# Is this normal for today?



## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

I was raised in a very old fashion household. Not that that's a bad thing. I never got certain toys or electronic device until my parents saw fit. My mom babysits for a living. She has a 5 year old 1st grade girl who rides the bus with me because my mom babysits her. She came in yesterday, and told us she had an iPod AND a Tablet!! Now, is it just me, or am I old fashioned? I don't think 1st grader should have these! I think these things are too big for her age. I didn't have an mp3 until I was in 5th grade. The only reason I even got one was because my best friend got it for me for my birthday. Then, I didn't get a computer until 2 years ago and that was mainly for school purposes. This just blew my mind! I don't understand why a parent would give their 5 year old a tablet or an iPod. Is it because parents nowadays by bigger items that their children aren't ready for so they will leave the parents alone? I just don't get it! What are your thoughts?


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

It's not just you, I grew up in a poor family...ANYTHING my sister or I got that was a luxury item was either a birthday gift or a Christmas gift, our needs were met, we got new shoes and 2 new outfits each for school but when it came to wanting something because it was what the popular kids had, we never got it...if it was a want and not a need, we worked for it.

I do think that with all the electronic gizmo's so easily available now and the number of people who actually do make more money at their jobs...it's easy enough to see these things as needs, just because most kids have them...not sayinhg they should though 
Just like the number of elementary kids I see with a cell phone...a serious pet peeve of mine!


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## ksalvagno (Oct 6, 2009)

That is the way it is today. I don't agree with it. I'm amazed at how fast a parent will replace a cell phone when their child breaks or loses it.

I think this is part of the entitled mentality that is going on today and creating some very bad habits and will not serve these childen well later in life when they can't afford these things.

I'm an adult and don't even own an Ipod or Ipad. I don't even have a smart phone.


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## liz (Oct 5, 2007)

Karen... I'm with you on that!

I have a TracFone...and that's because it does come in handy with the distance I travel to visit my mom and sister once a week...I have no clue what an Ipod or an I pad is and don't have a need to.


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## NyGoatMom (Jan 26, 2013)

It's nuts.And it is going to bite them in the future...kids that get everything, are usually spoiled rotten and unappreciative with no knowledge of what earning a buck is.
That's not even saying what it does for their goals and what they should see as important in life~certainly not an electronic gadget.


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

Okay, I'm glad other people agree with me! I was always taught you work for what you want. I've saved up so much money from birthdays, christmas, ect. and I have no idea what to do with it. I have everything that I want. So, I just put it back for college. I also don't have a smart phone. I don't need it! I don't give my number out to God and everybody, I don't have but 1 friend, and I only use it when I need picked up after school when I stay for an activity. Everyone thinks I'm so weird because I don't have my phone out constantly texting. I have no one to text!


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

I agree..

We all have iPods in my family.. BUT we all bought them with our own money that we got for birthdays/Christmas or worked for (<-- In my case lol! I bought a goat with my birthday/Christmas money :laugh: )

But I don't think kids in 3rd and 4th grade should be having all the stuff they have! (cell phones, iPdas AND an iPod (cause ya know you need both right?!) tablets and ect.) I'm 18 and don't have a cell phone! I do have a prepaid phone.. I just never put money on it cause I don't need it... though it would be nice now that I'm working.. but I can live with out it.... 
My 2yr old cousin has an iPod... I don't understand that... He is TWO!!1 Urgg...


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## J.O.Y. Farm (Jan 10, 2012)

That is another reason I don't have a phone Kayla! There is no one I know that has one that I would want to text or anything.. The only reason I wish I had an iPhone is so I could get internet at work and come on goat forums and check my email when I'm on a break/lunch :laugh:


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## WalshKidsGoats (Nov 27, 2012)

I have to agree with everyone here on this. Kids these days don't have any imagination! Parents think that their kids have to be entertained ALL the time! When I was little my sister and I entertained ourselves, we rarely watched movies, we had no video games, and we were never dying of boredom... I didn't get an ipod until I was fifteen and I had to pay for it when I did, I didn't get a cell phone until I started working and needed to have one! I am so glad that my parents always said no to all the electric gadgets and games!

Quality Nigerian Dwarf Goats
www.walshkidsgoats.com


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## Scottyhorse (Feb 11, 2013)

I got an mp3 when I was in the 5th grade also. I got an ipod when I was in the 6th or 7th grade. I don't really use it that much. 

