Ipods for children (7yo)-GOOD OR BAD idea?? Help!!

[Alaska Mom]

Need help from anyone who has given their young child an ipod.

 

Is 7 too young?

 

I got a cute little Nano for my dd7 for Christmas, but now I'm re-thinking maybe not a good idea for a 7 yo. We don't do video games, and I'm generally not one to indulge my kids in expensive gifts. But I thought, hey, I had a record player when I was young, why not an IPOD in 2009? Is this way over-indulging a kid? Are IPODs as "addictive" as video gaming?

 

Any opinions are appreciated!!

[Kirch]

IMO, as long as you have the final say as far as what goes on there, rules for when and how to use it, and monitor volume levels, it's ok. Keep in mind, though--it's a lot smaller than a record player and easier to lose. Will she be able to keep up with it?

[Pippen]

Make sure to get a hard plastic case for it.

[C_l_e_0..Q_c]

We've let the kids have iPods here, my youngest was 8 when she got hers, just because that's the year we had the $$ for it.

Our rule is that they are *not* allowed to ear earplugs in the house. They have docking stations in their room, and there's a central one in the living room. They can play their music, but we all listen, just like your record player when you were young ;-)

 

I strongly believe that earplugs are 1) dangerous at that age, 2) socially unacceptable for our family unit. In the rare cases where they do wear the earplugs, they can only wear one. (that's when we school on the road, and there's little choice to do otherwise)

[Susan in KY]

Well, we got one for our 9 y/o last Christmas and it was fine with one caveat: we forbade use of it with ear buds. We purchased a small radio/MP3 docking station with speakers and told him he could only play it over the speakers. It's been just fine, and he's had fun recording on it, etc.

 

We chose to forbid use of ear buds due to hearing loss and the fact that young kids don't always turn the sound down, plus we didn't want his plugged in to the exclusion of family life. There's enough issue with selective hearing around these parts without battling that, too.

 

FYI, we are a no-TV/video game family and the kids only get limited screen time. I noticed high usage early on, but not as much as the year progressed. He does love his audio books, though.

[Tess in the Burbs]

we are giving our 6 and 8 year olds a shuffle iPod this year. I found them in the refurbished section of apple.com. I can control what is uploaded on it as well as the volume control!

[ChristusG]

My 5 and 2 year old DD's are getting iPod touch's for Christmas this year. The 5 year old will be able to fully use it (she can operate my iPhone). The 2 year old will need a little help. I bought it to put games, photos, TV shows, movies, home videos, etc for the kids to watch.

[Melissa B]

We gave all our girls Ipods last Christmas. They only get one gift each from us, so I didn't feel they were being over-indulged. The youngest dd was five at the time. The ones we gave have a password protected volume control. We set all three of them. I haven't noticed any addictive quality. The only times they tend to use them are on longer car rides, at bedtime and occasionally doing chores such as room cleaning. My dh does all uploading of music and stories so they are well monitored.

 

FWIW, we don't do any video games and allow very little TV use here as well. The ipods have a good deal of classical music and music and stories in other languages (French and Latin) along with a wide selection of more popular music as well.

[melissel]

My parents gave my DDs 4 and 7 Sansa Clips this year for their birthdays. DD7 loves audiobooks on hers. DD4 doesn't use hers much, but when she does, it's for music. I don't mind the low-volume use of headphones (not ear buds), but it's not typically been an issue because DD7 listens to audiobooks in her room anyway (we have a cord that connects the Sansa to her clock radio). Like you said, I don't think it's much different from having a radio or record/CD player if you're careful about monitoring (or forbidding, if you're inclined) the headphone use. I got tired of burning audiobooks to CDs and wasting resources and money, so the MP3 players were the natural option for us.

 

Now, if you're talking about buying your seven-year-old a 128 MB video Ipod, that might be a different discussion :lol:

[*********]

Moose started using my mp3 player when he was 3. He loves it, and I love that I have complete control over what he listens to. :)

[Avila]

My three all have MP3 players. Nothing expensive, but they work nicely. Mine mostly listen to them when we are out places, waiting for someone to get done with lessons or activities. I love that I know exactly what they are listening to.

 

I did not want to buy anything that would be burdensome, meaning I don't want to feel sick if they lose or break it, so we went with refurbished. No one has lost or damaged them yet though.