Kids and technology

[PeacefulChaos]

I know this topic has been covered before, but I haven't seen it so much in this light.

We are not an anti-technology family. We have a good computer, DH and I have cell phones (his is a smart-ish phone, mine isn't, and we would like to get iPhones sometime when we have some extra $), I have an iPod, we have a nice tv, we play video games (mostly older systems - N64, Super Nintendo, Sega Genesis, PS2 - the only newer ones we have are a Wii and a PS3. The kids are the only ones who play the older ones, generally), DS8 has a Nintendo DS (one of the older ones), etc. We don't have satellite/cable/dish or anything, but we have Netflix and the kids know how to use it to watch stuff, etc.

So recently a friend of mine put a picture on fb that said something about 'this generation' and her kids were in the picture - her teenager with her phone, texting; her 9yo with a phone, texting; and her 6yo with the iTouch, playing a game. I don't think there is anything wrong with it, I just find myself like :001_huh: because my kids don't do stuff like that. My sons can call 911 on my phone and that's about it. They talk to my grandparents on the phone, once a week for maybe 5 minutes each. They don't text - they've never tried and they've never asked to. They did learn how to play Angry Birds on my grandparents' Kindle while we were visiting.

I don't know, I just think to myself, are we weird because our kids don't play with iPods and phones all the time?

And then I think about it in the educational sense - like, DH was like, they do have to learn to use a computer, and I totally agree. But when? I knew only the most basic computer skills until I was in middle school, when I took keyboarding and learned to type and whatnot. And what about the internet? I know all about filters and stuff, but at what age does one let a kid get on the internet at all? (I'm thinking no sooner than teenage years, but is that weird? Too long?) I don't feel like the kids really need to know much about the computer for awhile, because I want them to know how to write. We have kids that we know (when I'm saying kids here, I mean graduates - kids in college) who have done all of their work, the majority of their lives, on the computer. When they have to write something by hand, it's awful. They can't spell, they don't know their grammar, etc. I know that isn't the case with all, and I don't think it's because they've always used computers, but I just don't really feel like they are necessary until they are older. Like, to type reports and stuff, maybe.

I've also always been :glare: about kids with cell phones - but I do see where they can come in handy as kids get older. I guess I feel like an old fuddy-duddy sometimes, since I'm still sitting here thinking, 'well, I didn't get a phone til I was 16, and then it wasn't even turned on, I just had it for emergencies!' But I can't help but feel like I'm a little bit right, because of surveys of high school (I think it was high school and not college) students done that the students have answered by saying they would rather be at home texting friends on a Friday night than doing something with friends on a Friday night. :confused: I just think that's so backwards and...not good.

Anyway, I'm kind of rambling, and this probably doesn't make a whole lot of sense. :tongue_smilie: Does anyone have any thoughts on this?

Edited May 12, 2012 by PeacefulChaos

[Rebecca VA]

As the mother of a teen, I'm *glad* when she's home texting friends! My daughter's eighth grade class is very much linked together on Facebook, and they communicate with each other all the time. Last night it seemed that most of the kids were home, and guess what? They were chatting with each other off and on via Facebook. Friendly banter, posting photos of class trips, that sort of thing. I'm glad they don't feel that they have to go out to enjoy themselves, and I especially like that they can be in touch with EVERYONE at the same time. Even less-popular classmates are welcome to chime in to the conversation.

 

I'm an old fuddy-duddy, too, and yet things have changed so unbelievably that I can hardly remember how life used to be.

[PeacefulChaos]

As the mother of a teen, I'm *glad* when she's home texting friends! My daughter's eighth grade class is very much linked together on Facebook, and they communicate with each other all the time. Last night it seemed that most of the kids were home, and guess what? They were chatting with each other off and on via Facebook. Friendly banter, posting photos of class trips, that sort of thing. I'm glad they don't feel that they have to go out to enjoy themselves, and I especially like that they can be in touch with EVERYONE at the same time. Even less-popular classmates are welcome to chime in to the conversation.

 

I'm an old fuddy-duddy, too, and yet things have changed so unbelievably that I can hardly remember how life used to be.

