How do your little guys use their phones?
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Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
I would have switched it off. Um. However, if you can't, you can always mute the group or put the phone in "Do not disturb" mode or even "Flight" mode.
My son is not allowed his phone when doing homework or when going to sleep. He's got a lovely "app" which wakes his up every morning with a gentle kiss.
My son is not allowed his phone when doing homework or when going to sleep. He's got a lovely "app" which wakes his up every morning with a gentle kiss.
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PurpleDuck
- Posts: 1586
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Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
That would drive me nuts and result in one very grumpy mother next morning.um wrote:Sleeping with my daughter's phone in my room was another nightmare. It kept buzzing all night! I asked her who on earth needed to send her a message at 1am and apparently it is her 'class discussion group' (Year Eight) on Whatsapp
My own phone gets switched off at bed-time (I use it as an alarm in the morning and don't want to have any of those brain-frying waves near me all night long) and so does DS's - for the same reason as mine.It felt like I hit rock bottom; suddenly, there was knocking from beneath... (anon.)
Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
Whatever happened to clock radios? We all have one, phones stay downstairs, including ours, and turned off. However, expect to have to police that far more when they 'go live' with Internet!!
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Reading Mum
- Posts: 1841
- Joined: Tue Oct 04, 2011 9:44 am
- Location: Reading
Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
I only use the phone as an alarm on a Sunday morning when I get up at 5:30am for an activity - the clock radio is across the room and DH would be awake and very grumpy by the time I managed to turn it off. The phone has 'do not disturb' scheduled from 10:30pm to 7am every day so there are no pings in the night before this early start.
Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
Same in this house. All iPads/phones stay downstairs. The only time we use phones or iPads as alarms are when we are away from home.Yamin151 wrote:Whatever happened to clock radios? We all have one, phones stay downstairs, including ours, and turned off. However, expect to have to police that far more when they 'go live' with Internet!!
Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
Do they ever take it upstairs? For limited time or down by certain time?
Absolutely not - no phones, computers iPads, games or TV's upstairs. Books, bed and bath are the only upstairs activities. I don't even let my DD do her homework in her room. I believe that it is important to keep teens engaged in family life. Isolation breeds mental health difficulties.
Phones get put on a bookshelf when all members of our household come in. They are generally not used at home.
- Do they have internet access? What controls do you have on that and what they can access?
Yes but I do switch it off sometimes. Screen time is limited to school work during the week and she is so busy at weekends that she doesn't really bother. Because all computers are used downstairs and are visible I don't have restrictions on internet use We are very open and talk about the dangers. She has instagram but is not allowed to post pictures of herself, to say where she lives or goes to school. She has a username which is not recognisable, is only friends with people she knows, I have her password and periodically check. We don't have any games and she doesn't watch TV much except the odd film. her choice not mine. She prefers to practice her flute.
- Are you happy that they use it on the bus? In the car? On the sofa while telly on? Instead of telly?
Yes if she wants to, but generally she chats to her friends rather than spending too much time on her phone. She calls or texts me from the bus occasionally and also goes on instagram sometimes.
- Do they phone or facetime/skype their friends?
No she is not interested in FaceTiming or Skype doesn't like phoning - she texts her friends. I have access to the phone so can check texts etc. but I trust her so don't look much.
- If you are absolutely honest, how much time staring at it?
Really not a lot maybe 5 minutes a day max, except Saturdays. The school ask them to use their phones occasionally to take photo's of work. I ask DD to look at her phone at lunchtime and at the end of school in case I need to get her a message. She usually forgets which I find intensely frustrating. She uses it most on a Saturday morning whilst with her friends at a drama group. They all use it to take photo's and post inane pictures of cats on instagram.
- I can get smartphone with unlimited texts and a small amount of data for £8.50 - enough to check "insta!" but not to download vids on data plan. Is that enough for your guys?
DD has the smallest amount of data available can't remember what that is but barely enough to watch 2 YouTube videos'. She knows that if she goes over her phone will be confiscated for the coming month and she will get a pay as you go family brick so she has never gone over.
She did leave her phone on the bus last week which caused her enormous stress but because it is an old iPhone I used find my phone and we discovered that the bus company had it despite telling me they didn't and managed to get it back. I wouldn't buy expensive phones - they get lost, smashed etc.
Absolutely not - no phones, computers iPads, games or TV's upstairs. Books, bed and bath are the only upstairs activities. I don't even let my DD do her homework in her room. I believe that it is important to keep teens engaged in family life. Isolation breeds mental health difficulties.
Phones get put on a bookshelf when all members of our household come in. They are generally not used at home.
- Do they have internet access? What controls do you have on that and what they can access?
Yes but I do switch it off sometimes. Screen time is limited to school work during the week and she is so busy at weekends that she doesn't really bother. Because all computers are used downstairs and are visible I don't have restrictions on internet use We are very open and talk about the dangers. She has instagram but is not allowed to post pictures of herself, to say where she lives or goes to school. She has a username which is not recognisable, is only friends with people she knows, I have her password and periodically check. We don't have any games and she doesn't watch TV much except the odd film. her choice not mine. She prefers to practice her flute.
- Are you happy that they use it on the bus? In the car? On the sofa while telly on? Instead of telly?
Yes if she wants to, but generally she chats to her friends rather than spending too much time on her phone. She calls or texts me from the bus occasionally and also goes on instagram sometimes.
- Do they phone or facetime/skype their friends?
No she is not interested in FaceTiming or Skype doesn't like phoning - she texts her friends. I have access to the phone so can check texts etc. but I trust her so don't look much.
- If you are absolutely honest, how much time staring at it?
