R.Nevermore said:
Now what do you think of these rules? Are they sane at all? Do you think this is a good way to teach your stun phone etiquette?
For a 13 year old they are more than fair. If he is intelligent as his mother seems to think he is, they are unnecessary, but if not then this is a good way to do things.
Personally, If my mom gave me a phone with these rules I'd give it back and say, I don't want 'your phone' as a gift. If your are kind enough to give me a gift, make it mine.
Ill translate these rules into one phrase: "I fear the way technology is changing the world, so you're going to curl up in a ball and hide from it. "[/quote]
IMO tin foil hat talk. There is nothing to have a problem with with these rules unless you are looking to break other rules, like the "No texting in class" rules. Mostly this is a "You will not turn into one of those teenages douches who spend 14 hours a day on their phone and take 500 pictures a day of themself with their phone whilst texting their friends all night and not paying attention in class because they're too busy texting each other", and there is nothing wrong with this.
Before someone calls hyperbole on that, its not. That is a description of how my sister uses her phone. She spends the entire day and half the night on it, including during class, and is ALWAYS taking pictures of herself - generally 20 at a time because she can push the button a lot of times for shits and giggles.
News flash! Landlines are dead. Treating your cellphone like a landline is foolish. What's the point in a cellphone if you can't take it to school or out with you at all?
1. Landlines aren't dead. There's a reason a lot of phone calls still come through my families.
2. She isn't saying "Pretend your mobile is a landline". She's saying that if you wouldn't call someone else's landline, or their parents' mobile phone as the case may be, then don't call/text their phone. Basically, if its something you absolutely HAVE to hide from their parents, don't do it.
Why have a phone if you can't take it to school?
To call your friends from home without bugging the rest of your family?
To call your friends when you're in the car on your way to some place?
To call your friends when you're out of the house?
To call your parents to pick you up in an emergency?
There are PLENTY of reasons to have a mobile beyond using it at school. School is potentially the one place your really don't need it, because you're there to pay attention in class and learn, not text your friends and ignore the teacher. She never put a limit on taking it out with you, only saying that sometimes you should leave it at home.
'Wonder without Googling?' One of the things that has always captivated me about our time is that if there's EVER anything we don't know, the answer is right at our fingertips. Expanding our knowledge base thousands of times over. Why deny that?
Because Google is not the answer to everything. Go on Yahoo answers and check for questions asked like "I have an exam tomorrow and need to know the significance of the number 4 in a Midsummer's night Dream". They will receive responses generally along the lines of "Don't be lazy and rely on the Internet for your answers, get a brain and think for yourself. We're not helping you cheat your way through an exam without having done any work".
Basically, think first. If you can't come up with an answer, ask your parents/teachers/friends. If they can't come up with an answer, Google. Resorting to Google as a first resort is a sign of the weak who are unable to think. Google should NEVER be the first thing you use to solve a problem. That privilege always goes to your brain.
The not taking photos rule baffles me.
Not the emphasis of "Zillions of Photos". Its not "Don't take any photos", its don't take a f***ton of photos. That is good advice and a good rule. Take photo's where its important and you need to make a memory, don't take them for shits and giggles like 90% of teenagers these days.
Telling him what music to download?
The last lot seem more recommendations than actual rules, as there is no way you could enforce this, but look at the guidelines for what music to download. Its rather vague:
"New", "Classic" or "Something other than what everyone else is listening to".
Basically, New music, Old Music, and Music that others don't listen to is fine to download. Aka: Any music ever. Mostly though that paragraph is intended as a "Don't just go with the flow, take your own path" piece of advice. The rules are a mix of good rules for a phone user, and general parenting merged together.
I have to stop. But I could go on all day. Sufficed to say that she should have gotten her son a cordless Telegraph transmitter for a gift... Since she's so afraid of change.
The point is, you teach your child respect through example, not ridiculous lists of rules.
Sadly this does not always work. Rules and punishment don't always work either. A good path to parenting is to use a balance of both. Its is nigh impossible to teach respect through example to a lot of teenagers, largely because they don't see you as giving them respect unless you let them have their way the whole time, and that is one of the worst things you can do.