Now, my brother got an ipod when he was 8. He's almost ten now. I thought it was so stupid to give him that so young. He also had a DS. We have replaced BOTH now. He keeps breaking them but I am able to fix it.


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## JenVise (Dec 7, 2012)

Can I chime in here? I hear and respect all of your opinions, but we can't judge ALL kids and their needs together as a whole. My Daughter who is 12 has an IPod and a tablet. She purchased her IPod with her own money that she earned from showing last year. Santa, brought her and my 8 year old son tablets for Christmas this year. They are both exceptionally bright and love to read! It is much easier to store their books on a tablet than to own all the paper copies of them. I will NEVER discourage reading in my home...even if it is on an electronic. 
I was in the Doctor with my 2 year old the other day. A lady sat across from us and kept making disapproving comments about my children having tablets at their age. My son was playing a math game and my daughter was reading Grapes of Wrath. Tell me how this is wrong?? My son will graduate from High School at the age of 15...I have to give some credit to the electronics for that. He learns better by doing...and it's something he is interested in. 
Don't get me wrong...there are rules, and there are consequences when the rules are broken. They are both grounded from all electronics now, because their chores did not get done...I guess what I'm trying to say is this: Did I have these things when I was their age? NO! Neither did my parents...but they also tell me they didn't have Home phones or televisions...The world is ever changing and ever evolving...and one day, our children will be telling THEIR children that they didn't have what they have growing up...


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## Axykatt (Feb 1, 2013)

My son, who will be 15 in April ( three days before I deliver his baby sister), got his first mp3 player for his 10th birthday. He lost it 3 days later and I never replaced it. He got a cell phone the Christmas he was 11, and he has taken incredibly good care of it! He got a hand-me-down laptop from friends of the family the same year, and it is still in active use today. He is responsible for all the upkeep and if it breaks due to negligence or misuse...that's right, I won't replace it.

I don't think giving children technology is the problem, it's lack of responsibility that causes issues. My son realizes that nonessential items are a luxury and is properly grateful for them. He's been taught to think of money in terms of hours worked. Currently his time is worth $8 an hour. If he wants something frivolous he has to decide if it is worth X number of hours of work. Not only has this lead to him being careful with his things, but it has taught him to be thrifty! For example, the last video game he wanted he found used AND on sale, because even though he really wanted it he said, "It's only worth 2 hours' work, not 6."

I think children should be taught the value of money, and even if their parents can afford to give them whatever they want they should have to trade work for rewards. After all, if kids don't think that an iPad is worth 150 hours of their work why is it worth 150 hours of mine?


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## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

Devils Advocate here:

I have 2 kids now 24 & 19 (today) I had my daughter @ 17 & then worked my way thru college while raising her alone. Even after my son was born I worked 50 plus hour weeks. I was 1 of "those" parents. I bought my kids all the new game systems etc. Not to "keep them out of my hair" but as a misguided way of making sure they knew I loved them. I was also very strict about them following the rules that allowed them to keep those things.

Fast forward to now... My daughter is still a brat but a very very strict parent to her 2 year old son. My son grew into an amazing young man. Not spoiled acting at all. He has had a job since 16 & insisted on buying his own things. Since we moved to the farm he has worked his behind off, never once complaining.

All that to say that sometimes kids these days are spoiled because parents have to work A LOT & try to substitute things for time they can't spend with them due to work schedules. 
Also, sometimes the kids still turn out OK.


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## JenVise (Dec 7, 2012)

Wish I could like on this darn phone! Lol


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## FlyingFeetsFarm (Nov 28, 2012)

I didn't even get a cell phone until I was a sophomore and it was a junky one at that. I didn't get my first smart phone until I graduated high school, and I bought it with my own money. My nephew got his first smart phone at age 8, I thought it was ridiculous.


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## xymenah (Jul 1, 2011)

I have gown up in an upper middle class family. I have always been spoiled with things because I am technically an only child. I have a brother and a sister but my brother lives with his dad and my sister lives with her adopted parents. My family got a computer when I was eight(I'm 18 now) and I got a phone at 12. I have had a computer of my own since 14. However I have never been one to get the newest and greatest things. My dad has an iPad and iPhone but I do not. It is my responsabily to buy one and would have been even if I wasn't 18. I have bought most of the technological things I own like a camera, electric guitar, milking machine and the like. My laptop and phone(Android from 2011) are from my parents both birthday presents. I personally don't think a parent should buy a young child something like that but its their choice not mine. 

