Should I buy my child their own computer?

This is a question I receive from parents quite frequently. I think parents have to do what works best to fit the needs of their family. My daughter received her "own" computer when she was leaving for college last year. The most important advice I can give is to monitor your children when they are using the computer. It's just as important to monitor your 3 year old as it is to monitor your 16 year old. In our house the rule is the computer must stay down in the main living area. If I let my 17 year old take the computer to another room, I always check on him. Computers are incredible tools and it's important to teach our children to use them safely whether they are using a family computer or their "own" computer.