 

I guess I can see that being a good thing, but I still think that it would be better for them to actually be talking in person, hanging out at each other's houses, etc. Obviously 8th grade isn't really when that starts, but it just doesn't seem like the conversations and friendships can be the same if they exist so much just through social media, kwim? (Not that what your daughter and her friends have is that way) When I was a teenager - particularly once I hit about my sophomore year and high school and I had friends who drove (I was a junior when I turned 16, youngest in my class), we went to the movies a lot, or to get some food, or just hung out at each others' houses. When I was a junior even more so... after work on the weekends I would even go to our local 'hangout' restaurant (I did that even the summer I came home between my freshman/sophomore years of college) to drink a cappuccino or eat a grilled cheese. I know, I know, those are all remnants of 'yesteryear' (All 12 years ago that I graduated high school! ;) That's like 100 in technology years, though. :lol: ) but it just all seems so much more personable, so much nicer, than texting each other all evening. :)

Idk, maybe as time goes by and my kids get older I'll get used to it. I have to admit though, part of me doesn't want to. :lol: :tongue_smilie:

[PeacefulChaos]

Oh, and they were kind of lost in my OP, but I was wondering, what age do most of you let your kids get online? Use the computer? etc...

[J-rap]

Don't feel you need to push your kids to use these things. Once they are older and out in the world more, they'll get the urge themselves to use technology more, and they will become proficient at it then because they want to.

 

I for one am glad my kids didn't grow up with all of that, but it's much more prevalent among young children now than it was even ten years ago.

 

I don't mean to say technology is bad, btw. We do use it a lot, now!

[Bluegoat]

I don't think there is really much need for elementary kids to be on computers to learn how to use them. I would tend to think that when they can start to do some programming, if they are interested, might be a good time. Middle school is also a good time to learn how to type - better then than in high school when they could be doing more important things.

 

Most programs and software and such change pretty quickly, so learning them early on in their schooling is not necessarily that useful - by the time a grade 8 child is working we will probably all have i-chips implanted in our brains or eyeballs or something. (That's when the aliens will push the button that turns us all into soldiers for their galactic fleet...)

[LibraryLover]

Edited because I realize I don't actually understand the question.

Edited May 13, 2012 by LibraryLover

[MomatHWTK]

I don't let the 2 y.o. surf the net, but he has figured out how to start a kids' program on Netflix using the Wii. :) The other three each have access online. The middle two don't do general searches, but go to specific websites that I have set up for them. The oldest is able to do searches and also go to select websites.

 

We use web-based lessons a great deal for all three of the older children. Liam has an account under our family account with Jumpstart and his big sister helps him play on that sometimes.

 

ETA: The kids do not participate in a lot of open social media. They don't have phones or text and are only allowed to "chat" at places that are moderated such as Always IceCream or JumpStart.

Edited May 13, 2012 by MomatHWTK

[Catwoman]

I don't have anything useful to add to the discussion, but I just thought it was very funny that your dh has a "smart-ish" phone. :D

 

Apparently, it's not stupid or anything, but isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, either. Does it forget its apps a lot? Does it freeze up when asked to speed-dial someone, because it can't handle the pressure?

 

There's no shame in only having a smart-ish phone, and admitting it is a huge step. ;)

[GingerPoppy]

I don't have anything useful to add to the discussion, but I just thought it was very funny that your dh has a "smart-ish" phone. :D

 

Apparently, it's not stupid or anything, but isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, either. Does it forget its apps a lot? Does it freeze up when asked to speed-dial someone, because it can't handle the pressure?

 

There's no shame in only having a smart-ish phone, and admitting it is a huge step. ;)

 

:lol:

That was awesome.

[Just Kate]

Well...my kids both have iPod Touches (they are used and were gifts from my brother). Ds8 uses his too much and we have to limit it at times, dd4 only thinks to use hers occassionally. We also just bought ds8 a cell phone because he gets dropped off for swim class and there have been too many instances that he really needed to contact me. I just feel better with him having a phone available to do that (it almost seems to be assumed that the kids have phones). I do allow him to text, but only to select people (his daddy who works out of town, his grandparents and a cousin). However, the other day he showed me a text from a random person and of course he engaged in text conversation with this person! He didn't know not to (he assumed it was someone he knew). So this made me realize that he is really too young to have this technology at his fingertips and I need to be better at keeping his phone on me and only letting him use it when he is at swim or when he wants to text/talk to his daddy or grandparents.

 

I think this technology thing is hard. My 8 year old is already asking for a facebook account (he has older cousins) and I have said NO WAY! My 4 year old constantly asks me to post her pictures onto facebook (makes me wonder how much I talk about putting things on FB!). I really wonder what technology will be like for them in 5-10 years???

 

I know I didn't answer your question (not 100% sure what it was!). But I just wanted to say that I think I get what you're saying and I agree that it is difficult to navigate these waters.

