insider:

Chanced upon these sharings of the man whom I like. Parking them here to share (seems 'understood' but then many dont take these principles at heart strongly and that may affect the bringing up of own children. Always have to 先善其身，方可兼善下一代。


<snip>

slmkhoo:

SAHM_TAN:

I'm trying to recall how it was like when I didn't have a hp. Seems like more and more I'm prefering the old days LOL

I can remember the inconveniences! My parents were strict, and if I was going to be late, I was supposed to call. But sometimes, even in those days, it might be so convenient to find a payphone. Or if my parents weren't at home or in their offices, I would not be able to reach them, and then they would be annoyed and I would have to explain when I got home. And since my bus ride home from school was nearly 1 hr and I couldn't call on the bus, they might have been waiting a long time and the longer the wait, the angrier they would be! When my kids started going out alone, we had a 'spare' phone which wasn't 'theirs' but they would take when they went out. They were not to give out that no. to friends, and the phone was switched off when at home. That way, we had confidence they could get us in case of need, and we could contact them if we needed to, but they didn't get into the habit of having their 'own' phone.

SAHM_TAN:

I'm trying to recall how it was like when I didn't have a hp. Seems like more and more I'm prefering the old days LOL

bebebub:

SAHM_TAN:

heehee, pls share with your girl how lucky she is to have a personal phone becos my dd1 either use a payphone in school or have to approach the school staff in the General Office to borrow the phone to call home

Yalor. Indeed very blessed.

I gave dd the Nokia phone ($30) after she started taking public transport to/from sch n to her piano class. She text me when she reaches her destination n when she got on the bus for her return journey. This way I can estimate the time she will reach home. There was once she forgot to charge the battery. So she couldn't call me when she board the bus after piano class. For that half an hour until she reached home, I was worried.

Until dd is able to use a smart phone in a responsible manner (like slmkhoo's dd), a smart phone is a want and not a need.

SAHM_TAN:

heehee, pls share with your girl how lucky she is to have a personal phone becos my dd1 either use a payphone in school or have to approach the school staff in the General Office to borrow the phone to call home

bebebub:

So true.

Thanks for sharing.

Dd told me there was a P3 kid who asked her 'u so old already, why you dont have a iPhone' when he saw my dd calling me on her dinosaur phone. Dd said she shrug in response but I know her 心里很不是滋味 lor :sad:

ammonite:

:scratchhead:


Just kiddin

Maybe you will enjoy this interview:

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/10/tech/ ... rnet-year/

My year without the Internet

slmkhoo:

SAHM_TAN:

I have a theory that when things get too easy or we are able to do certain things too easily, in certain circumstances we under develop certain skills and abilities and maybe delay some aspects of devts too. This is just my observations and imagination, not substantiated in any way, so will not talk about it more in this post. LOL.

I understand where you're coming from. Welcome to the 'caveman phone club'! I'm still in it for now.

slmkhoo:

bebebub:

Dd told me there was a P3 kid who asked her 'u so old already, why you dont have a iPhone' when he saw my dd calling me on her dinosaur phone. Dd said she shrug in response but I know her 心里很不是滋味 lor :sad:

A couple of years ago, when I was using my even older Nokia (which died on me shortly after) at a shop, a salesgirl looked at it and said she'd never even seen one like it before! She was probably around 20yo.

bebebub:

Dd told me there was a P3 kid who asked her 'u so old already, why you dont have a iPhone' when he saw my dd calling me on her dinosaur phone. Dd said she shrug in response but I know her 心里很不是滋味 lor :sad:

bebebub:

Dd told me there was a P3 kid who asked her 'u so old already, why you dont have a iPhone' when he saw my dd calling me on her dinosaur phone. Dd said she shrug in response but I know her 心里很不是滋味 lor :sad:

insider:

I dont believe in many younger kids have that kind of personal control towards not using a gadget as attractive as a smartphone (esp when may adults also cannot control themselves), and so to prevent unnecessary tussles or 'complications', one should not be given until they are more matured.

My two elders have their first smartphone at 17. Both can then use the gadgets sensibly coz good habits were formed when they were younger. They can sieve out with ease what are 'nonsense' and what are more quality info, know how to decline chat groups politely, etc. They have better skills to deal with massive bombardment of info at that age instead of maybe get caught and lost when they were younger (and facing a higher risk of getting addicted).

I have ZERO arguments or quarrels with my kids over all these gadgets issues coz I only give them when they are ready and not give them coz other kids are having it or I 'think' they may need it.

Start the child's journey right and it can really benefit everyone for life...

bebebub:

Totally agree with demonstrating the right attitude towards all these beeps.

slmkhoo:

My husband found one for my older girl at Sim Lim, I think.

How did we 'teach' the younger one? I think it's a general principle in our household not to follow the crowd without considering whether it's really a good thing or not. We did that kind of reasoning over lots of things like TV, computer games, books etc when they were younger, so I think that helped. When she got a smartphone, we talked to her about how much time she could potentially waste, how distracting it could be when she was doing homework or other stuff, and she saw our point. We suggested the plan of only checking every couple of hours, and she agreed that it was a good idea and adopted it. She is a person who likes her free time and her sleep, and she realised that if she was distracted while working, everything would take longer, and her free time (already limited) would disappear and she might have to lose sleep too! Of course, we still have to issue reminders once in a way about how she should control her usage of both phone and computer, but not often. She also knows that if we feel she can't control herself, we will have no compunction in confiscating her phone and being even stricter, so she knows not to go there!

slmkhoo:

How did we 'teach' the younger one? I think it's a general principle in our household not to follow the crowd without considering whether it's really a good thing or not.