General Chat

None of my 3 have been allowed a mobile before their 12th birthday there is no need they dont go off to the other end of the country without me. Zo does use my old mobile but I monitor it and refuse to put credit on if she has used it to talk to her friends too much. Last night she used my facebook to see how many of her new friends had an account remembering they are all too young to register legally so many of them do WHY? do parents not check on them ? I know one old classmate at primary his brother had an account and he was 4.

Am I really such a fuddy duddy that I wont allow her an account till she is 13 ? Luckily she has taken no as no and I allow her to use the computer which is in my bedroom when Im around and I know the sites she goes on and shes ok with that mind you not to say in 6 months when she will be thinking about turning into a teenager the pleads will start again.

Maybe because I am older than most of her friends parents I see it differently.

Are we to take it that she has started Secondary School? If that is the case, than a cheap pay-as-you-go mobile might help her street cred. She could top it up with any pocket money you give her, which will help to teach budgetting.

If she is still at Primary, then she is lucky to borrow yours!

As far as FB is concerned - the world has changed in the last 20 odd years since our youngest was that age. If she goes round to a friend who has unsupervised internet access, you may find that she opens an account without your permission.

Its never too soon to stress that 'friends' aren't what they seem - friends of friends are just numbers let alone the creeps who have managed to pass themselves off as someone younger. The trouble with youngsters is that they believe themselves to be invincible and their parents out of the Ark

You sound very sensible to me.
I don't hold much with the, they need it for safety argument often raised, if anything it just makes them a target for theft.

My girls complained about wearing cycle helmets because other kids parents let them go without.
One day my youngest fell off and her head hit the kerb stone the helmet took the impact and the worst she suffered was a broken tooth.

Just because "everybody" does, or has, something doesn't mean you have to follow suit.

dawn I don´t think you are wrong and if you are a tad older then her friends parents, it just means you are also a tad wiser.
Stick with your believes YOU are right

Detective she has just started secondry but hubby rides bike to school with her and meets her to ride home as she suffers from anxiety and wont go on her own and shes happy with that so no need for a phone yet shes only got til december to wait anyway shes 12 then but doesnt even want an all singing and dancing one jsut wants a simple one (its all she would of got anyway)

Mayfield she does wear a helmet and doesnt moan about it thankfully she hasnt fallen off yet.

Uzziphone definitely wont budge on wouldnt be fair on other 2 they had to wait and they are summer babies so she gets her 6 months before they did anyway. Facebook she can use mine if she needs to, only good thing is she is quite happy still being a child hasnt followed the trend of her mates and piled on the makeup (which isnt allowed either at school) and hasnt asked to go down town unless its with me, sure it will all change soon.

Dawn you are right to stick to your guns. I made both of mine wait til they were 14 before they opened a FB account.

Daughter has a mobile...pay as you go. she keeps on for a contract because all her friends have one..they are all under 17! I said no, I cant afford to do that when you are 18 then you can pay for it. Til then she gets £5.00 a week and no other pocket money.

neither of mine go out(too far away from town anyway) son doesnt want a mobile he pays for xbox live(£40 per year) and can chat free to his friends all the time.

I am a lot older than her friends parents i guess. I didnt start my family til i was 34 and had daughter at 36.

But that makes me older and wiser and my children are a lot safer than some.

Our only comp is in the living room where i can see what they go on and nobody complains.

they might think you are being hard but one day they will thank you for it.

if only there were more parents like us. Strict but fair.

Florence
in the hebrides :-)

Lissy has just popped round so Zo was talking to her about her new phone and fact it was a nokia she liked it as thats make she wants when Lis told her how much it would be to buy it Zo turned round and said definitely not having that one then lol.

Laddo gets £2.50 put straight into his bank account each week and that has to go on his pAYG phone still runs out of credit though he just forgets to use the money to top it up lol.

Florence we also switch internet box off at night as Lad doesnt sleep and can be found up at all hours so by turning it off know he wont be on his laptop all night , such evil parents lol.