# Do you have problems with your kids and their phones?



## DanaS (May 28, 2014)

I ask because my neighbor whom I am close friends with has a 15 year old daughter that is glued to her phone to the point a hole could open up to hell and if it fell in she'd jump right in to get it. There was an incident where she misbehaved so she took her phone away only for her daughter to SLAP HER ACROSS THE FACE then she grabbed her phone and left home just walking around for 2 1/2 hours before she came back. 

OMG I just hate how down-right obsessed so many kids are with their phones. Needless to say she has grounded her daughter for a long time and took everything but the necessities away and even smashed the phone to bits right in front of her. 

This is so unreal that a freaking phone can cause so much disrespect like this. Anyone here have trouble with their kids over their phone use?


----------



## arbitrator (Feb 13, 2012)

Sorry, but phones and teenagers have been a lethal combination ever since way back in the good ol' days! And I hate to be the one to inform you that it's only going to get worse in the future, with the advent of ever-advancing technology!


----------



## frusdil (Sep 5, 2013)

Kids learn from adults though - next time you're out and about, check out the number of adults with heads down, glued and transfixed to their phones...and we wonder why kids do it.

At our place, it's no electronics during dinner. I'll even tell adults to put their phones away if I have to. So flippin' rude, I can't stand it!


----------



## arbitrator (Feb 13, 2012)

Those"adults" that you're referring to are pretty much kids that have never grown up and are every bit as disrespectful towards others as adults, and perhaps more so, as they were when they were legitimately kids themselves!


----------



## john1068 (Nov 12, 2013)

No problems with my boys - 15 and 17. The phones are MINE and they only get the use and enjoyment of them under certain conditions. Same with their laptops. And I never have to take them away, I can turn their phones unto bricks remotely. So the misbehaving in my house is pretty limited. 

That being said electronic devices are a huge distraction that us 40 - something parents never had when we were kids. Just last week I got rid of our XBox and it was like I'd taken away Christmas. I don't care...they can be insolent all they want, it's not coming back, it robs the entire family of social interaction. Only when parents give in to their children's discomfort does the power shift to the children.


----------



## Duguesclin (Jan 18, 2014)

A phone is only a tool. Overuse of this tool is a symptom and should be treated as such. Teenagers have had problems with their parents way before phone even existed.

Our kids do not have phones except for our college girl. Our 15 year old boy would love one but he does not need one. We have video games and they seem to use it way too much during this thanksgiving holiday. I have played with them as well (they keep beating me). But, when my wife and/or I are telling them to stop, they stop. For the past few nights we had a lot of fun playing cards. Spoon was a lot of fun because it could include our 6 year old. We then played Sheepshead.

It is important for kids to be able to interact with different age groups. What concerns me when I see teenagers, is not their phones, but the fact they seem to only be able to be with teenagers. I think it is as much their fault as it is of the parents.


----------



## jld (Dec 1, 2013)

Dug, why would it not be more the parents' fault? Were they not raised to be mostly with kids their own age?


----------



## soccermom2three (Jan 4, 2013)

Both of our teens have had phones since 8th grade. No problems really. I love I can reach them any time. I do have to admit that they are on them a lot but so is Dad.


----------



## Duguesclin (Jan 18, 2014)

I don't disagree with you. This is the only thing kids know. Parents are in charge of their education, the buck stops there.


----------



## CantePe (Oct 5, 2011)

My kids aren't allowed cell phones (two oldest are 14 and 13, the other three are 11 and under) unless they can buy it themselves and pay the monthly bill. Electronics are off at 9 pm for youngest and 11 pm for two oldest and no electronics before homework or chores or they lose them for a week and I do change the WiFi password on them until they do their homework and chores.


----------



## D.H Mosquito (Jul 22, 2014)

In my/our house the mobile phones and electronic games are a privilege not a right and they have to earn our trust any serious misbehaviour or abuse of the privilege and they lose their access to them, sounds like further on along the line the neighbour hadn't set proper ground rules or parental authority and now a bit too late as now at this stage


----------



## Brandy905 (Apr 3, 2014)

In our house, you had to graduate 8th grade with all A's & B's to get a phone. If you got a C on your report card, you lost the phone for the marking period. There are exceptions such as if they tried hard, got extra help asked for extra credit etc. If they didn't turn in all their homework, no exception. Not everyone is good in every subject. The phones also remain on charge in the kitchen when they go to bed, if they forget they loose the phone for 24hrs. they tend to remember now.


----------



## toonaive (Dec 13, 2012)

I can suspend or curtail phone service for any cell phone on my account at any time. The girls parent(s) allowed the daughter to set the tone in that house. Time for some tough lessons.


----------

