Kids and Cell Phones

I've heard my older kids say a hundred times, "Why can't I have a cell phone? Everyone else does." I used to just roll my eyes and say "Everyone!?" Then I realized, um, yep, just about everyone does have a cell phone. I still haven't given in. I especially don't see why kids need internet access on a phone. We work so hard to make sure that their computer access is monitored and filtered, and to let them have their own tiny online world in their hand would make it impossible to keep things clean.

However, I found a great resource for parents who choose to get a phone for their kids. It's called, Sex and Cell Phones: Protect Your Children.It's got questions to ask the cell phone provider when you sign up (pages 6 & 7), and a chart of several providers and what they offer (pages 10 & 11). I don't see a publication date on this, and I know things are constantly changing in the tech world, so be sure to do a thorough check and not rely solely on the chart here. Read through the whole booklet, there is lots of good stuff in it!

Comments

The Personification of Beauty

When I was a little girl I was uncomfortable with the word “woman.” I didn’t want to say it. I would substitute, “lady” or “girl” whenever I could. I felt the same way about the word “purse,” and tried to avoid that word as well. Maybe it was because I didn’t want to grow up. Maybe I wanted to be little and without the responsibilities that all women with purses have. I didn’t have an explanation. I just did not want to be called a woman or carry a purse. I am over that feeling now. I am in the final year of my thirties and have a son that will be an adult in less than two years, so it’s time. However, when several months ago I started to feel a strong pull toward writing about womanhood, I felt an opposing pull telling me not to. Being the mother of a teenage girl and boy I find myself constantly running into issues related to this topic of womanhood. There has been a lot of discussion about modesty, controlling thoughts, body image, and feminism amo...

Look Them In The Eye

It is said that the eyes are the window to the soul. If you look someone in the eye you will connect with them in some way. Have you ever been in a conversation with someone where you just could not look away from their eyes? Chances are that it was an experience you remember because of it's emotional or spiritual impact on you. There is an energy and emotion that is seen and felt by the way we look at someone or by the way they look at you. When I walk my kids to school, or through the store, or past a homeless person, it is easy to keep our eyes on the ground instead of looking at those around us. I have to make a conscious choice to look at the faces of people I do not know. It makes me wonder why. Is it because there is a real power and connection that can be sent? Are we afraid that someone will discover something about us hidden in our eyes, or is it that we will discover something about them that we will then need to process? It is my theory that we avoid these connectio...

Use External Filters And Teach Internal Filters

One summer day I was sitting on the back porch with my then toddler son. He was standing next to a large empty hammock and was pushing it back and forth. The momentum was increasing and I was worried that it would eventually come back too fast and knock him over. I said to him, “be careful sweetie.” He continued to push the hammock. I said to him again with more concern, “be careful!” He looked at me with a puzzled face and asked, “What is careful?” I realized that I had not made it clear what I really wanted. I had not talked to him about what was worrying me. My saying, “be careful” meant nothing to him. I think about this a lot when I find myself speaking in generalities and admonishing my kids to “be careful” online, or “be good.” Being specific is an essential part of teaching children how to analyze a situation and make a decision on what they should do about it. We need to teach them what it means to be careful, good, or bad. The ultimate goal is to teach our c...

Generation Clean

Search This Blog