By Marissa Day ’14 | Executive Web Editor

First and foremost, from working on The Pulse, I’ve seen the worst sides of technology that the school computers have to offer. Not only do they run slowly, but there have been countless times when our staff has been working on stories, or posting a story to our website and the computers crash, causing us to lose our work. An upgrade in technology would be a godsend to our school system, but there are several factors that weigh heavily on my mind.

There are thousands of people who attend or work at a school in the Grosse Pointe Public School System that can honestly attest to how horribly slow things go in regards to technology. These computers pre-date the beginning of mankind and have very few positive aspects to them. Not only are they over a decade in age, many software programs don’t even make versions of their programs that support the systems we use or our computers.

In addition, I think the school system is taking a positive step forward in trying to make sure every single person attending a school in the Pointes has equal access to devices that they may not be able to afford due to hard financial times. It makes it easier for teachers to assign universal homework assignments, and keeps students from having to resort to waiting on the library’s computers to get their work in on time.

One of the biggest issue I take with it is the fact that they want to integrate these smart devices into the elementary schools. Even though the world of technology is changing, I don’t think 3rd graders need something like an iPad to teach them how to do their basic times tables. A growing problem with children is their inability to focus in school because they are so addicted to their gadgets. I don’t think the addition of one handheld device per student would make that much better.

Another concern is the pace at which technology is changing. There are so many software updates that come within a year of each other and technology such as Apple products may change even sooner.

Everything comes down to money and this tech bond is no exception. With a price tag of $50.8 million, it is a steep price for Grosse Pointers to pay. This bond, if it passes, means every single Grosse Pointe resident, whether they have students attending a Grosse Pointe Public School or not has to pay taxes in order to make this bond work. While there are certainly wealthy people in the community who can afford this tax increase, those who cannot afford to give their kids things such as laptops or smartphones probably aren’t too inclined to have to pay even more towards the school system.

I like the components of the tech bond and I think it is something that needs to happen sooner rather than later. At the same time, I think in order to be fair to students, teachers and community members the bond should address some of its problems in order to make people more aware and proactive about the situation. We are living in a time where technology is changing by the minute, but that does not mean people should avoid supporting something that is meant to improve the academic environment.