With school returning soon, many parents are scrambling to organise uniforms, shoes and stationery. For many, the biggest ticket item on the back-to-school shopping list is a laptop and buying a computer for children can be a confusing and costly business.
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00:00Maddy is heading into Year 7 and needs a laptop for school.
00:06Her mum Kelly was worried about the cost.
00:09Oh, the dollar figures.
00:11It reminds me of like a cartoon character
00:13where you see the dollar signs roll up into your eyeballs.
00:16That's what it was like.
00:18It was definitely, how am I going to do this?
00:21The Smith family stepped in,
00:23providing a refurbished computer for Maddy.
00:26I almost wanted to jump through the phone and give him a hug.
00:29It was quite overwhelming at first, but a relief.
00:34The laptops distributed by the Smith family
00:37are refurbished at this warehouse in Sydney.
00:40The computers are donated by government agencies
00:44and private companies.
00:46Demand is really increasing at the moment.
00:48Ever since COVID, we've noticed that the digital component
00:52of education has become really critical
00:55and laptops are really essential now for students.
00:58A recent report found around 19% of young people in Australia
01:03lack access to a computer at home.
01:06That equates to over 1.1 million people.
01:1083% of young people who get access to a laptop at home
01:14see an improvement in their grades.
01:16Use of technology usually starts in primary school,
01:19mostly on school-owned shared tablets.
01:22By high school, laptops become the device of preference.
01:26Depending on the state or school,
01:28students might be able to access a school-owned device
01:32or they'll be expected to bring their own.
01:35Schools usually outline the specifications,
01:38like how much storage or whether a camera and microphone are needed.
01:43It's not just the cost of the device itself,
01:46but the cost of the other kinds of things.
01:48So if there's cloud storage, then that comes with a cost.
01:51If there's internet access required, it comes with another cost.
01:55With rising food and housing prices,
01:58for many families, buying a computer for school
02:01is a big and ongoing expense.