This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
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Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#2I think this is terrific.
I was 14 when I joined Facebook, in 2008. My dad, who is no dummy, laid out a series of rules for my Facebook use (he had been on the site for a year or so already).
One of those conditions was that he had my password and could look at my behavior on the site at any time. Occasionally I'd post something that he thought was inappropriate, and we'd talk about it, and I'd get embarrassed.
But in retrospect, I'm grateful. Everyone needs guidance as a teenager, and this is especially true for behavior online. Online behavior is at least as permanent as IRL behavior, and the consequences are often more public or serious.
I think it's really important to guide your kids online. Though your 13 year old may not appreciate it at the time, s/he will when s/he's 20 and has only half as much embarrassing teenage material floating around on their Facebook timeline (or Twitter account).
Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#3This seems a little harsh to me. Everyone takes their phones to school. Everyone sends texts at school. The ship has sailed. If you're the one without the phone, you're the weirdo that nobody will talk to.
This mom should have gotten her son a leash instead. Then at least the power play would have been obvious to everyone.
Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#4IANAL but isn't it explicitly not a contract; he doesn't have to sign or agree to anything. With the "Acceptance of this present", doesn't that make it more equivalent of a EULA stuck at the bottom of this page?
Or, since it sounds like he got given it first, it's the equivalent of putting an EULA inside the box of something that says "By opening this box you agreed to the following contract:".
Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#5I've always thought this approach to parenting results in children that are ill-equipped to make their own decisions. Teach kids critical thinking and good judgement not a long list of rules to memorize. The rules you do set should be for their safety not to control their lives.
Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#6Sad. I wanted privacy in everything I did even as a teenager. With such anal parents I would rather not loan their phone.
Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#7Every child is different and family dynamics matter a lot, but for me (when I was a teenager) this would have seemed insane. An attentive parent is good regardless of their chosen method of parenting, but freedom and support is much better than over the top restrictions/policing. Trust is an important part of a parent child relationship, if he doesn't have the chance to make mistakes it's going to be detrimental. I had a consequence free childhood and I don't think it was for the best.
Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#8IANAL but isn't it explicitly not a contract; he doesn't have to sign or agree to anything. With the "Acceptance of this present", doesn't that make it more equivalent of a EULA stuck at the bottom of this page? Or, since it sounds like he got given it first, it's the equivalent of putting an EULA inside the box of something that says "By opening this box you agreed to the following contract:".
Being that we're talking about a legal minor, and their legal guardian, who has complete legal control over them, then what you say makes no sense.
Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#9I really liked the clause about no porn. If this mom wants to run her family with Victorian-era iron fist then by all means but trying to stop a 13 year old boy from getting access to porn in 2013 is laughable.
Re: This mom gave her son an 18-point contract with his iPhone
#10This seems a little harsh to me. Everyone takes their phones to school. Everyone sends texts at school. The ship has sailed. If you're the one without the phone, you're the weirdo that nobody will talk to. This mom should have gotten her son a leash instead. Then at least the power play would have been obvious to everyone.
"No porn."
Thanks mom!
I'm mortified for the kid.