Buy Your Child a Typewriter
When at last week I announced a call for working with freelancers , I also asked readers to send me messages or ideas for topics they would like to read, even if they did not want to write them yourself. It just so happens that a 53-year-old newspaper editor named Andy contacted me with an undeniably good idea: Parents should buy their kids a typewriter.
Andy, who did not want to write this post himself, outlined his case, which is flawless and sounds something like this, but in my own words:
It’s a sensory experience
My work laptop has louder keys than usual, which would be incredibly annoying if I was in the office and many of us snapped our fingers all day. But since I spend my time alone typing in my home office, I admit I love it as hell. When I actually start the phrase, clack-clack-clack-clack-CLACK is so nice – and reminiscent of typewriter keys clicking even more (my word, not Andy’s).
I realize that I’m probably in the minority in terms of how adults think about these keyboards, but I’m sure most kids would agree with me that a noisy keyboard is more fun than a nice quiet keyboard.
It’s not just the noise of the keys – it’s how you have to be kind of sharp fingers, really putting in a little effort for each letter, which is great, because our children have accumulated energy now, and we have long since they ran out of ideas on how to release them. …
Plus the ringing at the end of the line! How it rolls back the other way to start a new line! What’s not to love here? Here you can enjoyfour hours of typewriter sound effects :
Instant gratification
Do you know what is good about typewriters? When you’re done typing your words, you don’t have to go upstairs to turn on the printer, open its little paper tray, connect to it, check the print preview, etc. The finished product – BOOM – you have your hands straight away. It is instant gratification for a job well done, and no one appreciates instant gratification more than a child.
At the same time, it can help children practice the art of being wrong. I’m just going to go ahead and quote Andy on this in what he puts it best:
Typewriters teach children to accept, accept, respect, and not be afraid of mistakes. Each letter or document printed is an individual creation. Mistakes make them as unique as people.
More reasons for bonuses
Do you know how many times I need to press the Delete button per day? I press it multiple times for this paragraph (and each paragraph) because my fingers insist on moving faster than my level of typing precision allows. The typewriter is great for kids because it makes them slow down and be more mindful of what they type, given that any mistakes they learn from will be harder to fix.
Also, did you know what a typewriter doesn’t have? Screen! Instead of texting their grandmother or sending DM to a friend, they could type letters to send to loved ones, while not looking at the next screen for a while. (And getting letters is more fun anyway.)
Now, as for which car to buy, there is of course a subreddit for that . Or, simply check your local thrift store or Facebook Marketplace to find a pre-owned one at a very affordable price.