I Thought It Was A Mistake When A MacBook Air Was Listed On The Booklist'

'When my eldest son – then aged eight – brought home his booklist for the following year at his local, public primary school, I did a quick double-take.

There, beneath the HB pencils and scissors, was listed a MacBook Air.

I assumed this was a mistake. Surely no school – no local, normal, public primary school – would suggest that a child in year 4 should be in possession of a MacBook Air.

This was a kid who regularly came home from school without his lunchbox, drink bottle – even his shoes – so how could he possibly be responsible for a $1,500 piece of technology?

It wasn’t a mistake. It was the school’s new policy. Each child, from year four onwards, was required to own a MacBook Air, to be taken to and from school every day in their schoolbags.

Within six weeks I realised this was a really, really bad idea.'

You can read why this mum thought this was a bad idea here.