Saturday, January 14, 2012

When is soon to soon....

to give your child a cell phone? I know that I have a bit before LDG is ready for one but I am in the middle of reading Queen, Bees and Wannabes. The books is basically about helping your daughter survive cliques, gossip, bullying and all the other bull shit that comes with the super ass complicated girl world. You know the shitty critical age of tween to high school. This is a book that every parent should read if they have a girl. I knew that their was shit out there but as I read through the book I now understand why some parents choose to home school their kids. I know that I am probably jumping the gun reading this book already since LDG is not 2 yet.  Man....by the time LDG is in the tween stage they will probably have some kind of pod were you zap yourself from one place to the next. I believe you can never start too early especially in the world we are living in today. Sure we think it is cute when our little ones take our cell phones, place them by their ears and pretend to talk but are we setting them up to expect their very own cell phone at a very young age?
I have been totally guilty of this shit my little one has already mastered my Iphone and her the Ipad.

I know parents that think it is OK to give their 5 year old an actual pay for every month live cell phone. For WHAT so they can call their preschool friends an arrange their own play date at the park or ordering a pizza?  In the book allot of this bullying is being done via the social networks and texting {cell phones} because let's face it who talks on the phone anymore ~I will text you has replaced the old school I will call you.  I am getting crazed just reading the book because I do not remember young girls being this cruel and soing it behind a phone and computer screen.  I remember when I was in school if you had a problem with a girl you took that girl on face to face.  It is getting ridic. and I am scared that if my child is going to have problems and gets messed with I am not going to be able to handle the situation.  I  must admit I have a very hot temper and I have had problems with it....However I have worked very hard on calming down and have gotten much MUCH better. As it always been like this or has being 24/7  social on line world made it worse? I don't have the answers but it scares me that I will be raising my daughter during these very challenging times. I am going to need more wine.


6 comments:

Vanessa Scott said...

Oh girl, it is never too early to start being prepared. This became a huge issue (still is) in my house. HUGE! If it were up to me, my son would only have one of those phones where he can only dial 911 and call his dad and I. They have them, but no, he ended up with a regular cell phone. The day it happened I pitched a fit. I was pissed that his dad would approve without us talking about it first. This was 2 years ago (he'll be 16 next week) and within the first few months I checked his text messages and he had been sexting with some girl. We talked about it, he knew it was inappropriate, but I knew he couldn't help his hormones. We talked about sex and other things at that point. Then he got mad at me one day and decided that since I went through his phone he was more than allowed to go through mine. That sent me flying off the handle and his phone was taken for a month. He is not allowed to take it to bed with him, and he knows if he gets caught at school with it or loses it, we aren't getting him a new one. It annoys the shit out of me that his nose is always in his Effing phone. So....my point....wait as long as you can!

Unknown said...

i know for a fact that you are a strong chick who takes no shit & you will raise a tough daughter who takes no shit -- just like me. and being prepared by reading books & being aware of the world our kids live in makes ALL the difference!

but man oh man is it scary!!!

April's Homemaking said...

My kids are both teens, and they have each had cell phones for quite some time now. I bought one for my daughter around the fifth grade, mostly for safety reasons, I always want her to be able to contact me, no matter what. Her first phone had no texting, since that was like seven years ago, so at first it wasn't an issue. My son doesn't bother with texting, I have to remind him to bring his phone so he can call me after practice or when he is done at friend's house.

For awhile my daughter was texting too much with her boyfriend, I had a rule that I could ask for a phone inspection without warning at any time, and I did. I would just say "let's read your texts" we have a great relationship, and she has no problem with that. Nice mother daughter communication time.

The thing that bugs me is when the kids are somewhere, and some well meaning adult says no cell phones, and takes them all away. I give my children cell phones so they can call me if they need to whenever, as long as they aren't texting when they aren't supposed to be I don't see the problem. I don't see why some adults have to be this way, drives me nuts.

Kerry said...

I hear ya loud and clear on this topic, it is a scary world when you have children let alone a daughter. I remember highschool all too well but it's a whole different ball game nowadays with technology. I have only just gotten my daughter a phone (for safety and contact reasons) and she just turned 12. All of her friends have had one for about the past year!!

Mommy Bags said...

It is a very very scary word are kids are growing up in

Andrea said...

My daughter is going to be 12 in April, and I was recently alerted by a friend of mine that girls' social lives (just meaning getting together with other girl friends...like we used to do by picking up the kitchen phone or knocking on a door)can suffer if they don't have cell phones. I remember hearing this from another friend when my son was around 12 (14 now)--nobody calls house phones, so if you aren't available by text of cell phone, you might not get the invites (unless your mom and friend's mom are friends and working that out from time to time). UGH! I have had Queen Bees i the house for over a year and just am afraid to open it!

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