Is it just me?

[The Mama Chicken]

Or does anyone else think that little kids don't need cell phones, ipads, smart phones, laptops, or tablets? I'm talking 6-12 year-olds here, not teenagers. I have an autistic 10 year old son who will be getting a tablet with a communication program that will allow him to interact with people better, but my other kids won't be getting their own phones or computers (or car, or whatever) until they are old enough to earn the money to buy it themselves.
My kids think I'm mean, because we don't buy them things that other people have. No fancy clothes, no cable tv, no vacations, very few video games (they have to earn time on the wii and we only have a couple of games.) I hope I'm teaching them to care less about things and more about people, that being outside is usually better than being inside, but mostly, I hope I'm teaching them that you have to work to get the things you want. Nothing in life is free...

 

[Ridgerunner]

You like to stir things up. don't you? That is so mean!!!

Do kids need thise things? Of course they don't need them, though access to a computer can help in school if it is used right. And in this modern world, they do need to be technically knowledgeable and comfortable with many of those electronic gadgets. It can be a fine line. They will lean a lot from their playmates, especially when they are visiting their homes. Realize you don't have total control. And by the time they grow up, most of those current gadgets will be out of date.

My kids did not get those devices until they were college age, then all they got was a cell phone that was just a cell phone. But that was long enough ago that a lot of those devices were not available. I'm not talking about the world you are talking about. The world has changed.

They did have access to a computer in a public area and they had a "game" system". One kid could not have cared less about the game system. For two of them though, losing access to their electronics was the most effective form of discipline we found.

We were fairly mean too. For allowance, they got a dime a week for every year of their age. A 15 week old got $1.50 a week with no advances. They all learned to save money if they wanted something big. One of them even got a job washing pots and pans in a restaurant because he felt he needed more money. And they all three know how to manage their money now that they are on their own. I think they need some money to learn how to manage it, but they don't need a lot.

 

[The Mama Chicken]

Oh, don't get me wrong, mine use the computer, but only in the living room. My 3 year-old even plays Angry Birds on Daddy's iphone. My nine year old son will do almost any extra chore if it will get him extra time on his skateboarding game on the wii and his twin sister loves to play a princess dress up game online. I'm not against technology, at all, I just like to limit it. And I can't imagine spending that much money on things that are so fragile and giving them to my kids. My kids break much sturdier things on a regular basis...

 

[sparkles2307]

My kids have a Wii and they got their 10 yrs older brother's leftover GameCube with like 3 games. We have 2 games for the Wii and they only get to play in the winter if the weater is so bad they can't go outside, or as a reward. It's boxed up in the summer. I have 7 and 8 yr old boys. They don't have Nintendo DS for in the car, they have Wheres Waldo and I Spy books. I plan on giving them a phone that can call me and their dad once they get into sports and have to be away from us. They like to use Grandma's iPad, they can run computers, but they definitely know how to entertain themselves without anything electronic. And I don't think kids should be entitled to these things just because they graced us with their presence. They need to learn the value of work.

 

[catjac1975]

Or does anyone else think that little kids don't need cell phones, ipads, smart phones, laptops, or tablets? I'm talking 6-12 year-olds here, not teenagers. I have an autistic 10 year old son who will be getting a tablet with a communication program that will allow him to interact with people better, but my other kids won't be getting their own phones or computers (or car, or whatever) until they are old enough to earn the money to buy it themselves.
My kids think I'm mean, because we don't buy them things that other people have. No fancy clothes, no cable tv, no vacations, very few video games (they have to earn time on the wii and we only have a couple of games.) I hope I'm teaching them to care less about things and more about people, that being outside is usually better than being inside, but mostly, I hope I'm teaching them that you have to work to get the things you want. Nothing in life is free...

Your job is not to be your childrens' friend.
I taught my kids life is not about stuff.

 

[swampducks]

No, I think you're quite sensible. One of my neighbors did something I thought was very smart. When her daughter turned 13, she bought her a tracfone and some initial minutes but if the girl used up her minutes willy nilly she was out of luck unless she did chores, and as she got older got a part time job. Definitely taught her some responsibility. Otherwise, I'm not really allowed an opinion as I don't have kids. But I applaud you!

 

[r4eboxer]

When I read your first post I thought you were being too strict and it may backfire, BUT after reading your second I see you are balancing both worlds.

I too limit my kids with video games and TV. They do have game systems, but they are not allowed to play throughout the week. They get time on weekends to play games. If they use the computer it is in the family room. Then they have outside farm chores. The youngest is in charge of the chickens and does household chores for Memaw and Pappy. My oldest has other chores like firewood, helping construct coops and barns, mowing etc. They both fight over the egg gathering chore though and my older son is quite the business man, he makes most the sale contacts.

