quote:

Originally posted by HRK:
[QUOTE]Originally posted by flesheatingvirus:
^^^ That’s just subscribers. Who the hell actually subscribes??

Remember, free porn is never free!

"Not whitelisted."

That's rich.

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Of course, I don't believe any kid under the age of 16 or frankly even 18 has any business having a smartphone so parents could crack down hugely on this simply by coming to that same realization.

Can I get an amen?

I just have to shake my head when I hear parents lament about how bad the influences of the internet are on children, yet their 12-13 year olds have $1000 iPhones. People are just. plain. stupid.

There is zero reason to allow a child to have a smartphone. Zero.

What will get pryed from a Mormons " cold, dead hand"

This message has been edited. Last edited by: bendable,

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Of course, I don't believe any kid under the age of 16 or frankly even 18 has any business having a smartphone so parents could crack down hugely on this simply by coming to that same realization.

Can I get an amen?

I just have to shake my head when I hear parents lament about how bad the influences of the internet are on children, yet their 12-13 year olds have $1000 iPhones. People are just. plain. stupid.

There is zero reason to allow a child to have a smartphone. Zero.

I have been advocating and suggesting FOR YEARS that Apple, Samsung, etc. would do themselves a favor by producing a phone that make and receives calls ONLY. Doesn't even have texting features. Doesn't have internet. At a stretch, find a way to limit the installation of APPS to games. IOW, make the damned thing just a TELEPHONE that is used to communicate from one party to the other. That's it!

But that idea will fall on deaf ears...

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

quote:

Originally posted by Gustofer:

quote:

Originally posted by Balzé Halzé:
Of course, I don't believe any kid under the age of 16 or frankly even 18 has any business having a smartphone so parents could crack down hugely on this simply by coming to that same realization.

Can I get an amen?

I just have to shake my head when I hear parents lament about how bad the influences of the internet are on children, yet their 12-13 year olds have $1000 iPhones. People are just. plain. stupid.

There is zero reason to allow a child to have a smartphone. Zero.

I have been advocating and suggesting FOR YEARS that Apple, Samsung, etc. would do themselves a favor by producing a phone that make and receives calls ONLY. Doesn't even have texting features. Doesn't have internet. At a stretch, find a way to limit the installation of APPS to games. IOW, make the damned thing just a TELEPHONE that is used to communicate from one party to the other. That's it!

But that idea will fall on deaf ears...

My oldest [11] has such a phone.
Gabb wireless [Utah based].
ZTE phone, can call & text, has a camera & FM tuner, and that's about it.
No apps, no web browser.
Also has GPS & location alerts so we know when gets to/leaves school/home.

Same company has a + version of the phone, which I believe is a Samsung. Same concept, but with a limited, reviewed 'kid safe' app store.

The teen culture drives individual behavior. Kids don't want a telephone. That is the one function they do not desire. They text, snapchat, check their thumbs up count on their latest post, etc.

My eldest kids did have a cellular telephone. Texting was rudimentary. This was before smart phones. There was great utility for their safety and my peace of mind when they were out late. But they couldn't care less about those factors.

A teen today without a smart phone is isolated from their peers and the culture. It is a big emotional problem for them. Somehow we need to normalize not having the smart phone.

quote:

Originally posted by erj_pilot:

I have been advocating and suggesting FOR YEARS that Apple, Samsung, etc. would do themselves a favor by producing a phone that make and receives calls ONLY. Doesn't even have texting features. Doesn't have internet. At a stretch, find a way to limit the installation of APPS to games. IOW, make the damned thing just a TELEPHONE that is used to communicate from one party to the other. That's it!

But that idea will fall on deaf ears...

You realize the death of basic phone only phones was a result of no demand for them?

An involved parent can provide a phone and “lock it down” to just the basics or approved contacts, sites, etc.

The real problem is that there are fewer and fewer involved parents these days.

^^^^^^
Thanks, Boss. I'm not a parent, so I honestly don't what can and can't be locked down on a cell phone.

quote:

Originally posted by 911Boss:
An involved parent can provide a phone and “lock it down” to just the basics or approved contacts, sites, etc.

Yup. My 10 year old and actually my 7 year old both have access to older iPhones that have been absolutely locked. They can text or facetime (no real "calls") only people approved by us (must be in their contact list, and the list can't be modified without us getting asked for permission). No apps can be downloaded or installed without us granting active permission. Hard daily time limits are set and enforced. No internet browser is available to them. No games that have any chat feature whatsoever. What they have access to is extremely limited.

Further, and more important, we have worked hard to foster a relationship where our kids trust us and, so far, come to us when they want/need/wonder about something. I realize that won't last forever (and that our 5 year old will NOT likely be the same way) but we are doing our part.

I've invested a lot of time into locking down my kids' smartphones. They're constantly asking me for another few minutes of screen time to do this or that. I've asked them if any of their friends have any restrictions on their devices and most all of them do not.

I'm a pretty technical guy so I try to imagine what I would do to get around such restrictions were I a 15 year old boy. But my imagination may be limited. Of course none of the restrictions I place on my kids' devices means a damn thing if their buddy has unfettered access to the worst of the internet.

Oh, and even burner flip phones from the grocery store have web browsers now. Ask me how I know...

For my son he had an iPod Touch first, and we enabled the parental controls and filtering features, and I did the same on an iMac we got for him. Then when he got a hand-me-down iPhone from my ex, she enabled the parental controls and filtering.

I tested them and they worked pretty well at blocking things, but I'm sure some things can get through. And friends with less tech-savvy parents may have had their devices completely unrestricted. Hard to control everything so you do what you can. But even if you do the right things, other parents won't.

When he turned 18 I removed all the controls.

Cell phone's, the modern day electronic babysitter. Giving your child a cell phone and internet access removes the need for parenting. What could go wrong.