boundaries for technology?

[ginger2]

i thought it might be interesting, at least to me, to hear what other's parameters are concerning some of the more obvious worldly things such as internet usage, smart phones, kids toys that can be hacked and home security that can also be turned around so that others can see in your home.
now a word about me, i'm only partially knowledgeable about words like 'hacked' and sometimes just hope i'm using the right words.
there was a video i saw a couple years back of a girl being talked to by a hacker through a monitoring device in her bedroom, that's the type of thing i'm talking about.
for myself, i 'broke down' and bought myself a smart phone the spring of 2020, thinking i will only allow myself to have it about 3 to 3 and half years, then get back out of it
personally i think smartphones put the whole world (evil) in the palm of our hand

 

[FollowingHim2]

Our children do not have phones. If we get them one so they can call us when they are out, it will be one that only does phone calls and text, or doesn't have internet available on it.

We only have internet capable devices in the main living areas of the house. We can see what they are doing on them at all times. This has been very important when they've seen stuff that they shouldn't by accident, or when we've seen them playing a game they shouldn't be.
I do not let them take computers into the bedrooms, even for school stuff. If they need peace and quiet then I send the other children to play in the bedrooms or in the toy room or outside and keep the child on the computer near me.

We don't have any toys that can be hacked like that. They're expensive, so the idea of having one has never come up. I've heard that people can hack baby monitors, and I do have one of those, but it's not connected to the internet, it's just an old fashioned one. It's probably close to about 15 years old now. I don't need to use it any more now that my youngest is 3 and no longer naps during the day.

 

[MeganC]

In our house Steve has a phone and we have a shared phone we take with us when we drive to town. I have an old phone for connecting to our wifi but it doesn't have a phone account. We have a computer in Christie's old office that we use for different things and if I'm doing laundry I like to use it.

We stopped our satellite TV (DISH) in February. We just get some local TV now. Mostly we use the TV for our Friday movie nights.

I never really thought about it before but I can't think of any powered toys the kids might have.

 

[Keith Martin]

The horse has been out of the barn in my family for many years -- and is part of the evidence of my failure as a patriarch.

 

[steve]

Technology decisions are not simple, easy, or without possibility of dangerous consequences.
Sam (FollowingHim) and Sarah are great examples of handling it well.

 

[MrB]

We have four children. Two older (15 and 16) two younger (6 and nearly 2)
Obviously the rules are different for the older ones vs the younger
I’ll start with the older ones
As much as I don’t like the internet connected way of life , I’ve had to concede that this is the world they will have to live in and sooner or later they will have to develop the skills to regulate themselves. We started with giving the older two iPads when they where 10/ 11 . They where using them at school so it made sense to us to allow it at home. The rules where no devices in the bedrooms , we must know passwords and have all access at anytime. Bad behaviour or inappropriate content would result in confiscation. It was stressed to them the internet is a tool for doing things
I’ve found a world of difference between the oldest girl and boy that’s a year and half younger. the girl really couldn’t care less about the internet or games. The boy would be a game addict if left to his own. I found the “clash of clans” game was among the least offensive and for a long time that is all I wold allow. I had the ability to monitor in a fashion. We had some healthy father son competition and uncles aunts cousins all got in on the action. It was useful to direct his attention while he was younger.
We found it necessary to get them cell phones when they got older(12/13y).
It’s not all bad, we are all on apple and it’s very easy to track them. Or each other. last night I was working late and my daughter texted me saying she could see I was still at work ,when would I be coming home?
I pay for all the phones and the connection plans. As long as I’m paying I have access that’s the rules.
now the first two are older they are bending the rules a bit , devices are going into bedrooms but I’m ok with it as the ground work has been done, anyhow there’s so much homework going on there’s not a lot of time to do much else.
We are a largely open door home. That is if they are in their rooms studying the door is open and nothing to hide from us. They have now had their own laptops for several years as they are mandatory for school.
I very rarely check them. Almost never. I don’t have rules as such. I do have high expectations
oh and they also play outdoor sports netball for the girl and football for the boys, outdoor stuff is a must to keep them balanced.
I will provide them with any thing they need to achieve, that’s anything!
They know that there are also no excuses for not achieving.
As they get older it changes from games the boy is growing out of
To social media the girl is becoming involved with (“Insta book face snap twit” )
It’s always changing. Back to the younger ones
the nearly 2 yr gets no tv or iPad time ! Nothing.
The 6 year old thinks he’s 10 this is going to be our challenge ,given that he likes to play games with his 15yr old brother
I haven’t quite figured out plan the littles yet I think they will need more close management than their older sister and brother. The two younger boys in proximity will be a lot different to the older boy and girl.

 

[FollowingHim2]

I found the “clash of clans” game was among the least offensive and for a long time that is all I wold allow. I had the ability to monitor in a fashion. We had some healthy father son competition and uncles aunts cousins all got in on the action.

Our two oldest boys (13 and 11yrs) love to play Endless Sky. It's free to download. They're currently working on coding with Samuel for school and are making mods and plugins for this game. They're also using blender to design ships to add into it as well. Because of the time it takes to do this, we struggle to get the balance right with school/games/non-screen time. It's something we're actively working on.