Does your teenager (13-17) have an iPhone? (game, boy, smart)
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My two kids are about to get their first smartphones. They're 12 and 14 and they're getting Android phones, whatever I can get free with my contract renewal.
I've been holding off because they both have wifi-enabled iPods. Paying $30 extra per month, per phone just kills me when they can already do whatever they need to online on the iPods. But they both need new phones, for talk and texting purposes, and I've discovered it's next to impossible to get new dumb phones! They're just not being made anymore, it seems, in any form that a young teenage girl will be willing to use.
So we're upgrading with a very limited data plan, and will make sure the phones are set to use wifi whenever possible. And the girls are giving their iPods to me and daddy.
No. My 13 year old has a basic old cell phone with texting turned off. She hasn't earned our trust nor modified her behavior enough. She does feel entitled to an iPhone though and deeply resents the fact that she just has an iPod. Poor thing.
With time and much more therapy, we will revisit the iPhone but probably not for a long time. Too many risky and dangerous behaviors. Then again, my child has emotional problems so we try to keep her as safe and possible. If a kid is responsible and trustworthy, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with an iPhone or other smart device.
I don't even have an iPhone, so no. My kid doesn't want one anyway. You say "iPhone", he rolls his eyes. He does, however, have a refurbished older Samsung smartphone on a prepaid plan (no data plan) -- he can use it for internet access when he has wifi availability but he primarily uses it for the music player. I pay $15 a month for his phone, total, for him to have unlimited texting and an hour of talk time, which is fine by him since he hates talking on the phone. He primarily has the phone in the 1st place because he sometimes takes the public bus to and from school and is responsible for bringing his younger sister home.
It was a Christmas present/reward after proving he would not lose his first cheapie flip phone and he honestly wouldn't care if he went back to a basic flip phone tomorrow, as long as he had an MP3 player in some form. In fact, I don't think he'd care if I took the phone entirely, except for the fact that it would limit his mobility. The phone is more for me so I know he's okay when he's out and about. He and his friends like to walk and ride bikes places and not be limited to the one place they were dropped off, so having a phone lets him do this because he can text and say "hey we are leaving the mall, going over to the music store instead".
Quote:
Originally Posted by Linmora
No. My 13 year old has a basic old cell phone with texting turned off. She hasn't earned our trust nor modified her behavior enough. She does feel entitled to an iPhone though and deeply resents the fact that she just has an iPod. Poor thing.
With time and much more therapy, we will revisit the iPhone but probably not for a long time. Too many risky and dangerous behaviors. Then again, my child has emotional problems so we try to keep her as safe and possible. If a kid is responsible and trustworthy, I wouldn't have as much of a problem with an iPhone or other smart device.
Yeah, DD is 10 but I don't see a smartphone in her immediate future or even a phone for that matter. We disabled internet capabilities on her PSP, which is her only electronic device, she can use it for games and to listen to music, when she has earned the privilege of having it. Similar concerns and issues as you know. Sometimes if her behavior has been really stellar we will let her use one of our phones to text one of her classmates for a bit.
Mine now has an iPhone 5 - and has had an iPhone throughout high school. I pay the full bill. I never see the phone used except when necessary. The phone never comes out at the dinner table or when we go out to eat. When we travel my child uses the phone to find local attractions/restaurants. There is occasional texting but most of that is school-related. My child has maintained an A average throughout high school and received scholarships to every University applied. So, the phone hasn't been an issue regarding grades and social interaction.
I don't have a "smartphone" or iPhone --- I have no need to check email or the internet while I'm out. I think if I was in a business situation where I needed immediate access to email, I would have one. Other than that, I see no need for it.
Well this tells us everything we need to know. So because you feel you don't need one, well too bad, your kid doesn't get one?
Your great great grandmother probably told your great grandmother:
"You don't need a Horseless Carriage! We have 3 horses in the barn!"
A Smartphone is much more then just Internet\Email in your hand...
You said she's 14? I think that's probably a good age to get one. So that YOU can teach her how to be responsible about using it. You have time to get into her head that driving and texting are so bad. Teach her responsible habits so that she doesn't become that annoying kid in the movie theater that just HAS to answer that text RIGHT NOW.
My husband has a very nice Android smartphone, which he uses for work, but the rest of us have regular cells. As for internet access, our family owns a couple of tablets, a laptop, and a desktop for homework and entertainment. We all agree that the tablets are more useful than smartphones for our purposes, and WiFi is available nearly everywhere, so the lack of data plan (my husband's is covered by his employer) saves us a bundle on our Verizon bill.
My child has a cheap phone (it was $10 or $15 on the plan), and her plan has very few minutes. She uses it to call me when she's gotten to school, to call me when she's leaving school, and to call me at any other time when she's walking somewhere (like to a friend's house or back). Basically, it's for emergency and so I know of her whereabouts.
My oldest child is 2 but I don't see anything wrong with teenagers having an iPhone/smartphone. Most likely by the time my children enter middle school, smartphone usage will become so widespread that it'll trickle down to elementary aged kids.
Well this tells us everything we need to know. So because you feel you don't need one, well too bad, your kid doesn't get one?
Your great great grandmother probably told your great grandmother:
"You don't need a Horseless Carriage! We have 3 horses in the barn!"
A Smartphone is much more then just Internet\Email in your hand...
You said she's 14? I think that's probably a good age to get one. So that YOU can teach her how to be responsible about using it. You have time to get into her head that driving and texting are so bad. Teach her responsible habits so that she doesn't become that annoying kid in the movie theater that just HAS to answer that text RIGHT NOW.
Well, duh. I pay the bills so yes, I guess I can make that decision and have made that decision. I was just curious about what other people are doing in this situation. She doesn't "NEED" a smartphone or an iPhone. It's just another expensive toy/gadget.
She's had a cell phone since she's 9 and has never lost or broken one and has never gone over any limits on one. She's very responsible with her belongings and I don't need to get her an iPhone or a smartphone to teach her responsibility.
As for texting, she can text from the phone she has now. She knows to turn her phone OFF when going to movies, the theater, a restaurant, etc so, no, she won't be "that annoying kid in the movie theater that just HAS to answer that text RIGHT NOW"
She also knows about texting and driving and how dangerous it is.
But do they NEED a smartphone? The short answer is: YES. Without it, around here, I feel certain that my kids would be left out of socializing completely with their peer group. I feel there is more of a risk (isolation, falling into the wrong crowd, loss of self esteem, etc.) in not providing them with the technology than with. I am a heavy monitor of their usage as well. Keeping a close eye on what they are doing and helping them navigate and learn the important rules of internet safety while they are young versus in HS or college is an added bonus in my view. It is not going away anytime soon....
THAT is a very sad thing. The kids in your area ONLY socialize via "social networking"???? Crazy.
My daughter can visit facebook and all the other sites with her computer and her ipod touch. She doesn't need a phone to do it or to upload photos of every single thing she or her friends are doing as it happens. I'd rather have her interact with her friends in person than with a computer or phone.
Have you seen the commercial with the two young women (early 20s)? One is taking photos of every single thing they're doing and going on FB, etc the entire time they're out while the other is actually trying to have SOCIAL INTERACTION with her. It's impossible because the other girl is constantly hunched over her phone. I think that pretty much shows what our society is coming to. I would love to fast forward 20 years to see what kind of real social skills the teenagers and young 20s of today have. I'm guessing zip.
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