Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Thanks to all replies. I went out after much comparisons and bought a Lenovo Yoga 710 11". It is ~$450. It is light weight and has a good processor already that is Intel Pentium. It is a 2 in 1 so something he can bring to school as a tablet say for 8th grade. He's very happy with the touch screen feature. I also bought MS Office for Students.
I didn't pull the trigger on a smart phone. Probably will get him that in High School. I'm going instead to get him a regular flip phone just for emergency calls but even this, I'm thinking of delaying it for 1 more year when he turns 12.
With regards to concern on the dark side of the internet, I will just have to trust that the time I spent guiding him on the bad things on the internet (bullying, cyber crimes, piracy, scamming, catfishng, etc.), age-restricted stuff (pornography, gore, bad pranks) is enough. He is very smart on knowing things that are fictional (e.g., movies) and for show only and to avoid invites and communication other than from me or school.
AT least with the computer which he will use in home or school, I can watch him. This is why I didn't pull the trigger with smart phones because I can't monitor it enough, even though I am seeing many middle schoolers with smart phones already.
I bought Lenovo 10" tablets for my kids this year. They both have computers already, so we just got the basic A10 tablet instead of the Yoga. Their tablets are mostly for entertainment, although one of my kids has textbooks that are all online, so she uses her tablet to read the textbook while doing the lesson on her computer. They seem like really good tablets.
As far as internet safety, my main rule for my kids is that they need to remember they can't unsee something once they've seen it. They email back and forth with classmates on a daily basis and they feel like that takes enough of their time, so they aren't looking for other online "friends" which is my main concern.
This may not add to the conversation much, but my niece (she's now 6) was introduced to an iPad at the age of 18 months. From that age on she's been glued to it. Now, not only does she have ADHD, but she's already wearing glasses.
So yeah, I guess the perfect time for these gadgets to be introduced is when they're ready for it in the sense that they can balance the usage. That you can still remove it and it won't impact them as though you took away air.
My son is 6 and uses ipad/ipod touch in school. They have a few in the classroom that they share. He also uses them at home but no more than 30 minutes a day and usually doesn't want to except for a couple times a week. He is more into being outdoors. If it became a problem at home I'd take it away.
You can set parental controls on all devices, even laptops. There are programs out there that will do it for you to keep your kid away from porn. Cyber bullying can still occur if you allow them on social media so that's where you have to trust your kid and monitor their accounts.
I bought Lenovo 10" tablets for my kids this year. They both have computers already, so we just got the basic A10 tablet instead of the Yoga. Their tablets are mostly for entertainment, although one of my kids has textbooks that are all online, so she uses her tablet to read the textbook while doing the lesson on her computer. They seem like really good tablets.
I didn't even knew about Lenovo 10" until this post. I'm so behind.
Quote:
Originally Posted by ackmondual
To all of the parents with the appropriate aged kids... no Chromebooks in use?
I was looking at it yesterday but they are pricey for me plus I think these are first generation so might be good to wait out after they work out the kinks. Sorry, I just realized my post is the usual blah.
Quote:
Originally Posted by HaveADrink
So yeah, I guess the perfect time for these gadgets to be introduced is when they're ready for it in the sense that they can balance the usage. That you can still remove it and it won't impact them as though you took away air.
I think it's how they use them also. Definitely if there are more times being spent on games/watching videos than homework on the gadgets, then it's wrong. If the other way around I would encourage it. It's like "Library" for the modern kids. When we were young or when I was young, I was always told by my parents to hit the libraries.
That's why I specifically told my kid that I'd take away the new gadget (and he'll be back to the big old gen laptop) if he abuse. I also told him never to delete history on the browse so I could check up on it randomly.
We homeschool, and the kids have sometimes taken online classes. This year (8th and 10th grades), they're each taking two classes online. They got smartphones with service when they each turned 13. We have enough computers/laptops for each person in the house, and my daughter has a tablet as well, which she prefers over a laptop. They need their electronics for schoolwork and for their other interests. Might as well embrace it; this is the way of life and the future.
To all of the parents with the appropriate aged kids... no Chromebooks in use?
Some districts issue a combination of devices based on grade to their students. Our district is K-2nd iPads, while the 3rd through 8th grades get Chromebooks.
It will probably change at some point.
cheers
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
