The Answer?

After viewing research papers, professional guidebooks, scientific reports, and talking to teachers who have experienced true integration of technology into the classroom, I feel that computers do not hinder the education of students.
My parents, both of them, are teachers in local middle schools and have experienced first hand the effects of technology on the Middle School children of today. Both parents are MLTI "lead teachers" which means they have a key role in working with computers in their respective buildings. My mom is also a "technology integrator" which means she has received additional schooling to be able to effectively introduce different technologies/applications into the school environment.
They agreed with each other on the ways computers have been a help, and hindrance in their buildings. The only problems they cited were when teachers were not enthusiastic and treated computers more as unwanted byproducts of their jobs, rather than tools to further education. Also, my mom went on to say that the teacher needs to be on top of things and understand what it is they want their students to do before they set them lose on their machines. She has had to manage instances where students were abusing their power because of irresponsibility on the teacher's part.
My parents also agreed on the benefits of computers in the classroom. First, as already stated on this blog, technology has been infinitely helpful in the realm of special education. My mother has also worked with this population of students, and she has, first hand, seen kids open up, change, and actually accomplish things because of the help their computers gave them. It could be even as simple as typing whole papers because it is easier than handwriting, but she has seen children make leaps and bounds because of technologies' effect on their lives.
The other two main benefits to computers in the classroom, are that they level the playing field, and that they can be utterly transformative. When every kid has a laptop on their desk, no one is left behind, and every student has access to all the information they want. Finally, say a kid wants to write an essay, an iSearch for instance, on the differences between a Sudanese child soldier, and a ten year old orphan in Darfur. They want first person accounts, movies, slideshows, songs, diaries, interviews, and press releases, and they want to do it all from the comfort of the Lincoln Academy library. Try doing that from your electric typewriter!
"Technology does not improve or heighten academic performance, if anything, it gets in the way."
I would now be forced to disagree with my thesis statement. In the right hands, technology can not only heighten academic performance, it can bring kids closer together. They can collaborate and build off each other, and they do not even have to be on the same continent. People connect, kids connect, and the education of the next generation can now mesh together, and who knows, maybe this unity that technology is bringing about, will hold long after these children are done with their schooling.