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I want to admit up front that I am not a parent, nor am I a teenager -- I'm just a twenty-something caught between the two age groups. When I wanted something

I want to admit up front that I am not a parent, nor am I a teenager -- I'm just a twenty-something caught between the two age groups. When I wanted something when I was young, my parents treated me somewhat like an adult -- if I wanted something, I had to either save up money for it, or ask for it on special occasions (birthday, Christmas, etc). If I owned it, they also respected my ownership/privacy over it. Because of this, I feel like I grew up with a good sense of judgement, and a feeling like I could be trusted. When I look at this list of rules with my "younger" eyes, I see a leash -- this isn't so much a present for me as much as an additional way to keep tabs/hold authority over for the mother. Children need to feel like they have some privacy, and I'm sorry, but knowing your parents can log in and see everything your doing, along with a laundry list of things you can't do makes things the kid might find fun suddenly an experience in anxiety. What I want to know is, if the kid said no, and used his personal savings/worked a job to get his own phone, would the mom still have this list of things he would need to do, even if he never asked for a dime of help? My guess is yes -- which is why I think this isn't so much the mom helping her son as much as it is her helping herself.

StreamSlip 14y ago
ENCRYPT ALL TEH THINGS! This brings an interesting topic on whether parents have the right to intrude on devices linked to personal information about "their" child. Unfortunately, as another twenty-something in-between these age groups, I must admit that it feels like a solid NO. The right to both physical/virtual privacy is key when influencing a child's moral standing with society, and human rights/ethics. If this child grows up with the right to privacy striped from beneath him/her then, what makes them not do the same to others... Its the end of the world as we know it...
deleted 14y ago
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eshvk 14y ago
Completely agreed. Things like don't text anything that you wouldn't want the other person's parent to know about seem ridiculous. Again as another person in his twenties, I would have refused this silly deal and bought my own damn cellphone.
- sp332 14y ago
  I think the mom knows this isn't how most kids use their cell phones. It's like giving the kid half a cell phone, letting him get used to its power and temptations gradually instead of throwing him into the deep end. As she puts it, he's borrowing her cell phone.
- dchichkov 14y ago
  >> Again as another person in his twenties, I would have refused this silly deal and bought my own damn cellphone. Oh. That is such a pointless and drastic reaction. Would ruin Christmas. Just roll your eyes and accept idiotic rules. Idiotic rules tend to dissipate pretty quick with time anyway.

StreamSlip 14y ago

ENCRYPT ALL TEH THINGS! This brings an interesting topic on whether parents have the right to intrude on devices linked to personal information about "their" child. Unfortunately, as another twenty-something in-between these age groups, I must admit that it feels like a solid NO. The right to both physical/virtual privacy is key when influencing a child's moral standing with society, and human rights/ethics. If this child grows up with the right to privacy striped from beneath him/her then, what makes them not do the same to others... Its the end of the world as we know it...

deleted 14y ago

[deleted]

eshvk 14y ago

Completely agreed. Things like don't text anything that you wouldn't want the other person's parent to know about seem ridiculous. Again as another person in his twenties, I would have refused this silly deal and bought my own damn cellphone.

sp332 14y ago
I think the mom knows this isn't how most kids use their cell phones. It's like giving the kid half a cell phone, letting him get used to its power and temptations gradually instead of throwing him into the deep end. As she puts it, he's borrowing her cell phone.
dchichkov 14y ago
>> Again as another person in his twenties, I would have refused this silly deal and bought my own damn cellphone. Oh. That is such a pointless and drastic reaction. Would ruin Christmas. Just roll your eyes and accept idiotic rules. Idiotic rules tend to dissipate pretty quick with time anyway.