Technology can’t be more ordinary and common today. On that account, it might be hard to believe that there are other countries that don’t have the technology like we do. That scarcity of technology is most evident in a particularly unexceptional middle school called “XiaJiaShan Middle School” which is located in the south of mainland China. Students at XiaJiaShan quite amazingly have been able to manage all the schoolwork and homework without technology. It’s a fact that people used to handwrite nearly everything before technology even existed, would that be the case for BHS students to survive school without it?

The prolonged computer experiences have shaped BHS students with great confidence and skills; in view of the fact that school strongly encourages students to take advantage of the technology in a positive direction, as to enhance students’ abilities and skills in the technology field in order to get them be ready to encounter any challenging obstacle. But without technology, would students still retain the great skills and confidence that stems from the school system? According to a recent survey done with the BHS students, half of them claimed that without computers provided for them in school, keeping up the work could be an issue. “People won’t actually go through the textbooks to find the information that they need,” said Joe Esposito ‘14. Looking up information in textbooks is probably an old fashion way to go now, and for BHS students it may not be very productive since we are so used to technology.

“When it comes to look up vocab or finding information, it’s easier to look it up online rather than looking through a textbook,” said Kristina Mac ‘14. Fairly, BHS is the not the only high school in America that promotes technology over textbooks. “Technology is the best and most powerful instrument for education,” says Logan Welton-Pane ‘14 who views the technology as the main tool to help him get through high school.

The opposite situation takes place in XiaJiaShan School where technology is practically non-existent and students basically complete their assignments based on the information they obtained from class and textbooks. “I can’t imagine how different my middle school experiences [at XiaJiaShan] would have been if there were computers in my school,” says YaoWu Ma who likes the idea of technology but at the same time believes that technology actually helps the students learn more.

The principal of the school believes that by introducing the technology to the school will only cause chaos among all the students, and make it even harder for the school officials to monitor the students. Plus, students will start getting lazier. “I still remember the times when I had to spend at least two or three hours just to finish the works of one subject, it was a lot of work but many students were able to survive it,” said XiaoMin Xu.

The idea of introducing technology to XiaJiaShan School may seem far from reachable, but the development of technology can’t be ignored. “My school has been far behind the world for too long; I think it is time to catch up on what the world is up to,”‘ said WanNi Wang.