Should we let him buy an IPod???

amother

Mon, Jan 14 2013, 11:55 pm

So, this is the story:

DS aged 13 wants to buy himself an I Pod with some of his bar mitzva money.

A couple of questions:
DH adn I know nothing about I pods - he says he wants an I pod touch. does anyone know if that has internet access.?
If yes, how can I prevent him from accessing internet on it, do I need ot get a filter for it?

Are there any disadvantages to getting him an ipod that you can think of?
Is it the kind of thing that he could get addicted to?
What exactly can he do wiht an ipod touch, adn in what ways is it better than a PSP which he already has but is bored of?

We are really not sure if we should allow him to buy it. What advice can you ladies offer? TIA

September June

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 12:03 am

There are 4 types of ipods:

Ipod shuffle
only plays songs
has no screen
no video/radio/internet
Can be hard to use and is mostly meant for exercise

Ipod Classic
Plays audio and video
can store photos and contacts
no internet
Easy to use and has a lot of storage space

Ipod Nano
Play audio, video, radio
touch screen
No internet
Very cool design

Ipod Touch
Internet access- you can use parental controls to disable safari, lock the app store etc.
It also plays video and audio (obviously)
Touch screen (obviously)
Games and apps (probably why your son wants it)

This is my personal opinion. but I would not want to buy my child an Ipod Touch since it can be a huge distraction and waste of time even if they are only playing games and not using the internet. I also feel that it can distract from a child's schoolwork.

It can be addicting.

IPod Touch has more games than a PSP.

black sheep

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 12:21 am

the ipod touch has internet access. you can use the ipod touch for texting and making phone calls when you are connected to wifi. you can download a bazillion free games, in addition to the ones you can purchase. you can watch youtube clips on your ipod. you can basically do everything on an ipod, short of doing your homework.

my 11 year old son has an ipod touch. I take it away on whim, whenever I decide his nose seems stuck to it. he doesn't love it, but that is the condition of him owning it. I go through his texts every single night. I don't let him take it out with him, and no ipod in his room after 8PM. a lot of his friends have ipods, and I would rather teach him to follow rules and regulate himself with ipod use that to tell him it is strictly off limits. because if I do the second, in a couple of years he might just buy one himself (they aren't that expensive) and not tell me about it. I want to be able to guide him and even go through his text throughout his teenage years.

if none of your sons friends have ipods then I suggest not allowing it, but if it is a part of his life anyway, at least do it in a way where you can guide him. and I have to stress the importance of taking it away from him every single night. no matter what kind of filter you think you have on there.

etky

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 1:02 am

Isramom8 wrote:

No at that age.
The child's choice at 18 or close to that age.

That's exactly our policy. And we don't allow electronics as bar/bat mitzva gifts either. So far out oldest is 17 and has none of those things. Our kids share a tabletop computer at home - that's it. It's hard when some of their peers are getting these things but there is no way I'm going to allow it (the home computer is bad enough) and the kids, thankfully, have accepted this decree. Many, but definitely not all of their peers have ipads and smart phones with internet and we do realize that we're fighting a losing battle but as long as we can hold out (DH and I don't have these devices either) that's our policy. So far so good.....

Isramom8

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 1:14 am

Under 18, we allow kosher cell phones for teens who dorm, and mp3 players that can just play music. But actually at this time, no one under 19 has a phone, and no one under 14 has an mp3 player.

We allow filtered internet in the main living room area, where we can hear everything.

Learning

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 2:05 am

You can buy an iPod but it is yours. Block the Internet and the App Store. Get him some approved games. Have a password and lock it. Let him play on it an hour on Sunday.

The problem is once you have it at home it is easy just to let him have it more and more and it's very addicting.
Overall it's better not to have it. At age thirteen I can't see how can he buy it and have it at home without your permission.

Raisin

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 4:08 am

my 2 daughters have it. Youtube, safari, and app store is locked. They can download new games under our supervision. You also need to put a password in every time you download a new app or game, even if it is free. They can email, listen to music, take photos and videos, and play games. Also read books if you let them.

Tablepoetry

Tue, Jan 15 2013, 4:16 am

It all depends where you are coming from.
If none of his friends have an IPod, and it's not a given in your circles, I would only get something that can play music.
If all his friends are walking around with internet on their cellphones (I know many of my kids' friends are), then I would let him buy it, but teach him how to use it properly. Of course I would install filtered internet.
...in such a case, a kid needs to learn how to deal with the technology wisely.

Hatemywig

Wed, Jan 16 2013, 12:57 am

I had the same issue as you. Many of my son's classmates have an ipod touch and he wanted one too.

Both my husband and I are computer savvy and we came to the realization that it's better to let him get an ipad which in essence is a bigger ipod touch as it's harder to slip it into the pocket and whisk it off to school and then to a friends house.......

In general, although I was opposed to it beforehand, I do think that if your son is surrounded by boys who mainly have these accessories, although you may have a policy against it, it may be worth your while in the long run to let him purchase one with rules and conditions and get yourselves a little tech education.

BTW we installed K9 on my son's ipad and blocked youtube entirely.

tamara00

Wed, Jan 16 2013, 1:15 am

tamara00 wrote:

Anything that goes on it has to be done through iTunes so you can monitor what goes on/is on it through that.

Just FYI, it's not all bad - my brother downloads shiurim onto his, since he's not that into music!

amother

Wed, Jan 16 2013, 1:20 am

A smart 13 year old will find a way to get and see what he wants. He will get it at a friend's house or find a way around the parents' rules.
Even if as a parent you can successfully control it until 18 or whatever age, at that point the kid will be so fuming mad against those rules, that they will totally become addicted.... and that is why we have so many young couples getting married, each with his and hers ipods, iphones, computers, etc.
Kids will always do what they want, the more curious and intelligent ones will find a way and the parents will (almost) never know about it.