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Texting Toddlers, How Young is Too Young?

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on from the combine-with-powerwheels-for-ultimate-satisfaction dept.

theodp writes "Toddlers don't need to be texting, concedes the NYT's Lisa Belkin, but since they have always had toy typewriters and toy telephones, why not toy Blackberrys? If your little tyke is itching to text, the NYT has a round-up of texting devices aimed at children as young as three who want to talk with their thumbs. The question of, 'when is a child is old enough for their own cell phone' has been replaced with the question of, 'what type of texting gadget is appropriate for which age group.' But don't forget to lay down the law: 'Our 13-year-old got a phone with an unlimited plan as a reward for good grades,' says HiTechMommy.com blogger Cat Schwartz. 'Each night he is required to turn the phone in at 10 p.m. and then gets it back first thing in the morning.'"

14 of 286 comments (clear)

  1. Something is wrong with this. by Locdonan · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Turning it in and then getting it back the next day? Responsible Parenting? Lies! With no kids myself, I can only offer tech to my 3 nieces as their parents see fit. I think teens is a good age, but as always, it depends on when the child can show responsible behavior. Many College students in my town are not responsible enough to own phones.

    --
    If I wrote something witty, you would say I stole it from somewhere.
    1. Re:Something is wrong with this. by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Insightful

      In most cases kids quickly lose interest. "I want I want I want" quickly becomes "I'm bored" as the novelty wears off and the phone disappears into a drawer.

      I was discussing this with my boss a little while ago, and he said his kids destroy half the stuff he buys for them, and that when we were growing-up we appreciated things more. And I replied, "That's because we didn't have anything. I had one record player and I treasured it like it was gold." He laughed and conceded the same was true for him.

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      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    2. Re:Something is wrong with this. by noundi · · Score: 4, Insightful

      These things are always ridiculous. Kids, just as adults, aren't all equally responsible. If you teach your kid how responsibility rewards itself with extended freedom there's no need to yank the phone after dark. If you want to check to make sure your child isn't abusing his freedom you can ask for a detailed bill and check the hours, and if he has been abusing his freedom you can then yank the phone until he has proven to be responsible enough, given that you have enough patience. If you don't then probably you shouldn't be a parent in the first place.

      --
      I am the lawn!
    3. Re:Something is wrong with this. by PainKilleR-CE · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Looking at how my daughter handles things vs. how my youngest brother-in-law (a teenager) handles things, or even how I believe I handled things as a kid, I think most of it comes down to teaching a kid to treasure the things they have. My brother-in-law breaks or loses something, and he ends up with a new one that's better than what he had before. He's almost better off breaking stuff than taking care of it. My daughter asks for something, if it's of any significant cost and/or value, it could be a while before she gets it, and she may have to give something up for it. If she breaks it, it could be a long while before she sees a replacement. She seems to value things much better than her uncle, and she's 12 years younger than he is.

      On the other hand, there are some people, like my wife, that simply don't value physical things. In a lot of ways, it's a gift, because she doesn't miss it when it's gone, and she doesn't really want much. In other ways, though, not valuing something means not caring enough to think about the way things should be treated, and generally putting more value in what she can get for something than in what she paid for it, or would have to pay to replace it.

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      -PainKilleR-[CE]
  2. OK by OrangeMonkey11 · · Score: 3, Insightful

    So whatever happen to just let the kid go outside and play. I'm all for introducing kids to technologies and educating them but this is a little to much. IMO this is just a way to train your kids not to be sociable when they are adults. It seems that more and more of the younger generation are losing their ability to to really converse face to face.

    1. Re:OK by eln · · Score: 3, Insightful

      But if we encourage them to go outside, they'll end up on your lawn, and then where will you be?

      Texting is a key component to being sociable these days among young people. Social skills are developed and used through texting just as they were over the phone in our generation and over at the soda fountain or wherever the hell they went in our grandparents' generation. The old ways may be best for us because it's what we're used to, but expecting the kids today to socialize in the same way we did is just as silly as our grandparents expecting us to follow some elaborate courtship ritual involving handkerchiefs and whatnot like they did.

      As long as the kids are only permitted to text certain trusted people (close family members, for example) and have limits set on their time, just like we had limits set on our phone time, I don't see any issue.

  3. First, learn to spell and write properly. by drunken_boxer777 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    This sounds like a load of trouble to me. I will certainly teach my children to spell and write properly before allowing them to own any texting-enabled device. Imagine a generation of people who learned texting before proper spelling and grammar. The horrors!

  4. Depends by d-r0ck · · Score: 5, Insightful

    When they are old enough to buy their own texting device and pay their own bills then I'll let my kids text.

    1. Re:Depends by kthejoker · · Score: 4, Insightful

      In the swankier part of town, I saw some kid (16 tops) drive into the Target parking lot yesterday in a Z3. That car is as good as wrecked, my friends, because there is no way that kid treats that car with the same respect that some single mom does her 1993 Taurus that is her only means of transportation and thus survival.

      Lord knows if I had enough income/cash to buy a Z3 my 16 year old kid would still be getting the beater with his own job money.

    2. Re:Depends by SirWhoopass · · Score: 3, Insightful

      don't assume that being financially well off automatically makes me an inconsiderate ass

      Quite true. However, in defense of the GP, it is so often an easy and accurate predictor.

  5. Re:0 Years of age by commodore64_love · · Score: 5, Insightful

    >>>think its great to teach 5 year olds Sex ed.

    Sure. Why not? When my 6-year-old nephew asked, "How do babies get in mommys bellies?" I just told him straight-up. The daddy puts his "pee pee" into his wife's private area, and that puts his seed into her belly, and then it grows into a baby. He went "ewwww" and then went back to watching TV. If he wants more info, he'll ask when he's ready to handle it.

    We discuss other "disgusting" things with our kids, like how to pee into the toilet, or how to wipe the brown stuff off their butt, so I see no reason to withhold the sex information either. In fact I think it's better to them them NOW when they young, rather than wait until they become self-conscious teens who are easily embarrassed.

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    "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
  6. Any age is fine as long as parents do their job by thetoadwarrior · · Score: 4, Insightful

    It's not the technology that's the problem. As with anything it's lazy parenting and the technology being used to replace something a parent should be doing. With proper parenting, a child learning how to text will have a head start over his friends and not being a spoiled little twat.

  7. Re:0 Years of age by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Insightful

    One of the wisest things about parenting I've ever heard:

    "If you are old enough to ask the question, you are old enough to hear the answer."

    They may not like the answer but they can handle it.

  8. Re:0 Years of age by NovaHorizon · · Score: 4, Insightful

    he did say "sex ed" apposed to "teach them about sex". So I'll assume he meant having it discussed during preschool, and not at home.
    I agree that if they ask, you should answer. I won't bring up the debate about teaching it in school by giving my opinion of it first though.

    Often times, answering a child's question is simply the best approach (often enough that I can't think of a time that it's not, though I won't close my answer to say there aren't times to answer.)

    Even while working in a call center you can learn this. I had a father call in once, and during the troubleshooting, his son was asking who he was talking to. The father was trying to unsuccessfully trying to get his child to let him continue the call in peace, and I gave the advice to simply answer the question. Soon as he answered, his child was satisfied and went away.

    Amazing how much a single answer can matter to someone who hasn't had their curiosity taken away by modern education.

    --
    Defective Logic