Strangly my 7 year old and I had the discussion about all the above yesterday and today this (http://www.southbendtribune.com/article/20100510/News01/5100302/1129/News) was in the newspaper today. Is this God’s way of telling me I’m right?? Who knows, but I do know that my seven year old does not need a cell phone or any of the above. Conversation from last year before he turned 7:
Zack: Mommy, I want a cell phone for my birthday.
Me: What on earth do you need a cell phone for?
Zack: So I can call you when I’m not with you.
Me: And when exactly are you not with Daddy, Grandma, Papa, or me?
Zack: Ummm, can I have an ipod then?
Yesterday’s conversation was more of the same. Now he seems to think that if he were to get a cell phone, he wouldn’t have to check in every hour when he is playing at his friend’s house (which is across the street), since running across the street seems to take too much time out of playing. And he wants a facebook account so he can play petville (Ugh!!). So I had to go over my stance again about “No facebook, no ipods (mommy gets one first), and absoluetly no cell phones until you are old enough to drive.” Then I start thinking, am I being unreasonable? Should I give in on the facebook request? Facebook is free, and all he wants to do is play games. Then I read that article above, and I feel a little bit better. Maybe I’m not crazy for my “outdated” views. Maybe I’m doing a good job. Then I groan because I realize that I have two more kids to get through, when they get to this age. (And I don’t want to tell Zack that Erin might get an I-Pod touch as early as 6 since they are using these for speech therapy now. . .).
Don’t feel that your views are outdated! These days we have to have some kind of old fashioned ideas left in us. We now have to accept that our kids are growing up in a new age from ours, we just have to go about it a little more controlled. My oldest daughter is 14 and I haven’t let her get a facebook yet and she hasn’t asked. I have finally given in to the cell phone though. I have to say, I am okay with it now because I searched long and hard but found the perfect cell phone company. It is meant for kids, however parents can also use the service. I pay $14.99 month for my daughter’s unlimited texting package and since I rarely use my phone, I only pay $4.99 month for 10 minutes talk time and texts for me are just $.10 text! Not only is this affordable but free parental controls are great. You can see whose number they are texting. If you want their phone not to be used at certain times, such as dinnertime or school hours, all you do is use the time manager feature.If anyone is still deciding what to do about their kids wanting a cell phone, visit here http://www.coolaffordablecellsforkids.blogspot.com for information and ideas about starting out with your kids phone usage. There is also a discount link for 15% off phones if you type it in, your discount will show up in your cart. http://www.kajeet.com/logcabin127