2013-01-02, 04:59 AM
VerrKol Wrote:This was my first thought. It's not that I'm opposed to the things an iPhone can do, just the idea of trusting a 13 year old with something that expensive. How many mowed lawns will it take to replace it?
My little brother (now 13 in fact) has an android phone which was free although the associated data plan was not. While our parents reserve the right to look through it, track it, view web history etc, they have yet to ever do so. He uses it to call/text his friends, occasionally Google something, and more than anything read books using the Nook app. If a teacher ever confiscated it during class, there would be hell to pay (my mother is a teacher). But taking it away during school hours is rather counterproductive. Part of the reason a child this age should have a phone is so a parent/child can contact the parent/child if they are running late, there has been a change of plans, or in case of emergency. If anything, you can automatically disable web usage during school hours so that the only danger is texting during class and teachers are pretty adept at noticing this.
Most of these rules I read as more good advice than anything. That said, I wouldn't accept these conditions for myself, but they seem rather reasonable for a 13 yr old who can be allowed a toy while being responsible.
My son is 12.5 and just recently got his first phone. Just a dumb Nokia. Precisely for that purpose of being able to stay in touch. I insist he take it with him everywhere. They're not allowed to have their phones out in school, but they are allowed to have them, turned off, in their bags. My son cracked the screen on his phone within the first week, btw. That's actually fine with me. The phone still works as a phone, he can accept calls and make calls (to numbers he remembers by heart). Everything else is unnecessary. He has a PC at home for looking stuff up, facebook, etc (and has of course been indoctrinated in all the necessary safety rules), he has a Wii and a 3DS for playing games. Phone is for phoning.
As for the rules in the OP... Meh, OK, if you absolutely have to give a kid that young an iPhone.
One rule that is sorely missing is "No using the phone while walking." There's rule 17 but it talks about looking at scenery and such. I'm talking about looking for oncoming traffic. About watching where you're going. I keep seeing both kids and adults crossing the street with their eyes in their palms, or up in the sky while their attention is on the phone at their ears. No no no. If you need to make or take a call, or to read something, stand or sit away from traffic and do it. When you're walking, or riding a bike, or (for you older kids out there) driving, leave the phone alone.