Really not a lot maybe 5 minutes a day max, except Saturdays. The school ask them to use their phones occasionally to take photo's of work. I ask DD to look at her phone at lunchtime and at the end of school in case I need to get her a message. She usually forgets which I find intensely frustrating. She uses it most on a Saturday morning whilst with her friends at a drama group. They all use it to take photo's and post inane pictures of cats on instagram.
- I can get smartphone with unlimited texts and a small amount of data for £8.50 - enough to check "insta!" but not to download vids on data plan. Is that enough for your guys?
DD has the smallest amount of data available can't remember what that is but barely enough to watch 2 YouTube videos'. She knows that if she goes over her phone will be confiscated for the coming month and she will get a pay as you go family brick so she has never gone over.
She did leave her phone on the bus last week which caused her enormous stress but because it is an old iPhone I used find my phone and we discovered that the bus company had it despite telling me they didn't and managed to get it back. I wouldn't buy expensive phones - they get lost, smashed etc.
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PurpleDuck
- Posts: 1586
- Joined: Sat Jul 24, 2010 10:45 pm
Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
My last clock radio gave up a ghost many moons ago (some time last centuryYamin151 wrote:Whatever happened to clock radios? We all have one, phones stay downstairs, including ours, and turned off. However, expect to have to police that far more when they 'go live' with Internet!!
) and never got replaced... DS's phone is powered down and in my room overnight, not his. If I left it downstairs, it might miraculously levitate back upstairs, I fear...It felt like I hit rock bottom; suddenly, there was knocking from beneath... (anon.)
Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
I went to an interesting talk at DS's school by Hester Bancroft who talked about many of the issues regarding kids and social media - the message being if you think you know what they're doing its prob 3x that. Queen Bees and Wannabees makes an interesting (if rather American) read on the subject.
My dd (year 6) has an iPad but no phone - she will get one this summer. She does iMessage a bit but tbh she's not that into it. I have said she can have Instagram but she's not interested - I have no doubt she will have it, Snapchat and WhatsApp within days of starting secondary! Dd does love tech (her Raspberry Pi is one of her favourite things) but finds social media dull.
DS - year 8 - LOVES social media! He has an iPhone (and a Chrome Book for school). He uses Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, iMessage. The communication method of choice at the mo is Snapchat - his friendship group love it - he could easily send 50+ snaps an evening! WhatsApp is no longer cool. He also listens to Spotify and the management of his Spotify playlist is v important to him - he appears unable to walk to the bus stop without Spotify
Do I think he uses it too much? Yes. Would he use it less if I enforced rules? Yes. Is he "hooked" - probably but then so am I! He does all his work and is getting good grades though. We have only recently got an X box which they are far less hooked on.
We talk about the dangers of social media - the fact that you see every party you're not invited to etc etc. They also do quite a lot about it at school.
I do in a way think that just because we choose to communicate / socialise differently to our tweens / teens it doesn't make their way wrong - it is the generation gap alive and kicking!!
Eta neither of my 2 watch much tv but they do watch a lot of YouTube - most of this all happens in our sitting room. Both do homework downstairs but ds does like to chat sometimes in his bedroom.
My dd (year 6) has an iPad but no phone - she will get one this summer. She does iMessage a bit but tbh she's not that into it. I have said she can have Instagram but she's not interested - I have no doubt she will have it, Snapchat and WhatsApp within days of starting secondary! Dd does love tech (her Raspberry Pi is one of her favourite things) but finds social media dull.
DS - year 8 - LOVES social media! He has an iPhone (and a Chrome Book for school). He uses Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, iMessage. The communication method of choice at the mo is Snapchat - his friendship group love it - he could easily send 50+ snaps an evening! WhatsApp is no longer cool. He also listens to Spotify and the management of his Spotify playlist is v important to him - he appears unable to walk to the bus stop without Spotify
Do I think he uses it too much? Yes. Would he use it less if I enforced rules? Yes. Is he "hooked" - probably but then so am I! He does all his work and is getting good grades though. We have only recently got an X box which they are far less hooked on.
We talk about the dangers of social media - the fact that you see every party you're not invited to etc etc. They also do quite a lot about it at school.
I do in a way think that just because we choose to communicate / socialise differently to our tweens / teens it doesn't make their way wrong - it is the generation gap alive and kicking!!
Eta neither of my 2 watch much tv but they do watch a lot of YouTube - most of this all happens in our sitting room. Both do homework downstairs but ds does like to chat sometimes in his bedroom.
Last edited by kittymum on Mon Feb 15, 2016 9:51 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
+1 They are children of their generation and there's nothing that can be done about that. It's how we as parents guide them to use this technology that's important.kittymum wrote:I do in a way think that just because we choose to communicate / socialise differently to our tweens / teens it doesn't make their way wrong - it is the generation gap alive and kicking!!
I have a yr9 and a yr12. Yr9 DS does all his homework downstairs through choice and only retreats to his bedroom if he doesn't like what we are watching on TV. Then he watches iplayer, plays a game or "chats" to his mates.
Yr12 DS spends a huge amount of time in his room on his ipad, computer, head phones In listening to some dirge and his phone is surgically attached to his hand, but he's 17 and wants his space, he's not a family recluse, he sits at the table with us to eat, helps (grudgingly) around the house, fights with his brother over the Xbox and is not above demanding a hug. Would I like to "see" him more? Probably. Is he happy? Yes. I have to remember he's 17 he has to be allowed to grow up and take responsibility for himself.
What I'm trying to say is their responsibility for how they use technology has to grow with them.
And, Yamin, our clock radio is 25 years old this year
Last edited by doodles on Mon Feb 15, 2016 10:01 am, edited 1 time in total.
Re: How do your little guys use their phones?
Agree totally doodles about the eating together - we always do and I think it's very important. We also play board games (not that much always) and watch some things on TVs together (ds adores Death in Paradise for some reason).
