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I'm curious what others have bought their kids (or allowed family to buy them) for holidays, bdays, etc? The reason I ask is because suddenly my 3 (ages 14, 13, and 11) all want Ipod Touches or Nanos. They suddenly learned about them because several kids in one of our homeschool activities have them and they see those kids as "cool." Ugh. :rolleyes: By the time the holidays roll around, they will have enough $$ from extra chores to pay most of the cost for one, BUT I'm concerned that it's way too much freedom/lack of supervision, way too soon, especially given that all 3 are immature for their ages, have impulse problems, lack cause-effect awareness, etc. (from FASD). I see especially "texting" and "camera" as particular threats to their safety and my sanity. (Can just hear the parents tsk tsking when my kid sends inappropriate texts and pics to theirs!) I know I can turn OFF the camera (and would), but not sure about texting. Oldest has been begging for a cell phone and we have said "no" and will continue to do so. (Who would she call anyway?!) I think they mostly want to seem "cool" and want to text the few kids they see once or twice a week at our activities. They DO already have e-mail and use that almost daily (we use the parent controlled Zoobuh email. Love it!), so not sure what the value of texting (can use only when wifi is on) is. Which leads me to another concern...wifi! I'd have to install NetNanny or just turn wifi off, which means they couldn't text anyway. Ugh, I'm just stuck, don't know what to do. I can see the value in putting learning games on it (foreign language, flash cards, music theory games, history, etc. We have all of these on my phone and they've learned math facts and state capitals so far!), some clean videos (even documentaries or learning videos), and music. But they don't need to surf the Net, I won't allow the camera (got one at age 11 from family--a few very inappropriate (but probably mental-age appropriate) pics later, the cam was taken away and it remains in lockdown....and I'm not sure what to think about the texting. I guess if I control WHO they can text and can text them, it should be safe. Just not convinced it's "necessary" for kids, esp. mine who are with me at least 20-21 hours of every day and who suffer from all of these issues. :o So what have other parents of sp. needs kids done regarding the newest techno gadgets? (Note: We have to limit TV and movies to PG or G because my 14-yr-old "learns" and repeats whatever she hears in movies and music! Recently watched "Corinna, Corinna," set in the civil rights era and I WARNED all 3 that they are NOT to repeat the "bad words" in the movie---namely the n-word! And guess what, just tonight I heard 14-yr-old call sister that! OMG! They happen to be biracial, but she just has no understanding! And it's likely the shock factor. We stopped watching King of the Hill on Netflix because she heard Hank Hill say "da&n" and was letting those fly in the neighborhood. Another parent called to complain (because mine plays with 9- and 10-yr-olds!) Ugh. :arrow:
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i hate it all. My 16 yr old has a flip phone, and my 14 yr old has one but he broke his because he was angry and wanted a touch. Oh well, no phone for him. Thats all they have. I might get them computers but still not sure yet. My 14 yr old has xbox for all of his communication and it has been a nightmare since it came into our home, but thats his whole social life. We will never be able to keep up with the jones, so we dont even bother trying. lol
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My 12 yr old who has RAD only has a flip phone with NO TEXTING. She has lack of impulse control, and boundary issues- therefore I get the phone so she can communicate with me and grandparents only. :) Luckily she does not complain. I make it clear I pay for her phone so she should be happy. :) since I am the one who can take it away. :)
ha ha ha ha ha!! L, 15, has iphone and small laptop. He's delayed and I can monitor him. J and B, now 13 and 11, aren't "supposed" to be on electronics. They do it at school!! and on L's iphone. Getting J an ipod but I'm taking the internet out. B has a vita which I currently have as he needs to improve behavior in school. J will get a pre-paid phone with no internet.
