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Confessions of a parenting failure

Discussion in 'Anything goes' started by Idaho, Nov 17, 2010.

  1. Pete Incaviglia

    Pete Incaviglia Active Member

    I have an almost-three-year-old. This thread makes me fear her teenage years.

    I love the idea of taking the phone away cold turkey. Keep it for a month.

    Make sure you show her the current bill and next month's bill to clearly illustrate the excess in texting/spending/talking. Maybe she'll realize how silly it is and how wasteful it is. Might teach her the value of time and a buck.

    Hell, I bet her grades improve if she isn't up talking on the phone for five hours after midnight.
     
  2. Moderator1

    Moderator1 Moderator Staff Member

    Damn.

    You do realize the third-to-last sentence was a joke? Unlimited plan? Still goes over?

    Oh, never mind.

    But, yeah, as someone else explained: Anyone who went over the plan paid the difference. That included us. I guess I'm a bad parent because I would suck up my kids' excess.

    I won't make the same mistake with my next set of kids.
     
  3. Captain_Kirk

    Captain_Kirk Well-Known Member

    We waited until our kids turned 13 before getting them cell phones--and I would classify us as late adopters, if not Luddites compared to most others around here.

    I'm not following the evils of cell phones track here. From what I can tell, there's no age factor in texting and cell phone use on the highways--it's pretty much pervasive of all age groups. And here in GA, where the penalties are harsher on young drivers, I probably see fewer youngsters than oldsters recklessly trying to drive/talk/text. It's a bad idea for anyone to text and drive, but if the logic is to remove the cell phone, maybe we should just go horse and buggy, too.

    It's nice for us to be able to connect with them at any point when they're out and about and gives us a comfort level you certainly wouldn't have if they didn't have a phone.
     
  4. Wenders

    Wenders Well-Known Member

    Alrighty then. None of you lived out, five miles in the country down a dirt road, like I did. I was also involved heavily in plays, musicals and choir, which means from September through April, I was coming home from rehearsal several days a week late at night, sometimes as late as midnight. You can bet that my parents felt better and *I* felt better driving that late at night with a cell phone in case something went wrong.

    Plus, everyone appears to be assuming that because the teenager HAS a cell phone in the car that they're going to be on the cell phone every second that they're behind the wheel.

    I think when a kid begins to drive by themselves, and you give them the responsibility of operating a vehicle, that they just might be ready for the responsibility of a phone as well. There's too much that can go wrong when they're just driving to and from school, like a wreck (that might NOT be their fault) or they break down and they need assistance.

    And as for the laptop issue, apparently some of y'all haven't been in school in awhile. I got out of high school more than 10 years ago and I had to do a lot of major papers, projects, PowerPoint presentations....which led to me frequently tying up the computer all night. And I had no brothers or sisters, either.

    I may be the "worst-case scenario person" but being prepared for the worst and having a back-up plan is nice. Oh, yeah, and there was a woman who was around my mother's age (mid-50s) who nearly hit both me AND another car the other day because she was texting behind the wheel. So it's not just teenagers who do it.
     
  5. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    So a teen won't stop using the cell phone during class, but you should believe he/she won't use it while driving?
     
  6. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    I'd at least like to believe there are teens out there who don't use it while driving. My 17-year-old sister is one that won't answer a phone call or text while she's driving.
     
  7. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    We didn't have cell phones when I was a teen, but I'm sure my parents believed I didn't do drugs when I was a teen.
    They believed wrong.
     
  8. KYSportsWriter

    KYSportsWriter Well-Known Member

    Every situation is different, dude.
     
  9. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    I know.
    I'm sure there are kids who don't use the phone while driving.
    Honestly, I don't believe talking on the phone while driving is more dangerous than most other reasonable distractions that are still legal - fiddling with the the radio, reaching for something under the seat, fiddling with the iPod.

    Texting yes. Regular phone use, no.
     
  10. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I'm with Buck. There about about 100 dangerous things teens can do while driving. Can't prevent them all.

    That's why I point out the daily car crash that left someone dead or crippled.
     
  11. Buck

    Buck Well-Known Member

    This sentence will get you tossed out of most decent bars and restaurants across the country.
     
  12. MacDaddy

    MacDaddy Active Member

    We have a 12-year-old foster kid who's pushing for a cell phone. I've told her that if she can make a compelling argument that she needs one she'll get one. Still waiting to hear one.
     
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