GPS monitoring of your kids; good idea?

[mj4cy]

Really? I think that's bull.

You probably never read my explaination post about it.

 

[CYdTracked]

by the time I have kids old enough that I will allow them to have cell phones (once they are old enough to drive) quote]

Good luck with that. It's very common to see 9 or 10 year olds with phones, and the peer pressure is only going to become more tremendous for everyone to have them. In a couple cases, I've even heard of 5-year olds having personal cell phones.

You guys think this is funny, I don't care how unpopular of a dad I wind up being because of it but my kids are not going to be spoiled brats who spend their time text messaging and on the phone all the time. I'll be damned if my kids don't know how to earn their privlidges then not abuse them once they get them. Just like my folks raised me. The car was the biggest thing back in HS, if you messed up you rode the bus next week and living in rural Iowa that sucked because you were basically the only HS kid on the bus.

I already have a cousin that was brought up getting about anything she wants and I couldn't have been more embarassed by her behavior over Christmas. She's going to be 21 this year but she's a classic example how a little better parenting could have prevented how she turned out. Either she was on Facebook/MySpace, text messaging, or sleeping the whole time the family was there over the hollidays and this included not participating in family traditions like helping out with the meals, Christmas eve service, games, and even when we were opening presents she would cut out of the room at times and call someone. This is just scratching the surface of some of the things she's done lately too. The sad thing is she's probably going to have to learn a really tough life lession to get her life straightened. She's the perfect example why when I have kids I don't care how unpopular I may be with how I parent, I will refuse to let my kids not grow up knowing the meaning of hard work and responsibility vs just having things handed to them without consequences if they abuse them.

Like someone else said, they grew up on a farm and so did I and I'd love to raise my kids on an acreage too but doubt that will happen due to the practicality of it right now but just because we'll likely raise our kids in the metro or nearby town doesn't mean I still won't instill some of the ways I was raised on the farm.

 

[Clonehomer]

I can see giving a kid a phone at a fairly young age, 10ish maybe, but it would only be able to receive and make calls to certain numbers, mom and dad, grandparents etc.

Verizon had a phone specialized for this exact scenerio. I think they called it the migo or something like that. It didn't have a keypad just buttons to call emergency numbers or home or some kind of preprogrammed numbers. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I'm not against kids having cell phones before they start driving. I guess I'm to the point that if they are old enough to make decisions about where they go they are old enough to let you know what those decisions are. The best way is to get them a cell phone. Just lock it down so they use it to keep you in the loop not out of it.

 

[cmoneyr]

Verizon had a phone specialized for this exact scenerio. I think they called it the migo or something like that. It didn't have a keypad just buttons to call emergency numbers or home or some kind of preprogrammed numbers. I thought it was a pretty cool idea. I'm not against kids having cell phones before they start driving. I guess I'm to the point that if they are old enough to make decisions about where they go they are old enough to let you know what those decisions are. The best way is to get them a cell phone. Just lock it down so they use it to keep you in the loop not out of it.

I know on my razr, whatever the newest one is, you can restrict calls based on the contacts in the phonebook, and also restrict being able to edit the phonebook.