 

[ducks4you]

Our friend isn't on this forum so I can be honest. It's not a good idea. We had a garage sale recently at our office complex and my DH's associate, early 30's, three children under 10yo, brought about a dozen boxes of toys to sell, that her kids didn't want anymore. Even when we moved in 2000, and my DD's were 11yo, 16yo and 19yo (at the time) I didn't have anywhere near that much crap to get rid of and I thought at the time I was a hoarder!
We let our daughters campaign for ONE video game every Christmas. DH and I refused to pay for any of our daughter's driver's insurance, so all of them started working (for that initially) at age 16yo. Now my eldest (will be 32yo this year) has a resume of working 1/2 of her life.
Perhaps the bad economy will squash some of this behavior. It isn't my business to tell me friend that she and her husband indulge their kids.
I guess, when it comes down to it, my daughters will have been more mature a lot earlier in life. I think it will save THEM from having to learn some life lessons the hard way, so IMHO we did them a favor.

 

[897tgigvib]

I have noticed that when some folks want a new cell phone they accidentally lose their old one. Mine is a working antique, 2006 model, but I've put no minutes in it for a couple years now. I live out of range anyway.

Kids these days should probably know how to use a computer for word and excel and stuff like that for school. Games on computers are far too rampant. I do not do them, not even app games.

 

[nachoqtpie]

Well... I'm more than likely considerably younger than a lot of you, so I'm going to give the opinion of the "gadget generation" or whatever else the want to label us (tho I'm partly GenX)

I got a computer when I was 12, internet when I was 14 (aaaah dial up!) and I was well versed in my computer. I knew how to do just about everything you could do, both in the graphical interface, and in the command prompt. When I got to high school, I had to teach our computer teacher a few things about computers (she was also our typing instructor and it was the first year that our school had computers, and I went to a smaaaaaaaaaaaaall school!) I still had "a job." I had horses, that and school were all I ever had time for. I earned extra money by going and helping friends train their horses, or cleaning out extra stalls. When I got my license and car, I started slacking. I hung out with my friends more and paid attention to my horses less. When I turned 18 I decided that I was going to get married to a guy I had met on the internet and had known physically for about 2 months. My mom BEGGED me to not do it. Yeah... those of you that have strong willed 18 year olds know that it's almost impossible to talk them out of something once they get it into their heads. Now that I am a bit older (and not with husband #1 any more... egad that was a bad idea!) I had decided that since I'm a single mom, I have no other skills other than being a housewife and training horses, I might as well take my love of gadgets and go to school for it. I LOVED school and all my college classmates and one of my professors decided that, before I had even graduated, that I was what he was looking for in an employee and offered me a contract for $25/hour. I worked for him for a while and I HATED it! Being a (not to toot my own horn or anything) attractive female in an almost exclusively male driven environment was not my cup of tea. Some of those guys acted like they'd never seen a live woman before, and I couldn't handle it and quit.
These days, I'm always connected, but that's how I've always been, even before cell phones were invented. I always knew what was going on, and I always watched too much TV! LOL I have a new android phone, and get a new one every 2 years when our contract allows us to, my husband has a newer android phone but only switched begrudgingly so I could keep tabs on all of his medical appointments, and, we did get our son (who was 12 at the time) a cell phone. He has never been one to talk on the phone, even to people he loves/misses (ie my mom) but once he got that cell phone, he just came out of his little shell and would talk their ear off! He also has difficulty in read (because he's dyslexic) so we do buy him games that have reading in them and make him read what it says on the screen before he can play, he does get computer time with learning specific games. He had to take a course in school about computers and it blew my mind that at his age he didn't know practically anything about computers, but he sure tried hard! Over spring break I'm going to be teaching him a whole lot more about computers. My daughter on the other hand, she is 8 and in the 3rd grade. This year, she is basically doing all of her homework on a laptop that the school provided. She has specific websites that she has homework on every day. She does occasionally get "paper and pencil" homework, but it's maybe once a week. She knows a LOT about computers and can navigate the internet like nobodies business.
Personally, I try to balance electronics and outside time, but.... it's kind of hard to regulate them, when it's difficult at times to regulate myself. Kids do need to know about computers and internet and things like that because it is a computer driven society these days. No matter where you call for any type of customer service it's "let me look up your account on the computer" not like it used to be "let me find your file in this cabinet." There just is not a way to get around learning about computers any more.