I disagree with Gail Beaucage’s opposition to laptop use in schools (Jan 2). Computers are in widespread use now and will be more so in the future. Learning to use them and to access the vast information on the Internet is very valuable to our children’s future and to all of us.

Beaucage’s reasoning that since her children didn’t use laptops, they aren’t needed now is simply living in the past. I had never had a laptop either. My mother went to a one-room school with an outhouse, and my great-grandparents’ school didn’t have electricity. Should we save taxpayer money by doing away with indoor plumbing and electricity? Hardly.

Yes, government must live within its means, by setting priorities. Not taking away a valuable educational tool.

Keith Thompson, Lewiston