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Obviously the parents have no responsibility at all..... How about kids don't use devices unattended.
by frankharv 4y ago
Obviously the parents have no responsibility at all.....
How about kids don't use devices unattended.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- lotsofpulp 4y agoThe kid in the story is 10 to 13 years old. At what age would a kid be able to use a device unattended (presumably meaning one that access the internet and allows for communications)? Not to mention the infeasibility if the kid is allowed to hang out with other kids without adults present.
- brianwawok 4y agoI’m not sure but currently planning 16 or 18. The internet is a terrible place.
- jdlshore 4y agoI presume you’ve not raised kids of your own. If you had, you’d know that constant monitoring of older children is both infeasible and unhealthy. Children don’t magically become responsible at age 16 or 18; they get there by participating in the world in age-appropriate ways. That includes the Internet. It’s true that the Internet has dark places, but it also has wonderful places that are good for children to socialize and learn. It’s the job of parents to guide children to use the Internet responsibly. This isn’t easy, and tragedies will occur. That’s true for all aspects of life.
- silisili 4y agoA couple thoughts. I generally agree with your post, except maybe a couple implications... 1 - Children under 13 are way, way different than a 16 year old. They both do 'stupid' things, of course. Middle school age children are probably most susceptible to about everything. 2 - Kids don't need the internet to become responsible adults. We have thousands of years of examples proving as much. I think it is perfectly reasonable to raise kids with heavily restricted internet, or no internet at all if the parents so choose.
- Dracophoenix 4y ago> 1 - Children under 13 are way, way different than a 16 year old. They both do 'stupid' things, of course. Middle school age children are probably most susceptible to about everything. "Stupidity" is, in most cases, inexperience. By withholding their ability to experience the Internet until their teens, your children be worse off than less intelligent teens with years more experience in navigating the web. They'll likely ending up repeating the same mistakes at 13 that they're cohorts learned from at 5. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable. > 2 - Kids don't need the internet to become responsible adults. We have thousands of years of examples proving as much. I think it is perfectly reasonable to raise kids with heavily restricted internet, or no internet at all if the parents so choose. That's become less true as more institutions and information sources move online. Sure, parents have the right to heavily restrict what information their kids learn in their homes. That's what the religiously fanatical do when they homeschool their kids. But the outcome of that is often one where children lack the ability to be self-sufficient adults at the appropriate age. Hiding what people on the Internet do or say won't save your kids, only stifle them.
- jmathai 4y agoEvery parent will have different philosophies and every child matures at different rates. That being said, we have continued to push back the age when our kids have an internet connected device of their own (oldest is a 7th grade / 12yo boy). Went with an Apple Watch with cellular so my son could text his friends and listen to music. Neither him or his 2 year younger sister can be on a laptop in private. I use NextDNS to block a bunch of sites. They don’t have any social media accounts. This sounds draconian. But the stuff kids can stumble upon online is terrible and I don’t buy into the idea that they’ll learn through experience. I think many people don’t realize how under developed a child’s brain is.
- Dracophoenix 4y ago> Every parent will have different philosophies and every child matures at different rates. While I agree that every child matures at different rates, "maturity" as a term is a weasel word that says more about a parent's beliefs and expectations than any objective evaluation of a person's psychological state. Parental philosophy and biological maturity are orthogonal at best. Every parental system makes certain assumptions that turn out to be untrue/self-contradictory or become outmoded as the child grows up. People learn things in spite of their parents, not because of them. The only successful parental philosophies are the ones the allow the child to grow into himself while giving him a clear view of the world as it is. > That being said, we have continued to push back the age when our kids have an internet connected device of their own (oldest is a 7th grade / 12yo boy). Went with an Apple Watch with cellular so my son could text his friends and listen to music. Neither him or his 2 year younger sister can be on a laptop in private. I use NextDNS to block a bunch of sites. They don’t have any social media accounts. Oddly enough, the inverse occurred in my case. My parents more or less policed the music I listened to until I was about ten (that wasn't hard to do when music came on CDs). They also wouldn't let me have a feature phone until I was your son's age, but I already had my own laptop by then, albeit one only permitted for use on weekends. I probably learned more about the world from all the time I've spent in front of a screen than I have from my parents or anyone else. While I personally didn't have a Facebook account when that was all the rage, that was a decision I made for myself. Given that your son is almost a teen,your son's friends are likely on some form of social media and he's probably miss out on socializing with them beyond texting and calling. That is unless he's more of a loner like I was at that age. > This sounds draconian. But the stuff kids can stumble upon online is terrible and I don’t buy into the idea that they’ll learn through experience. How and when did you learn to operate a computer yourself? How did you make your way to this forum? Your kids can stumble upon a dead body in the real world. The internet is no more and no less gruesome than the events that occur in the real world. > I think many people don’t realize how under developed a child’s brain is. If a child's mind is developed enough to understand actions, consequences, and responsibilities, they have the ability to understand how to use a computer. Eventually, they're going to look up stuff you don't like. Even Wikipedia will provide explicit pictures of sexual acts if you type in words like "fellatio".
- brianwawok 4y agoIn fact I have raised kids of 18, 6, 2, and 1. THe internet is not appropiate for children. Full stop.
- yongjik 4y agoHacker News: Children over ten should be able to walk around the town by themselves! Also Hacker News: Children shouldn't be on the internet by themselves until sixteen! Yeah I know they are not the same commenters, but come on.
- silisili 4y agoNow that you mention it, I'd give my child full free access to the neighborhood alone before giving them full free access to the internet alone. Not the whole town, though.
- bombcar 4y agoYeah there are dark places on the internet just a click away, and anyone can access anyone. In a town that’s much less likely.
- brianwawok 4y agoRight. I would let my kids walk 1/2 a mile to the store before I would let them use social media.
- seattle_spring 4y agoYour kids are just going to do it when you're around, and not talk to you about what they see since there's no trust in your relationship.
- brianwawok 4y agoI don't think you have any idea what you are talking about, and you should refrain from speaking on what you don't know.
- seattle_spring 4y ago"Anyone who isn't an abusive helicopter parent shouldn't comment on parenting." Keep telling yourself you're doing your kid favors until the day they cut you out of their life entirely.
- bergenty 4y agoAfter 18. Before that you get a device that can make calls and has a GPS.
- remram 4y agoThe app has been rated PEGI 7+. The fault doesn't lie solely on the parents there.