Restrict wifi at home.

sgds

Hi, I have three teenagers, a girl aged 15 & two boys aged 17 & 19. The three kids have smartphones but I restrict their use of the wifi until about 6 or 7pm most evenings. Otherwise they would have their phones constantly in front of their faces. I use the internet myself and also have a smartphone and an ipad but really I feel when its on all the time during the day, especially in the summer holidays they will not do nothing else apart from Facebook, YouTube , ask fm snapchat etc. My 15 year old daughter said to me this evening that she was embarrassed when any of her friends come around and the Internet is off. Do many other parents do this or am I being too strict?

LadyMayBelle

Nope, I think youre dead right and great you stick to the rule, and abide by it yourself. Of course teenagers are going to be mortified by most things their parents do, especially if it impedes upon their status with friends. Youre saying the wifi is off until 6 or 7pm? I dont think it's bad, and they muts have access to the internet via their own networks and when they go places. It's important to have 'non screen time' in households.

sundodger5

I only allow my crew 2 hours full access per day. The phones can get the net via mobile anyway so hard to police if they dont mind burning call credit.
Have the router set to block laptops until 8pm and then block again at 10pm.
Also have blocked ask.fm as the abuse on it is horrible and even though they can give as good as they get I don't see the point of having them exposed to it constantly.

freshpopcorn

Do any of ye live in housing estates/apartments? A lot of the time people don't have their internet network secured and your kids will be able to pick up on the signal.

frozenfrozen

Smothering.

sundodger5

freshpopcorn wrote: »

Do any of ye live in housing estates/apartments? A lot of the time people don't have their internet network secured and your kids will be able to pick up on the signal.

Luckily I live in the middle of nowhere so not an issue.
If they are going to steal other peoples broadband then that is out of my control (without more tech) I only can control my router and limit it as best I can.
If I felt the net access is being abused after rules are made (ask.fm) then I would confiscate the phone or whatever.

sundodger5

frozenfrozen wrote: »

Smothering.

I assume you think it is smothering because you are 18. I have been 18. You have never been my age with 3 daughters to mind. You may view it differently in a few years.

frozenfrozen

sundodger5 wrote: »

I assume you think it is smothering because you are 18. I have been 18. You have never been my age with 3 daughters to mind. You may view it differently in a few years.

What's wrong with your daughters using the internet in your house? I'd be very worried if you hadn't been 18 seeing as you have 3 daughters. Are you taking any of your children's opinions into consideration on this matter? Seeing as you've entirely written off my opinion purely based on my age I can only assume that you've done the same to your children's views because they will obviously view it differently in a few years. This sort of babying of teenagers isn't in my opinion good parenting at all, instead of your children learning to control their own internet usage and realising why they shouldn't be spending endless hours with their heads buried in what you see as an uncontrollable waste of time.

You may view this differently in a few years too

sundodger5

Your opinion was one word. I am genuinely glad you came back to elaborate.
You are correct they should learn to limit themselves but have been unable to do so hence boundaries have been set.
Also I do not see the internet as a complete waste of time and fail to see how I gave that impression.
What would you do as a parent?

sgds

Its amazing the amount of people that havent security enabled on their routers. Anybody could use their internet and could be browsing anything from child porn to trying to steal credid card info! I live in the country and an open wifi wouldnt normally be a problem but you would never know whats going on. I restrict the wifi as well by only allowing kids mac address at certain times. Normal stuff in the house has access all the time, apple tv, main pc etc

Ciarabear

I think it's excessive to restrict a 19 year old's internet access when they are legally an adult. That said, your house, your rules!

tallaghtmick

I wouldnt restrict it sure they can use the 3G on the phones aswell, all this will do is make them resent you as you know what teens are like.

sgds

I think when the 19 year will spend 80% of his day in front of a screen at home when this wifi is available, restricting it is not excessive

Ciarabear

sgds wrote: »

I think when the 19 year will spend 80% of his day in front of a screen at home when this wifi is available, restricting it is not excessive

My point is that at 19, your son is pretty much entitled to do what he wants without seeking your permission

GarIT

I think its a bit extreme. Why do you need to limit it?

GarIT

sgds wrote: »

I think when the 19 year will spend 80% of his day in front of a screen at home when this wifi is available, restricting it is not excessive

Can you explain what is wrong with that? You say it like it is bad but dont say why. You also need to think of things like IT jobs, in 4 years I should be on 80-100k yearly because I spent 80% of my childhood on a computer.

riclad

HES got 2 kids under 18, leave it as it is .
Your house your rules,
even teens need rules ,and boundarys ,
THE worst thing for a teen is to have total freedom ,
they are not mature enough to know what is best for them ,
their minds ,personality is still being formed.

