvending machines from pubs. Measures that make it easier tosell nicotine replacement gums and patches are also on the table. The proposals follow on fromthe introduction of the ban on smoking in public places last July. According to the Department ofHealth, the strategy - coupled with the wider smoke free legislation - willsave hundreds of lives. Someone who starts smoking aged15 is three times more likely to die of cancer due to smoking than someone whostarts in their late twenties, the department said. Public Health Minister DawnPrimarolo said: "Children who smoke are putting their lives at risk andare more likely to die of cancer than people who start smoking later. "It's vital we get acrossthe message to children that smoking is bad. If that means stripping outvending machines or removing cigarettes from behind the counter, I'm willing todo that." According to the latest figuresfrom the Office for National Statistics, the proportion of adults who now smokehas dropped by 2 per cent from 24 per cent to 22 per cent.---Computers OK? Not in Silicon Valley.A school plugs into low-tech learning. The chief technology officer ofeBay sends his children to a nine-classroom school in Los Altos, California. Sodo employees of Silicon Valley giants like Google, Apple, Yahoo andHewlett-Packard. But the school's chief teachingtools are anything but high-tech: pens and paper, knitting needles and,occasionally, mud. Not a computer to be found. They are not allowed in theclassroom, and the school even frowns on their use at home. Schools across the US haverushed to supply their classrooms with computers, and many policymakers say itis foolish to do otherwise. But the contrarian point of view can be found atthe epicentre of the tech economy, where some parents and educators have amessage: computers and schools don't mix. This is the Waldorf School ofthe Peninsula, one of about 160 Waldorf schools in the country that subscribeto a teaching philosophy focused on physical activity and learning throughcreative, hands-on tasks. They are the equivalent of the Steiner schools inAustralia. Those who endorse this approach say computers inhibit creativethinking, movement, human interaction and attention spans. The Waldorf method is nearly acentury old, but its foothold here among the digerati puts into sharp relief anintensifying debate about the role of computers in education. ''I fundamentally reject thenotion you need technology aids in grammar school,'' said Alan Eagle, 50, whosedaughter, Andie, is one of the 196 children at the Waldorf primary school; hisson William, 13, is at the nearby high school. ''The idea that an app on aniPad can better teach my kids to read or do arithmetic - that's ridiculous.'' Eagle knows a bit abouttechnology. He holds a computer science degree and works in executivecommunications at