Technology & Parents with 10+ Children (or any # with a long age gap in between)

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  • #1265805
    Lightbrite
    Participant

    This question is for let’s say any parent who raised children over the past decade or more, with one being a baby when another was around 10 or so please.

    Maybe even for relatives or grandparents who were involved with raising said children too please.

    What’s it like now versus when your firstborn was growing up, from teenage years and beyond?

    Technology has gotten so advanced in the whole Internet and cell phone access. It’s changed the way we travel, think, communicate, and so much more.

    Growing up my mom forced me to take a cell phone when I went out with friends in case of an emergency. There weren’t any smart phones. Internet was limited.

    imagine::: I wonder what it would be like if I was raised observant and grew up as I did and then later had a much younger sibling who was bombarded with more societal pressure from the outside to engage in such technology. I could do my best to empathize but I cannot say that I dealt with the same thing with our parents too, because that didn’t exist when I was my sibling’s age.

    Wondering what it is like as a parent who adapted parenting to accommodate one’s younger children, whose world today looks different than the one that one’s eldest grew up in.

    Thank you 🙂

    #1265834
    CTLAWYER
    Participant

    Great question…………….
    Mrs. CTL is 15 years older than her next younger sibling.
    Youngest Ms. CTL is 9 years younger than next older sibling.
    The 29 year old got a cell phone when she got a drivers license so that she could call for assistance if necessary. She had limited computer access and it was supervised.
    Youngest Ms. CTL has had a cell phone since she was 8 for safety reasons. She spend great amounts of time on the computer for school. We fought with the principal when she was in 5th grade when her general studies teachers required students to follow them on Twitter. We did not want our child having a twitter account. Principal sided with the teacher, I called a meeting of the Board of Directors (just happen to be a member for 30 years). Board sided with us, Principal and teacher told to change plan or job. They changed their plan.
    Daughter is in college now. She must submit all her work electronically. Many seminars take place via SKYPE. When classes are cancelled because of winter weather, professors will send assignments to be done via text or email.

    We also have to face the fact that even if we don’t want children to watch TV, most shows are available on their computers. Laptops and internet access are a requirement of the day schools, not just public schools.

    #1265932
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    I think all children should have basic cell phone s so that they can call for help in an emergency. (It also enables older children to call you from the grocery store to ask which brand of milk you buy.)

    #1265975
    Joseph
    Participant

    Put a GPS tracker bracelet (or other form) on the child rather than a phone.

    #1266265
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    They can’t use that to call for help.

    #1266266
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    I think it is also very important to make the obvious distinction between technology and inappropriate content. While technology can chas v’shalom make it a lot easier to access inappropriate content, the content itself is not related to technology, and calling it “internet addiction” or similar can confuse a very serious, non-technological problem that happens to use technology with actual issues with technology.

    #1266325
    Joseph
    Participant

    Some come with an emergency button to call.

    #1267804
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Kids should be able to call for help in non-emergencies too.

    #1267871
    Joseph
    Participant

    What’d your parents do when they were children?

    #1267896
    midwesterner
    Participant

    My youngest sister is 7 years older than my oldest daughter. When my youngest sister went to seminary in Israel, cellphones were forbidden. When my oldest daughter went, they were optional. When my 2nd daughter went, they were obligatory. When my 3rd daughter went, the school actually gave out the phones. (if you didn’t already bring one.)

    #1267974
    Meno
    Participant

    My youngest sister is 7 years older than my oldest daughter…

    I thought this was going to be some kind of brain teaser

    #1267977
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Got into trouble.

    #1267983
    Joseph
    Participant

    And you or your kids, having a phone, never got into trouble? Or were less trouble than your parents?

    #1267987
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    I didn’t have a phone as a kid, and I got into plenty of messy situations that would have been solved with a phone.

    #1267995
    Joseph
    Participant

    Or, perhaps, the phone would’ve gotten you into messy situations that you didn’t get into without a phone.

    #1267994
    Avram in MD
    Participant

    Probably gave their children coins to feed a pay phone. Or let their kids call them collect. That’s what my parents did for me. It’s much harder to find a pay phone today. For the record, I personally have not bought any of my children a smartphone.

    #1268005
    Meno
    Participant

    My parents had a toll-free number that I could call from any pay phone. I think I still remember it.

    #1268094
    Joseph
    Participant

    How old are you?

    #1268145
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Smartphones are bad. They are bad at being computers and they are bad at being phones. They are also overpriced.

    #1268525
    Lightbrite
    Participant

    I object!

    Smartphones have been a blessing for me. Being able to use Google Maps to navigate actually helped me learn where I am in real life in relation to where I need to travel. For me it is assistive technology. Furthermore now I don’t have to pull over who knows where to ask some stranger where to go. Which often is not exact anyway.

    So yes. To me they are valuable. And this is only one reason why.

    Thank you.

    #1268741
    Lilmod Ulelamaid
    Participant

    It feels like one – but maybe I’m just tired. I did have to read it twice.

    #1268777
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Also, phones don’t do anything until you take them out of your pocket unless someone calls you.

    #1268785
    Lightbrite
    Participant

    Oh! Another great thing about Smartphones: TorahAnytime App 🙂

    I learn Torah while driving, walking my dog, and even cleaning my house thanks to my smartphone’s capabilities. That of course wasn’t something that I could do before getting a smartphone.

    As for the internet, ummm yes it def does a wonderful job Baruch Hashem –I post a lot from my phone.

    Also it’s wonderful for emails.

    Final thing, can you get Whatapp without a smartphone? That’s been a lifesaver here and in EY (thanks to the CR for that recommendation <3 )

    Yepp yeepp… the end ~ Thank you 🙂

    #1268789
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    Other computers can do that too. Smartphones do it while consuming battery faster than they charge.

    #1268797
    Lightbrite
    Participant

    True yet that’s not practical IRL.

    I don’t carry a computer in my purse and cannot pull it out while standing in the grocery store line or have it in hand at the park watching my dog run around.

    #1268802
    Lightbrite
    Participant

    Anyone can buy a toll-free number? I thought that it was just for businesses.

    Was it expensive for them?

    Did anyone besides you call the number?

    That’s really cool. Def better than calling collect.

    #1269909

    I don’t think you can have whatsapp without a smartphone/tablet.
    I found it to be a life saver when my husband traveled abroad. The phone service wasn’t working properly, so we used whatsapp calling.

    #1269904
    👑RebYidd23
    Participant

    They could make a slightly thicker device that has an actual battery.

    #1270341
    CTLAWYER
    Participant

    My daughters and wife have no problem carrying a Kindle or iPad mini computer in their purses. I’m posting on my Kindle Fire right now.

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