My youngest daughter (7 w/special needs) has an Ipad (donated to her), but wifi is disabled. It's mostly for learning & games. I thought the bigger screen would help with visual issues, plus the touch screen helps OT help. She doesn't really use it very often. She also has an old Iphone that was given to us by a family member and she listens to music on it. It doesn't make calls. My oldest daughter (not special needs) saved her Christmas & Bday money and purchased an Ipod touch for herself a couple of years ago. At the time, I had no idea that she would be able to text and make phone calls on it. I think she spends too much time texting and I talked to her about it yesterday. I would prefer not to take "action" but an contemplating disconnecting our wifi during certain hours. I do not allow her to bring it to school because they have wifi (social sites are blocked, but I think she could still text). I do monitor her texts and so far all is innocent (except the amount of time spent texting and on Instgram). She wants a smart phone so she can access social media from anywhere, but she is not getting a phone anytime soon. Needless to say, I regret allowing her to get the Ipod. I'm not sure if you are aware of a social media app called "Snap Chat" where you can send a photo to someone and it stays on the screen for a few seconds and then is permanently deleted. Scary! I myself do not have texting capabilities - only a flip phone.
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052001: i didn't know you could access the internet from a vita... but my kids always give themselves away which is how I found out about their fb pages. agghhg!!
My youngest daughter (7 w/special needs) has an Ipad (donated to her), but wifi is disabled. It's mostly for learning & games. I thought the bigger screen would help with visual issues, plus the touch screen helps OT help. She doesn't really use it very often. She also has an old Iphone that was given to us by a family member and she listens to music on it. It doesn't make calls. My oldest daughter (not special needs) saved her Christmas & Bday money and purchased an Ipod touch for herself a couple of years ago. At the time, I had no idea that she would be able to text and make phone calls on it. I think she spends too much time texting and I talked to her about it yesterday. I would prefer not to take "action" but an contemplating disconnecting our wifi during certain hours. I do not allow her to bring it to school because they have wifi (social sites are blocked, but I think she could still text). I do monitor her texts and so far all is innocent (except the amount of time spent texting and on Instgram). She wants a smart phone so she can access social media from anywhere, but she is not getting a phone anytime soon. Needless to say, I regret allowing her to get the Ipod. I'm not sure if you are aware of a social media app called "Snap Chat" where you can send a photo to someone and it stays on the screen for a few seconds and then is permanently deleted. Scary! I myself do not have texting capabilities - only a flip phone.
My 13 year old had a computer but lost it due to showing the younger one how to play a shoplifting game. Had an ipod and lost it. He had an ipod touch and can no longer use it because he went on the internet and down loaded inappropriate pictures and found porn sites. Then he had a Nintendo 3ds and found out how to access the internet and was chatting. I found it along with chats that referred to me as a B**** and an A**. I earned these names because I grounded him for not doing his work at school. He no longer will be allowed electronics in my home...he has had them all. I just don't think that some children are responsible at all.
We did end up allowing kiddos to buy their own ipods and we bought protective cases, with rules: 1. ipods go on chargers at night and stay there until AFTER school next day (3-ish, since we homeschool). 2. Cam--must ask permission before taking someone's pic, and no inappropriate pics. NO recording and texting of videos! 3. Internet (Safari), Facetime, Youtube, ability to delete/add apps all disabled/restricted. Effects of these rules?: 1. Didn't follow camera/video rule, so I disabled camera for all 3 of them! Now if they want a pic, I take it with my phone and text it to them! 2. 14-yr-old found a backdoor to the Internet using Google Maps (can click on a Youtube video posted on the map and that opens Youtube. Grr!). She then taught younger 2 and they used for 2 months before I walked in on them surfing on their ipods. They claim they didn't look at "anything bad," but I'll never know. Parents reclaimed ipods for what turned into 4 months! Just gave them back, but with Net Nanny on them. Working so far because I deleted all educational apps that have backdoors to Facebook/Youtube/Twitter (to a Safari-type browser). Grr, I really wish there was a way to turn off those unmonitored browsers. My 3 haven't figured this out, yet, though, and seem happy with their Net Nanny versions since this is the first time they've been allowed to surf at all. And I found a kid-version of youtube called Zui dot com. Way too many games on it, but it's parent/teacher created and monitored. :-) AND...because they are spending so much time surfing the Net (not what we got the ipods for. Wanted them to spend time learning, using educational games!), we had to put a timer on them. So now they play for 30 min, then get a 60 min lockout. Mwah ha ha!!!! Life was so much easier before all of this technology. :cool:
I just want to say I'm glad I'm not the only one whose kids didn't listen and made a fb account with inappropriate pictures!! but because he took a bb gun to school, he now has a probation officer and he's trying to tow the line... I'll let ya know how it goes!!! Kids!!! Can't kill 'em and can't kill 'em!!
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