Should children own their own electronics?

United States
February 19, 2009 8:43pm CST
This is actually a multi-part discussion in that there are several electronic items that come to mind, which were discussed in a recent communications class I had. We had been discussing the change in play time and/or free time for our children. It seems that children have many more electronics then we did as kids, and they spend less time doing other things we did. One of the big issues was their communication skills. It seems that children are loosing these skills because of the online instant message world, text messaging on their cell phones, and the alone time with non-responsive video games. In the educational field most of us agree that children who have items such as personal cell phones, personal computers, video games, and a television set in their room seem to do poorer in school then those who do not. How do you feel about that as a parent? Do you feel that children should have these items or not have these items? Do these items take away from the child's ability to communicate effectively? In what ways have you noticed the negative and the positive of said items? How do you handle it? In our home we have one computer and it is located in the family room. Even though our children are not old enough to use it, there will be strict limits when they do get the age of using it. They will not have a cell phone of their own, unless they have the AT&T ones that have only three buttons on them that allow them to call for emergency help or dial our phone. (These are great for parents who do need to send a cell phone with a child). They will not have a television in their room, nor any other electronic devices that may take away from their sleep.
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