Children get first mobile at average age of 8

[twinscythe12332]

read here

that's pretty scary.

[3x-a-d3-u5]

But researchers were also told that by the age of 10, children were shopping online using their parents' debit or credit cards.

That really puts a whole new spin on target markets! Ofcource that survey is UK based, it does still have some affect here in SA.

[SilverNodashi]

I've seen way too many school kids with cellphones already. And although a lot of innocent moms would protest and say it's for their safety, I don't think parents realize what children can actually do (download games, ringtones, porn, viruses, etc) with cellphones these days. AND, often times the child is more advanced with the technology than the parent.

I personally won't give my child a phone till he's out of school.

[garthu]

I hear you softdux, controversy over cancer, what content they get etc BUT (aha the big but) my daughter is 10 and got her cell at ten. When she goes out to friends etc i wouldnt have it any other way. She also has a panic system on her phone. Wouldn't have it any other way. Don't know if i could let her out to sleep overs etc unless she had it with her. Also have a 15 year. My agreement is that i have access to whatever they do. I can check history at anytime i feel like it. The rules are no chatting unless they can answer EXACTLY who that person is and where they live etc etc. They cant delete history if i do spot checks. They know it's for there safety as i show some of the horror stories..

Way i see it is that i have to keep up with the technology to know what to look for... just my opinion..

[twinscythe12332]

I understand your point of view on that, and you have a good methodology going. Is there a stage you reach before they feel you invade their privacy completely, or do they just accept that you do checks and try keep their phone as clean as possible?

[garthu]

They have accepted it simply as the rule was laid out from day one before they had the phones. Probably wouldnt like to enforce after they had for a while

The bottom line is i try to "assist" more than control and certainly dont be to extreme. An example happened yesterday ... . I found my son (15) had been using pretty hectic language on facebook like f### (written like that but the meaning CLEAR!! and sorry if offensive but thats the way it was) His mom wanted him banned from facebook the works! That i think would do exactly the opposite of intended.

I just gave him the correct info... don't do it in a public enviro like that. Many people wont like it, doesnt make you a better man or person in fact opposite etc. Don't want to see it again etc. I know he'll swear with his mates, i used to, but he mustn't do it like that.

I think communication ideas and everything have changed so much since i was a youngster (40 now) and used to swear and do stupid things - they just have different channels and cant always vent it the same way we used to by being out all day riding the suburbs - they not allowed to for all the other fears...

I think about what i used to get up to and still pretty thankfull they havnt been up to some the things i did Not yet anyway.....

[insulin]

Excuse me but are you from the past?

I cannot belief I am typing this! Really we live in South Africa. Teachers cannot be trusted nor can anyone that works with your children ever be completely trusted! This is the golden rule when it comes to the safety of your children!

Look yes you can access porn and horrible stuff on your phone. But they can also do this on a friend’s phone or computer connected to a mobile phone. It is easy! The point is!!!!! Do you trust your children and the answer is NO you don’t because they are children and will make mistakes. So I recommend that you give your child a phone because the dangers in our world are real and not because you trust them!

Teach yourself the technology and set down rules that your children must follow. Or you can use specialised programs to monitor your children’s phones.

Don’t tell me about how you monitor your child’s phone because you are living a lie... They can manipulate a phone to show you what you want to see. Just educate them of all the dangers and ask them to please respect the rules.

[Dave A]

They can manipulate a phone to show you what you want to see. Just educate them of all the dangers and ask them to please respect the rules.

I'll endorse that

My theory was once they knew enough to beat the protection net/system I had in place (in my case that was some internet security program, might have been Nortons in the days when it was the best there was), they were somewhere near ready to deal with what lay on the other side.

And it seems it worked out pretty well in the end too.

[Loman]

At least there's one good thing:

Wendy van den Hende, chief executive of the charity, said: "Children today face a kind of 'technological tipping point' forcing them to develop financial awareness at an earlier age."

[garthu]

It's now confirmed that all reporters use TFSA for there "ideas"

Article re cell phones and kids

[missD]

Valid points but, I remember a time when everyone- children and adults - got along fine without cellphones. Adults sudden dependance on this piece of technology has brushed off on the kiddies, because now all of a sudden we need to be able to communicate with our kids all the time. What ever happen to good ol' trust? Yes I understand times have changed, but dont you think that the changes are directly associated with the advancement of technology? I could around in circles about how technology can be good and bad. But at the end of the day the reality of it is that... technology is the new black

[garthu]

Agreed. We could all go round in circles with valid points both sides. But, Insulin, to not trust at all! Don't you think that comes across as maybe an issue to the child.

Do you trust your children and the answer is NO you don’t because they are children and will make mistakes

Thats STRONG! I feel i do trust the children in general. What i cant trust is what's around them.. thats where i lack trust. Agreed they gonna stuff up with just about everything, but the best lessons in life i have had is where i got things wrong, not right. Surely theres gotta be trust to attempt the right decision, learn from the wrong (we have to stop them from the life threatening situations, agreed)

Dunno am I wishing upon a star here??

[missD]

i agree garth. i think the lack of trust is the reason that kids have the problems they are dealing with these days. kids are so absorbed by technology, what ever happened to playing outside instead of surfing the net or playing xbox??

[twinscythe12332]

trust is an integral part to a child's growing up. you will never be able to be there all the time, and kids have a way of slipping away unnoticed the thing is to instill a good set of values and best practices with the child. When I think about it, my parents instilled a good set of values to follow. rules were rarely broken because I understood what they were there for (and a tight smack would await me if i strayed over the line :P). The problem here is that parents are no longer taking the time to instill these rules, or don't enforce these rules. We all know what the greater society is like. I learnt an entirely new vocabulary while at school(we all know the one). So if the parents aren't teaching their kids, then soicety will take over. we're social through and through. there wouldn't be such a thing as "peer pressure" if we weren't. what happens when a child makes a mistake? let's take the example of a 17 year old taking drugs. he takes them for a while then has an overdose because he's trying to show to his friends he's one of the brus. gets to hospital, gets sorted out, gets sent back out into the world. who tells him he did something wrong?

[insulin]

Sadly I don’t live in Utopia.

Before my mobile phone I had to walk to the closed petrol station when my old car broke down. Before the mobile phone you had to run around for a working public phone when your best friend was stabbed in the stomach and bleeding to death. That is what we did when the mobile phone was still just a dream. I can recall many situations that could have been avoided if I had a mobile phone back in the day.

Secondly technology is not a bad thing. I hate it when people talk about the good old days because those days were not so good... Yes people get killed because some lowlife wanted his mobile and money. In the good old days you just got killed for your money so what exactly have changed? Still it is not the phone’s fault that we have lowlife murdering scum running around killing people for the love of killing. I don’t care how you see the world. The fact is technology is here to stay and I for one will embrace all technology even cloning that most people find disgusting and wrong, I will endorse because we need to better ourselves as a species or we have lost the battle with evolution.

A healthy mind must have a healthy body, thus video games must now evolve to physical development and it has. Playing outside with friends is an innocent activity and sounds good and fun and yes human interaction in the real world is invaluable. However I would rather see each of those children play and run around with a mobile phone in hand then without one, simply because they can help themselves if the need arises.

Last thing, Trust is earned as is respect. I trust and I respect ONLY if I am trusted and respected.