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Forum -> Parenting our children -> School age children
Wld you let yr DD10 have her own tablet?



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tamid




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 15 2015, 3:29 am
our dd age 10 has saved up enough to buy a tablet. we are very torn about letting her have one, as until now we have limited her computer use (maybe she's on it every couple days for maybe half hour, and I try to make sure some of the time its for educational things).

we don't have a tv, and she and her younger sisters sometimes watch movies/cartoons (maybe like twice a week max). I try to encourage other activities, especially outdoor things like bike riding and playing ball, and she's also an avid reader. she does very well in school so I am not particularly worried about her schoolwork suffering.

the times that I've allowed more computer time for games or movies, I've noticed my kids become bored more easily with other things, they kind of lose their creativity with finding things to do. it becomes the first thing they ask for when they come home from school.

our concern is that it's so addictive and that it's going to become a big battle, something we need to regulate a lot. but at the same time, this is the world they are growing up in, so we realize we can't keep them away from it all entirely.

do your kids have their own tablet/other gadgets? how do you regulate it (if at all)?
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chani8




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 15 2015, 4:14 am
My 7 year old has her own tablet, and we regulate it by her having to do all her homework and preparing her backpack and tidying her room and showering, before use. And taking breaks for eating.

That said, when there are other things to do, she's happy to do them. She likes to bake and make her own food.

The way I look at it is that many kids are sitting around brainlessly watching TV.

I permit free time as long as she's playing games, but only a short time for watching mindless shows.
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tamid




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 15 2015, 4:51 am
Thanks Chani. But my kids aren't currently watching TV either, and I don't want all of their free time to be playing computer games. I see how it affects their behavior.

Do you allow her to use it in her bedroom or only in public areas?
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chani8




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 15 2015, 5:10 am
Only in public areas. Interestingly, DD's school just did an internet safety day last week. So cool. But we don't allow her to go on youtube without supervision, ever. The games are downloaded ones.

I don't see bad behavior because of the tablet. What else are kids to do? My first five kids were encouraged to play with friends more. Don't ask me how that turned out. Now I do whatever it takes to keep my younger kids close and under my family's supervision. So they play with computers, WII, tablets, and then puzzles and board games, baking, pets, holiday preps.
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DrMom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 15 2015, 5:52 am
Did you know that your dd was saving up for this item?

Personally, I don't want my kids having their own smartphones or tablets. I think it provides too much distraction without parental supervision, and they aren't equipped to handle it at their young age (many adults aren't equipped to handlr this either, it seems... but I digress...). I want my kids to play with other kids, play sports, or read, not sit staring at a little screen, absorbed in a virtual world.

I think these are great tools, but a family tool, not a tool for the personal use of a child.

My 10-yo has a simple phone that for calls and text messages so he can communicate with us ("Ima, Moshe's mother is giving me a ride home from Bnei Akiva; you don't have to come get me.").
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the world's best mom




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 15 2015, 8:11 am
DrMom wrote:
Did you know that your dd was saving up for this item?

Personally, I don't want my kids having their own smartphones or tablets. I think it provides too much distraction without parental supervision, and they aren't equipped to handle it at their young age (many adults aren't equipped to handlr this either, it seems... but I digress...). I want my kids to play with other kids, play sports, or read, not sit staring at a little screen, absorbed in a virtual world.

I think these are great tools, but a family tool, not a tool for the personal use of a child.

My 10-yo has a simple phone that for calls and text messages so he can communicate with us ("Ima, Moshe's mother is giving me a ride home from Bnei Akiva; you don't have to come get me.").

I agree with this exactly (except that my almost 10 year old does not have a phone at all).
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Mama Bear




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 15 2015, 9:18 am
If I would buy her a tablet I'd let her use it like a gameboy/timeout game: I.o.w. she has no internet access/password to your wifi, you download games for her, and there's a limited amount of time she can play with it. I do this with my 9 yr old son - he plays things like candy crush on it, and can't go online. I also downloaded Docs To Go and AnySoft keyboard and he loves to type Yiddish/Hebrew on it - he loves typin up his divrei torah, etc. To me it's like allowing him to play on a handheld game / word processor, but he can't get online. Also, she must play with it in a public area, unless you trust her enough not to figure out how to get online. I guess what I'm tryin to say it's the same idea as handing her over your smartphone and turnin off the wifi. (youcan actually turn your modem off if you're giving it to her to play in bed etc). Be very firm with how long you let her play with it, once it starts getting addictive there need to be very firm rules attached. Dont let it be *hers* I.e. that she had control over it - you have control over it.
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Sanguine




 
 
    
 

Post Sun, Feb 15 2015, 9:23 am
10 yo? no phone, no tablet... But it depends on your community. Does everyone else really have? (sometimes the kids say everyone has and it turns out 3 do)
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