Another thing I think parents do need to do it keep check on their child's internet usage. What websites are the visiting and who are they talking to. I know that might sound funny coming from an 18 year old. That said though my parents have never even once looked at my personal computers or phones since I got them. I'm not afraid to admit that I got into some things that at 12-17 I shouldn't have been looking at.


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## serenityfarmnm (Jan 6, 2013)

xymenah said:


> I have gown up in an upper middle class family. I have always been spoiled with things because I am technically an only child. I have a brother and a sister but my brother lives with his dad and my sister lives with her adopted parents. My family got a computer when I was eight(I'm 18 now) and I got a phone at 12. I have had a computer of my own since 14. However I have never been one to get the newest and greatest things. My dad has an iPad and iPhone but I do not. It is my responsabily to buy one and would have been even if I wasn't 18. I have bought most of the technological things I own like a camera, electric guitar, milking machine and the like. My laptop and phone(Android from 2011) are from my parents both birthday presents. I personally don't think a parent should buy a young child something like that but its their choice not mine.
> 
> Another thing I think parents do need to do it keep check on their child's internet usage. What websites are the visiting and who are they talking to. I know that might sound funny coming from an 18 year old. That said though my parents have never even once looked at my personal computers or phones since I got them. I'm not afraid to admit that I got into some things that at 12-17 I shouldn't have been looking at.


And look how great you turned out!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## HomesteadRed (Feb 28, 2013)

I theink Axykatt has it right about teaching our kids the value of money. I was raised to have to work for what I wanted, I was not handed it. Even if it was not a "you work for two hours splitting wood, I'll give you $18" type if situation, it was absolutely a "we're splitting wood today... You're helping without complaining!" I had chores and was expected to keep my stuff picked up, good grades, going to church (and paying attention because there will be a quiz!), and so on. I never went without and had a decent amount of 'cool stuff' that everyone else had. But I was expected to do my part. I think that is key and most often lacking today. We need to teach our kids the value of hard work and working toward goals. Nothing in this life is free and the problem comes when people start thinking their entitled to something they haven't earned.


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## HomesteadRed (Feb 28, 2013)

Oh, and as a PS.. We got rid of our TV completely about two months ago and no one is missing it. Technology free (or at least lessened) does work. You just have to get used to it. I know it's super old fashioned, but my kids (5,4,2) play boardgames and read books... The original iPad... Lol! ;-)


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## PiccoloGoat (Sep 10, 2008)

Board games and books > most console games they come out with these days anyway


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

I agree, the value of money is not taught as well as it used to. Goal setting is another thing that is not taught mostly because these things are handed to kids. If a child is getting an allowance, then I think they should save up their own money to buy that ipad or Kindle Fire that they want. Unless the parent gets it for them for their birthday, Christmas, ect. that is the only exception that I have. I do find it quite hilarious how quickly parents replace these items for their children. And if they do it once, the kids are going to expect again and again and again.


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## ogfabby (Jan 3, 2013)

My 7 year old has to earn things like that! If she wants a big item, she does extra chores to make more money and when she has saved up enough, she can buy them.


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## caprine crazy (Jun 12, 2012)

That's the way it is at our house too ogfabby.


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## Axykatt (Feb 1, 2013)

I don't pay my kids an allowance, we agree how many hours of what kind of work that something is worth, and when the work is done they get the reward. Currently my 15 y/o's time is worth $8 an hour for hard labor, less for easier tasks. 

The exchange rate also applies to privileges like video game and computer time. An hour of babysitting or giving the goats a bath equals an hour of electronics time. My son loves the control it gives him over his life because he can negotiate later curfews or extra tv time, but my stepdaughter thinks she's stepped into a Grimm's fairytale and I'm the wicked stepmother.


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## HomesteadRed (Feb 28, 2013)

Axykatt said:


> My son loves the control it gives him over his life because he can negotiate later curfews or extra tv time, but my stepdaughter thinks she's stepped into a Grimm's fairytale and I'm the wicked stepmother.


Bahahahaha! Do I ever understand that! At least it's just your kids calling you that! My grandparents (?!) are calling me the evil mother for taking the TV away! And the kids don't even miss it! Lol!!


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