iPod usage in Kids/Teens

[sahm99]

I am still trying to get used to my kids growing up, so I need some help...and maybe a reality-check?!?!?

We are very conservative as far as screen-time is concerned. The kids don't watch TV (just movies that we have carefully selected), we don't own a Wii, no playstation, generally no games on the internet (apart of sometimes during the week-end...with their coins earned during Bigmathtime-lessons:lol:).

They all read A LOT, have LOTS of outside activities...they are busy!

 

A couple of weeks ago ds got an (old) simple iPod (with a small screen) from his cousin. I was not happy, but left it at that, explaining to ds that he could use it on long trips to listen to Audiobooks.

 

Well, fastforward, I now need to justify not wanting ds to put music on it...

 

I DO like listening to music, as does dh. At home (mostly classical), in the car (mostly modern) - I think music is great! All of the kids have CD-players in their rooms.

But, I cannot shake the bad feeling I get whenever I picture ds starting to run around with earplugs!!!

I don't see the necessity to isolate oneself, and actually find it unhealthy. I feel uneasy looking at all those teens living almost parallel lives...

 

Please share your thoughts!

As much as screens have never been an issue, I feel we urgently need to decide about how to deal with iPods, etc.

[kolamum]

Just so you know.. you can get a docking station which is basically a speaker that he can plug the ipod into in order to listen to it.

 

We have 2, one in the kitchen/main area. One in a bedroom. I keep children's books, family music, and my books on my ipod. When children are doing chores in the common area I plop on something for all of us. When I'm cooking I put on my own thing. When I go for a walk I listen to my audio books. Sometimes I will walk around the house with earplugs {I'm not keen on it} but if I have a lot of chores listening to my ipod alone will keep me moving to get it all done quickly. :) I permit my children that liberty as well if they desire it.

[Peela]

Well I guess you can resist it but you could also welcome it and buy speakers, learn how to download music, and then maintain a general influence over the sort of music he listens to by making the downloading a sort of family thing.

 

There does come a time when kids move more out of the family sphere and want to feel part of the peer culture, and while you can influence it for a long time....it still happens one way or another- or, they end up very weird homeschoolers (ask my kids, anyway). If it would cause your son to withdraw from you, get particularly unhappy with you...is it worth the control?

 

We are an ipod family- the kids listen to their ipods- but I make a point of letting them play me their favourite songs. We have several ipod docks around the house- they use the one in the kitchen when they are doing dishes.

 

Your son might be getting to a point where he needs his own private world. I think personally that is a healthy thing and it is dangerous for a mother to need to maintain control and awareness of every part of their child's life. If something in him wants an ipod, wants to embrace that- I would allow it, but do it in such a way that you still have influence.

[JumpedIntoTheDeepEndFirst]

Our kids have ipods and have had for a while.

 

DH and I are responsible for what music they download. They do not have free access to our full collection or to the internet.

 

Due to concerns for their hearing the kids aren't allowed earphones at home. They have cheap ipod docks.

 

I suppose I should add that I don't allow them to wander the world with earphones either. Earphones/buds are permitted during certain travel situations only. This is motivated partly by hearing concerns and partly good manners.

 

An ipod is a wonderful music management and storage device. It can be used without becoming a mechanism for anti-social behavior.

 

My advice--if you don't like having your son run around with earphones in all the time buy a dock and put the earphones away until they are truly needed.

[MorganClassicalPrep]

In the interest of full disclosure: we are a family with more technology than two people really need. I do limit DD's time on all the various screens though.

 

I think I would worry more about controlling the types of music than the frequency. Maybe it is just because I almost always have music on, and find that I actually work better with music on. DD also seems to have a natural inclination towards music (and unlike me, talent for expressing it! :D) We often play music in the background while we are playing, cleaning, working, eating.... I second the idea of a docking station so that the ipod becomes a shared family experience as opposed to one member blocking out the rest.

 

For the times when DS would like to have a little privacy, which I don't think is a bad thing at that age, can I suggest getting a good pair of headphones? The "ear bud" ones, like the ones distributed with the ipods, are the most damaging on ears. The best thing to go with (after speakers of course) are some noise-cancelling headphones, which drown out ambient noise so the listener doesn't have to turn the music up so loud.

 

I also don't (generally) allow DD to walk around in public with headphones on, mostly because I feel it is a safety issue for her to hear me. (The one exception is when we are on my school campus, where everyone is wearing headphones and I'm always walking right next to her! :D)

[Mrs Mungo]

I ripped The Hobbit CDs to my iPod and we've been listening to it through speakers/in the car. It doesn't have to be an instrument of isolation.