THE thing i find strange is when i hear gaming podcasts,
theres 3 or 5 year old s playing games on an xbox ,pc for hours on end.
I doubt if thats good for their health.

I,M older when i was i kid i spent most of my time outside,
playing soccer, etc the net , ipads were not invented.
i had an atari 800 console.

sgds

I know that but when he rather to spend more time on the Internet than conversing with the rest of the family, then it becomes a problem

GarIT

riclad wrote: »

HES got 2 kids under 18, leave it as it is .
Your house your rules,
even teens need rules ,and boundarys ,
THE worst thing for a teen is to have total freedom ,
they are not mature enough to know what is best for them ,
their minds ,personality is still being formed.

THE thing i find strange is when i hear gaming podcasts,
theres 3 or 4 year old s playing games on an xbox ,pc for hours on end.
I doubt if thats good for their health.

How is it not good for them?

GarIT

sgds wrote: »

I know that but when he rather to spend more time on the Internet than conversing with the rest of the family, then it becomes a problem

That's just being a dictator, no normal teen has ever wanted to talk to family. Why does one need to talk to family if they dont want to? The problem isn't the internet, the problem is you being lonely and being selfish about it.

tallaghtmick

GarIT wrote: »

That's just being a dictator, no normal teen has ever wanted to talk to family. Why does one need to talk to family if they dont want to? The problem isn't the internet, the problem is you being lonely and being selfish about it.

im 29 and don't wanna talk to them at the best of times :pac:

Chain_reaction

Thats a bit much for the 19 year old alright. If they will spend most of the day on it otherwise you might want to look into guiding them into working part time/full time for the summer, learning to drive, going on cheap adventures with friends.

Artful_Badger

Nothing wrong with restricting it a bit imo as long as they still have access. Its an all engrossing thing is the internet and cutting it off during the day and letting them have at it in the evening is fine. It will teach them to utilize their time on it rather than waste their time on it.

Ciarabear

GarIT wrote: »

How is it not good for them?

Because excessive anything isn't good for anybody. Everything in moderation

kirving

You're needlessly making life difficult for your kids, who probably communicate with their friends primarily through Facebook or WhatsApp or the like.

They're probably missing out on what their friends are talking about, and doing during the day since they don't have access to the internet. It would be very embarrassing for a kid not to have a clue what's going on until 8pm at night, at which time their friends are already out or have made plans.

It reminds me of the government setting the off licences opening hours in a reactionary attempt to change drinking habits. Typical Irish solution of banning something rather than trying to change people's opinions. All it does us piss people off. If you feel you need to restrict internet access, then encourage your kids to take up other activities instead.

GarIT

Just playing devils advocate here but if a child was playing football from morning to night everyday would you tell them they can only do it for two hours? Just finishing being a teen this week I should say that all through my teenage years that were few forms of entertainment which consisted of the internet, drink, causing trouble and drugs. Unless you're really good at it by 16 football isn't even really an option anymore.

Artful_Badger

GarIT wrote: »

Can you explain what is wrong with that? You say it like it is bad but dont say why. You also need to think of things like IT jobs, in 4 years I should be on 80-100k yearly because I spent 80% of my childhood on a computer.

You will be hired to that position because on your CV you have "Spent my childhood glued to a computer" ? Dont think so. You dont need to have spent 80% of your childhood on a computer to work in the IT industry, you need a degree in IT. Same as a forestry manager doesnt need to grow up in the woods, just needs the relevant education.

Orion

GarIT wrote: »

in 4 years I should be on 80-100k yearly because I spent 80% of my childhood on a computer.

Can you tell me where that job is? I think you're very optimistic if you think you'll be on that salary.

GarIT

Ciarabear wrote: »

Because excessive anything isn't good for anybody. Everything in moderation

You can't prove an argument with a metaphor. There is no proof or anything there just an old saying. What needs to be explained is why using the internet for a long time is bad, you can't just say everything in moderation.

GarIT

Artful_Badger wrote: »

You will be hired to that position because on your CV you have "Spent my childhood glued to a computer" ? Dont think so. You dont need to have spent 80% of your childhood on a computer to work in the IT industry, you need a degree in IT. Same as a forestry manager doesnt need to grow up in the woods, just needs the relevant education.

While you're right there I would have gotten straight 100%s in my last exams if I hadn't done a lot of self learning in the area over the years.

gctest50

Artful_Badger wrote: »

You will be hired to that position because on your CV you have "Spent my childhood glued to a computer" ? Dont think so. You dont need to have spent 80% of your childhood on a computer to work in the IT industry, you need a degree in IT. Same as a forestry manager doesnt need to grow up in the woods, just needs the relevant education.

Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg ....