Ofer Malamud, an assistant professor of economics at the University of Chicago, is the co-author of a study that investigated educational outcomes after low-income families received vouchers to help them buy computers.
“We found a negative effect on academic achievement,” he said. “I was surprised, but as we presented our findings at various seminars, people in the audience said they weren’t surprised, given their own experiences with their school-age children.”
Y'don't say?
NOT news to anyone with a child who has a laptop of his/her own between the ages of 10 and 16, I'd say.
Add in a dash of "parents don't have the resources (skills/time/energy) to manage it," and the outcome is hardly surprising.
I'm not sure why we're talking about this at all, though, as I thought we were talking about opportunity, not "giving poor people stuff."
