Using technology wisely

[greyhoundgirl]

This has been on my mind and, with Christmas coming, even more so.  I'd really like to get Maddy (13) a Kindle Fire for Christmas if we can snag one of the great deals on one (I've seen some ads showing $79).  Earl has one and it's great.  I think we could get a lot of freebie books and such for homeschooling to put on it, and then her Nook could be passed down to Mallory (we regret buying a Nook for her but the classics are availabe cheaply or free for it at least).  But, I know my own struggle to not be on the computer too much and worry that she will always be in her room on the thing.  I would love for her to have it as a tool.  I know there are apps you can get that only allow it to be used a certain number of hours per day and such, but then what if she used it too much for fun and not for schoolwork?  Maybe I just worry too much.  I don't have a smart phone myself (I know the kindle isn't a phone but gives many of the other uses)...would kind of like one sometimes but it's not in the budget and I'm also afraid I would just be online more than I am already.

Anyway, sorry for the ramble, but I thought maybe some of you ahead of me in the parenting game (or not) might have some thoughts on whether or not this would be a good idea if we can swing it cost-wise.

[allison5273]

I have children ages 23,17,14,8, and 4 so I know the technology struggle. I actually posted about smart phones and teenagers just a couple weeks back. Technology is not going to go away so my thoughts are to teach them to use it wisely. My 8 year old has a kindle fire that she got last Christmas and has really enjoyed it. She does use it for school related things, she has an app for her spelling words and several other math apps. She also has a free texting app and uses it to text her cousin. We have Netflix so she can watch a movie on it but rarely does. She has downloaded a few books but does not use it for that often because most of the books she wants to read cost $ so we just get them from the library. My 17 year old has an ipad, and a laptop and uses them all the time for both school and pleasure. She does spend lots of time on her devices but watches almost no tv. When I was her age my sister and I watched lots and lots of tv. I guess it is just a different world. On a side not the kindle has held up really well her brother got a tablet for about the same amount of $$ last fall for his birthday and it is broken already. I did see several place have advertised them for $79 that is a great price!

[greyhoundgirl]

I have children ages 23,17,14,8, and 4 so I know the technology struggle. I actually posted about smart phones and teenagers just a couple weeks back. Technology is not going to go away so my thoughts are to teach them to use it wisely. My 8 year old has a kindle fire that she got last Christmas and has really enjoyed it. She does use it for school related things, she has an app for her spelling words and several other math apps. She also has a free texting app and uses it to text her cousin. We have Netflix so she can watch a movie on it but rarely does. She has downloaded a few books but does not use it for that often because most of the books she wants to read cost $ so we just get them from the library. My 17 year old has an ipad, and a laptop and uses them all the time for both school and pleasure. She does spend lots of time on her devices but watches almost no tv. When I was her age my sister and I watched lots and lots of tv. I guess it is just a different world. On a side not the kindle has held up really well her brother got a tablet for about the same amount of $$ last fall for his birthday and it is broken already. I did see several place have advertised them for $79 that is a great price!

I appreciate your thoughts and insight.  That's kind of my reasoning as well, that they need to be tech savvy, particularly for college someday.  I just hope we can keep her usage reasonable.

[allison5273]

I have trouble with what is reasonable too especially with the teenagers here. If their schoolwork is completed and their chores are done and they have down time I do not think it is any different than watching TV. We live in Pa so most of the winter is to cold to be outside. When we have had to limit screen time in the past I will have them turn off their devices at a set time and place them on the hall table for the evening. Then I know they are actually going to sleep and not surfing the web half the night.

[Proudmama]

I don't know which one it is but I think one of the Kindles has a setting where you can put how much time they can spend on each activity.  So you could set a lower time limit for games but a longer one for reading and learning activities.

Denise

[greyhoundgirl]

I have trouble with what is reasonable too especially with the teenagers here. If their schoolwork is completed and their chores are done and they have down time I do not think it is any different than watching TV. We live in Pa so most of the winter is to cold to be outside. When we have had to limit screen time in the past I will have them turn off their devices at a set time and place them on the hall table for the evening. Then I know they are actually going to sleep and not surfing the web half the night.

I guess that is part of it for me.  We don't have TV (well, any cable or satellite or anything to actually get channels), just Amazon Prime.  So they only watch limited approved shows and that is in the living room (no TV set in any other room) so I can keep tabs on what they are watching.  But I discussed this with Earl yesterday and we don't think they would be able to watch anyway unless we logged them in on his account, so it might not be an issue.

[greyhoundgirl]

I don't know which one it is but I think one of the Kindles has a setting where you can put how much time they can spend on each activity.  So you could set a lower time limit for games but a longer one for reading and learning activities.

Denise

That's good to know!

[shedrinkzcoffee]

The Kindle Fire does that.  I saw a commercial about it this weekend