Reasonable rules. Don't think if I had a kid, I would let them have an iphone though. Maybe when they turned 16 and proved themselves worthy.

Now for celphones in general, maybe a regular old flip phone just so a parent can keep in contact with them while they're not at home. But no iphone. That's like letting them have a little portable computer that can access nearly anything behind a parent's back.

 

I do a lot of traveling in the US and around the world. And in a lot of cities I see parents giving smartphones and other high tech items to kids as a virtual babysitter or something to keep their kids occupied. Just last week in my hometown San Diego, I seen a mother at a park park chatting it up with her friend while her two kids that look like they're 4-6 each have an iPad. What ever happen to going to the park for fresh air and play/exercise for a while?

I commend the mother for what she did. She don't want to have a spoiled unrestricted kid. And for that, it will prepare the child when he enters the real world.

 

I feel like parents think that all kids do on a cellphone is watch porn and do illegal things. Here's what we do:

Instagram
Facebook
Texting
Twitter

That's about it.

 

when i was in middle school (or junior high), we had to leave our cell phones at the front desk near the principal and can only be used in emergencies only.

by the time i was a freshman in high school, we were allowed to carry them but in silent mode. if you use it at inappropriate times, teachers would take it and give it back at the end of class.

my sister is in my old H.S. and says the teachers dont care if the students use the phones to find answers to their schoolwork.

 

That's what you do. And not all kids do that. It all depends on the kid, his friends and environment.

 

Man when I was in high school we had beepers. And you would get expelled from school if you got caught with one. They assumed only drug dealers used beepers back then. I can't even imagine kids sitting in class with smartphones.

 

No offense, but it's a parents' job to look out for their kids. Back when I was a teenager, celphones were just that. Phones. No cameras. No internet. No texting. Technology has come a long way and I can understand how a parent would freak out at all the stuff out there that a kid can POTENTIALLY get into.

 

LOL I remember those days. Afraid ya might get a beep from your weed guy.

 

Back in those days, mobile phone looked like these. Can you imagine whalking into class with one of these back then?  

Radio Shack Sells Really Expensive Cell Phones in 1987 - YouTube
1989 Radio Shack Cellular Phone Commercial - YouTube
Retro Commercial - Radio Shack Cell Phones - 1990 - YouTube

 

yeah, i definitely see what both of you are saying. i hate.. hate when i see someone out in public with another person, much less a group of people, and all of them are on their phones not saying a word to each other. i agree there's a social decline and that's a problem. i have an iphone and i don't use any of that stereotypical teenage crap... i don't show my boobs on instagram or feel the need to "check in" whenever i'm at my bff's house. i use my iphone for 5 basic things: the internet, a calculator, texting, calling and netflix. when i'm around my little cousins or my niece i put up my phone, my laptop, whatever i have. they're influential especially when they're young and i know that when i'm older i'm sure as hell not going to let my kid play with an ipad unless it's something that'll help them grow. my brother doesn't play a games on his ipad around his little girl, he does work on them and then they're off for the night unless my niece hasn't used her 15 minutes of electronic time and wants to use it. i hate it when people generalize but i understand you didn't want to and that it's just a human habit to base a group off its majority, i tend to stereotype too. just wanted to pick your brain a bit, thank you both for the answers  

EDIT: also, i love that the mom took the time to go over the "no showing your privates" rule. teach your kids decency when they're young. i'm tired of hearing which tit little susy horesalot flashed this week.. seems like standards are a lost art to kids my age.

 

My brother was showing me a trailer to this Oliver Stone movie via his phone. I don't own a smartphone myself, but the video quality is decent from what I've seen.

 

LOL. Back when I was in high school in the mid nineties, they had flip phones. Those bricks are more from the 80's.

 

Indeed...my son knows better than to even ask for one. If I owned one, I would let him use it to play games while supervised...but it'll be quite a while before he has his own phone...

 

That Mom is a MILF in my mind because of her awesomeness.

If you don't know what that means looks it up on your iPho... waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaait a minute...

 

Can't wait for the texting and driving rule

 

Bravo to the Mom for actually parenting, however no 13 year old needs a cell phone. 16 & up once you start to drive and go to work it's needed.

 

Exactly. What possible reason could a 13 year old have to need an iphone?

 

To do stuff and to be cool, duh.

 

um... play games?

only reason why i would want one.