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Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Do you know what most 8-12 years old want this Christmas?
According to NPR, an iPhone. And a lot of them will get it or already have one. This is insanity to me. Heck I am 29 and can't even afford one. Are parents out of their mind?
Re: Do you know what most 8-12 years old want this Christmas?
I swear about 1 out 2 children over 12 I saw out and about while living in Zurich had an iPhone. It was crazy!
I would definitely be restrictive in my kid's cellphone usage.
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Short answer: YES!
Long answer: Hell yes effing insane!
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What I'm looking forward to in 2012:
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Want, deserve, and receive are all different words. I can get that most kids in that category want an iphone. But I personally think very, very few in that category deserve one. Unfortunately, a majority of parents do seem to be insane or lack better judgement because those kids will receive that iphone. Complete with a full data package because giving a child free mini-computer with unrestricted access to the internet is such a good idea and their little angels would never do anything bad.
I wonder if one of the reasons so many kids in that age range want such a big ticket item is because along the way the parents have set the expectation that they will give the child almost whatever big ticket item they want.
I'm sure my kids will ask for some ridiculous things. Part of me wants them to ask, to wish, but also to aspire to deserve those big ticket items. Part of me wants to teach them to create wish lists with a variety of items so they can have a combination of wishes and realities. We'll see. Either way, I certainly won't be buying my kids expensive items if they 1) don't deserve them, 2) are age inappropriate, or 3) we can't afford it (either item and/or upkeep).
You'll love this story. A guy came into the bank with his 3-yr old in a stroller. She was playing with an iphone. He volunteers "I got the new one so gave her the old one. That's hers now."
Ha! I can just imagine it! My dd loves my iphone... and she's only 9mths old! She sees me using it and wants it too when she sees it on the sofa.
However, I agree that these are not age appropriate items even for a 12 year old. Parents giving in to these wishes are leading to children feeling more entitled to have whatever they want. It will lead to problems in young adulthood when they start in the real world of work and someone says "no" to their request... they won't know how to handle it.
The best thing a parent can do in relation to this is to say no and explain that when they are old enough to work they can save up and get one themselves if that is what they choose to buy. A phone is a luxury, not a necessity (certainly for a child anyway...)
My nephew turned 7 yesterday, and he is asking for an iPod Touch for Christmas. Why? I have no idea. He doesn't listen to music (he's 7!), and he would find the games pretty stupid (he just got a Nintendo DS for his birthday).
I'm interested to see if he will get one or not, and if he does, I want to know what the heck he's going to do with it!
Maybe they mean the touch? My 10 year old nephew just got one f or his birthday and that was the big hit gift. My 7 year old nephew uses my sisters old phone as a touch basically. I know my older niece's all have smart phones of some sort. They are 14 and 15. Not sure about my 11 year old niece but I think she has one.
Eta. I also don't think this is any reason to judge parents whether it is a 3 year old or not. There are some great apps for kids and if you can afford to have one dedicated to kids crap so your kids ant drooling on yours or dropping it or trying to unlock our work password to delete all your email be my guest. My kids both love and know how the the iPad and dh's iPhone. If we could afford they a touch or something to dedicate to just their stuff I would.
I totally agree with this. DS is almost 4 and can work our ipad with no problem, he just doesn't know the code to turn it on. We are getting a new one in the next couple of months and the one we have will become his.
We plan on buying a second iPad, too, in the next 1-2 years bc we use it as a portable dv player in the car and we will need a way to have two screens. Plus it is cheaper that the entertainment package upgrade on the minivan! Haha. Eventually I suspect one will have all the kid stuff and one will have all the adult stuff on it minus we will play movies in both. I also suspect when DH upgrades his phone that Bruce will get the old one. He actually asked for his own play computer for Christmas this year. H e wont be getting it bc we cant afford it right now but if we could and we wanted to get him one we would. Who the F cares what other parents decide on this stuff? If you don't want to give it to your kids fine by me, but why say I'm an irresponsible parent bc I am ok with it? That is nuttier to me than any of this...
I agree. Finn plays games on our phones and on the ipad and on my laptop, and we got him the Leappad Tablet for Christmas (one of his early presents when we did Christmas in the US last week) and he loves it. I have no issues with a parent giving their child a hand me down phone to play games on! The way I look at is that he spends SO much time reading and doing imaginative play that when we travel if he is on the ipad or leappad or whatever it isn't going to kill him!
I agree with this.
While I would not buy one for Milo, I'm not surprised that other parents feel differently. My MIL bought Milo an InnoTab { after she asked us and we said no, grrrrr } and we'll end up returning it or selling it on, but I would never look at another family who bought one and think negative things about them.
Lovely! Don't you love when they ask you and then still just straight up ignore you? I never understand that.
Yup! And it's happened every single birthday and Christmas so far! Matt and I were talking about it last night and I don't think we've kept a single gift she's bought for Milo. I don't know why she asks { or why I still give her ideas } when she just does whatever she wants anyways. It's extra annoying when she asks about a specific item, like the InnoTab, and we tell her no, with reasons, and she buys it anyways. Awesome!
This year, since we told her we won't be coming over before 9am on Christmas morning, she's boycotting. They've decided to get up at 6:30 am and drive to the seaside. Seriously.
Slightly off point, but... my friends (DINK types) let their cat use their iPad. She (the cat) 'paints' on it. For real. My friend has a print saved as her PC background. Of course, they didn't buy the cat a NEW iPad, but they seriously leave it on for her to play w/ when they're at work.
None of my business, but it just strikes me as odd.
WRT kid-- I wouldn't get my 12 or under kid a smartphone/tablet. While I wouldn't have a problem w/ the kid playing w/ an app or two on my/ours, I just wouldn't get them a dedicated device.
I would consider getting one for a teen (16yrs-- why 16? b/c I assume that's abt the time when most kids get their license and while, of course, I wouldn't want the kid talking while driving, I would want him/her to have a reliable phone in case of an emergency). The deal would be H and I would buy the device and kid would pay the plan (or a reasonable portion). It's not so much about whether we could afford to pay it, it's more b/c I'd want to teach the kid financial responsibility. Yeah, you can have the 'fancy phone', but if you do that, less cash for movies or whatever. Life's about choices.
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I teach 4th grade in a low income urban area. All the kids in my class want iPhones for Christmas, I'm sure. And laptops. And wii's. Etc. will they get them? Maybe, maybe not, but if you're surprised they know what an iPhone is...well, you wouldn't believe the other things they know about....
My almost 4 year old knows what it is. It isn't that weird, he sees us with ours.
Yeah, I don't even understand the question. Why would they not if they see others around using them? It's not like it's an illegal drug and somehow shocking they are aware of it. Good lord....