[albeto]

I think the more people are familiar with what computer technology offers, the more advantage they'll have in general. Knowing things like your IP address can be easily found means they know they're not really anonymous online. Knowing things can be stolen offline means they'll learn computer security (which is constantly evolving and needs updates all the friggin time). Knowing how to manipulate computer programs to do things means they'll be in more control and won't have to pay someone else to service their computer needs as much as some pinhead like me will have to do. It's like knowing basic plumbing or electricity or carpentry. The more you know, the more you can do.

 

It also offers the world at their fingertips. My kids know what's going on in the Middle East and Asia because it's being talked about online. They know various legal issues because they're being talked about online. They know how to spot a time for compassion because an injustice is talked about online.

 

I encourage my kids to spend time on their computers. I think it's like spending time tinkering around the engine of the family car.

[PeacefulChaos]

I don't have anything useful to add to the discussion, but I just thought it was very funny that your dh has a "smart-ish" phone. :D

 

Apparently, it's not stupid or anything, but isn't exactly the sharpest tool in the shed, either. Does it forget its apps a lot? Does it freeze up when asked to speed-dial someone, because it can't handle the pressure?

 

There's no shame in only having a smart-ish phone, and admitting it is a huge step. ;)

 

:lol: Yep, basically. :lol:

It's not exactly the latest in smart phone technology - it's a used Nokia something or other that he got from a friend for $50. But it does have a few (very few) apps, etc. So yeah, smart-ish. Not the smartest out there. :D :lol:

[LillyMama]

We're pretty much all over the place. My husband is both a technie and just a big kid, so we have the XBox, the Wii, three large TVs and a 10 foot projector screen. But the only TV ever watched here is football or HGTV. If the kids and I ever watch anything, it's through Netflix and I try to keep it educational. They're not really TV kids, anyway, not because we're purists but just because it doesn't hold their attention. They're more doers like their dad... (I, on the other hand, don't know if I'd ever get on the treadmill without my Hulu.)

 

That being said, my husband got them Kindle Fires for Christmas. Yes, my 5 and 6 year olds have nicer eReaders than most adults. They will play games on them occasionally, but it's been nice for the books- they're both set up to my Amazon account, so once I buy an eBook, we can download it to each Kindle and my iPad. So we get three books for the price of one. But I never hand them the Kindles if the WiFi is on and they are not allowed to take them to their rooms. We have a one hour screen time limit for each day- TV, computer, video games, Kindle- and it rarely gets used up.

 

We've incorporated the computer into our school day, because they're both studying the same, mom-intensive topics at about the same levels. So one kid does the ETC workbook with mom help while the other does ETC online, then they switch. The ETC online games have them type words occasionally so both my kids know where letters are on the keyboard.

 

If we every want to look up things on the Internet, they gather around me on the couch with my iPad. I'm pretty protective about the Internet, so I have, so far, decided not to show them how to use it or use it in front of them on the laptop. We've already decided that we don't want TVs or computers in bedrooms, even ours, and I hope that will help us feel a bit safer about introducing "the big bad Internet" to our kids.

 

So, yeah, we're sort of all over. I think everyone just has areas that they care about and the rest we figure out as we go along.

[Sarah CB]

We're a pretty high-tech family. Dd has a Macbook Pro, the three boys have iPads and iPod touches (they bought the iPods themselves). Ds (12) is very techy - he understands more about the inner workings of our home computers than I do. He's really good at fixing things when they go wrong. He's currently in an immersive arts technology course online which is kind of like Minecraft, but different. A few of his friends are in the same class and it's pretty cool because they can all talk over Skype and see each other's avatars in the program they use for the class. Ds and one of his friends were building a temple to Poseidon together online. I don't think online communication should replace in-person communication, but I do think it adds to it. One of ds' friends in the class lives about 40 minutes away so they usually only see each other once a week at co-op. The other friend moved away over a year ago and ds hadn't seen him at all since then (they used to play once a week) so he's really been enjoying working with him online.

 

My friend and I are going to have our boys do the same math curriculum (AoPS) next year and we're going to schedule a weekly Skype time where they can watch the math video and work together on some of their problems.

 

ETA: My six year old seems to pick things up really quickly tech-wise. Dh had downloaded the Evernote app and I still hadn't taken a look at it yet. Ds (6) had his iPad and asked me what that app was - I told him just to leave it until dh could show him how to work it. Less than 10 minutes later, ds had recorded himself telling a story and had taken pictures to go with it and inserted them between the sections of audio he recorded in Evernote. This is also the kid who photocopied his face when he was 2 :)

 

I don't want my kids zoning out on screens all the time, but for the most part I think my kids are effectively using technology.

Edited May 13, 2012 by Sarah CB