paul’s parents didn’t have educational opportunities, but they were determined that their son would have the tools to succeed at school.

The autobiographical vignette below was originally titled Computer Chips. I wrote it in the early months of my (attempted) PhD in 1998. My doctoral research focused on educational inequality and the lessons taught by both the “formal” and “informal” curriculum in schools in hard places. This story touches on the educational advantage — read: privilege — my parents gave me by buying a home computer. Names have been changed.

Late 1984

“Your mum and I have something important to talk to you boys about,” Dad said as my brother and I picked at the leftover fish ’n’ chips scattered in front of us. “We want to get you something for Christmas — but you need to understand, it’s expensive, and you’ll have to share it.”

“Oh, awesome — we’re getting a new tent for when we go fishing!” I guessed, chomping on a cold chip.

“Nope.”

“A swimming pool?” my brother tried, wiping salt and grease from his fingertips.

“Nope.” Dad leaned back and looked at my brother first. “We think your education is the most important thing right now. You’ll be in high school next year, and Paul, you’re not far behind. So… we’re looking at buying a computer.”

A computer. Wow. I couldn’t hide my excitement — I bounced in my seat and shot Mum a grin. She raised her eyebrows and smiled back.

“You both know your mum and I don’t know anything about computers,” Dad went on, “so we thought we’d ask what sort you think we should get — and what you’ll use it for, to help with school.”

“Mr Benton is the computer teacher at school,” my brother said. “I’m sure he’d help.”

A month later, Mr Benton sat in our lounge room — for the first and only time — sipping a weak cup of tea while Dad fiddled with cables, connecting a brand-new Commodore 64 to the living room TV.

“At school, the boys will be using BBC computers, which aren’t compatible with this one,” Mr Benton explained to Dad, “but they all work on the same basic principles. Half the learning is adapting to the technology — they’ll do just fine.”

“I bought some educational programs when I picked up the computer,” Dad added proudly.

Mr Benton turned the boxes over in his hands and chuckled. “Don’t be surprised if the boys find other games more interesting. The main thing is, the more familiar and comfortable they are with using computers — whether for games or homework — the better off they’ll be in the future.”

Dad smiled, jotting down notes on how to load and run programs from the disk drive.

With the TV tuned, the blue screen flickered to life for the first time. “Ready?” it asked.

I was ready. Every chance I got, I played with that little 64k marvel. My parents may have bought the computer to help with schoolwork, but it did so much more — it gave me an early head start in technology, a comfort and curiosity that have never left me.

For that, I am indebted first to my wise parents, who sacrificed so much to buy us that computer, and second to Mr Benton, who went far beyond the call of duty to help a family step boldly into the computer age.