Question.....how old should a child be before they get a cell phone or tablet?
The reason I ask is that I regularly see 8 or 9 year olds and sometimes younger who have both a cellphone and a tablet and have their noses glued to the thing.
In our house, we made a rule that no kid would have either before the age 13. That backfired and our hand was basically forced when one of our foster kids came home at age 11 with a tablet she got from her aunt and uncle. The ole "can't buy me love" thing. And if we said no, the agency would be down our necks.
For cell phone use, we made the rule that if you want a cellphone, you get your butt out there and work for it. Whether that be mowing lawns. Cutting grass. Getting a job pumping gas part time etc. None of that "spare the rod spoil the child" stuff in our house. That goes for internet use too. I saw firsthand what happens when an 11 year old gets unrestricted access to the internet when one of the kids I worked with was allowed internet access and next thing I knew, she was posting nude videos of herself on Facebook at age 10.
The reason I ask is that I regularly see 8 or 9 year olds and sometimes younger who have both a cellphone and a tablet and have their noses glued to the thing.
In our house, we made a rule that no kid would have either before the age 13. That backfired and our hand was basically forced when one of our foster kids came home at age 11 with a tablet she got from her aunt and uncle. The ole "can't buy me love" thing. And if we said no, the agency would be down our necks.
For cell phone use, we made the rule that if you want a cellphone, you get your butt out there and work for it. Whether that be mowing lawns. Cutting grass. Getting a job pumping gas part time etc. None of that "spare the rod spoil the child" stuff in our house. That goes for internet use too. I saw firsthand what happens when an 11 year old gets unrestricted access to the internet when one of the kids I worked with was allowed internet access and next thing I knew, she was posting nude videos of herself on Facebook at age 10.