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Good parenting or over-protective wench...

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24

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    #32
    Pat Mustard
    Registered Users Posts: 9,554 ✭✭✭Pat Mustard


    That set of rules is making me regress to my teenage years. I call wench.

    I'd be p1ssed, get in a big silent huff and tell her to keep it.


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    #33
    Custardpi
    Registered Users Posts: 2,807 ✭✭✭Custardpi


    If she has to explicitly lay down a list of rules this detailed with the thing it probably means he's not mature enough for the phone yet. Wait a few more years until he knows & properly understands these rules without having to be told them. Until then get him a basic phone or none at all.

    On another note I'm always a bit sceptical about these viral things & their authenticity. I'll be checking Snopes in the coming days to see if it's outed as a rewrite of something written decades ago ("Happy Birthday Samuel! You're now the proud owner of your very own telegraph machine!, etc...")


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    #34
    cml387
    Registered Users Posts: 8,389 ✭✭✭cml387


    Custardpi wrote: »

    On another note I'm always a bit sceptical about these viral things & their authenticity. I'll be checking Snopes in the coming days to see if it's outed as a rewrite of something written decades ago ("Happy Birthday Samuel! You're now the proud owner of your very own telegraph machine!, etc...")


    Keep a lookout on Snopes because as sure as anything this is an invention.


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    #35
    hatrickpatrick
    Registered Users Posts: 17,797 ✭✭✭✭hatrickpatrick


    I have never read anything quite so hilariously moronic in my life.
    Give it just 2 or 3 years and that kid is going to turn into a rebellious monster :D


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    #36
    Biggins
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 34,567 ✭✭✭✭Biggins


    Pottler wrote: »
    ...Go You, ya wild thing.

    Yeeee Haaaaa! :D


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    #37
    Meangadh
    Registered Users Posts: 3,963 ✭✭✭Meangadh


    When I started reading it first i was thinking "God, stereotypical American B.S., going totally OTT, all smacks of Nanny 911 crap" but then I thought, you know what, fair play. Not enough parents take into account the power of the technology that is in their children's hands these days.

    I'm usually the first to knock a lot of modern parenting stuff, in that I think parents try too hard now to be friends with their children and not disciplinarians. But in fairness, this has a nice combination of both- yeah it's a bit long-winded, but overall it's basically saying "I love you, I'm here for you, and I trust you to a point- but I'm not naive enough to think that a teenager isn't going to push boundaries, so these rules are here so that you know I'll kick your ass if you betray me". Fair enough I think.


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    #38
    T-K-O
    Registered Users Posts: 6,309 ✭✭✭T-K-O


    Great advice for everyone

    8. Do not text, email, or say anything through this device you would not say in person.
    9. Do not text, email, or say anything to someone that you would not say out loud with their parents in the room.


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    #39
    Herb Powell
    Registered Users Posts: 3,097 ✭✭✭Herb Powell


    Most of her stuff makes sense, and is fairly on point, but as a whole it comes off as very condescending. Maybe that is just me being cynical, but as a 13 year-old I know I would have been stifling laughter reading this (if I even fuccking read it!). Especially about the music comment (WTF?).

    The fact that this is all written out kind of says to me that she doesn't think her 13 year old son should really have the phone. Keep it brief, leave him off, and when he ****s up reprimand him and explain why.

    However her heart/head is in the right place, can't fault her for that, and she is definitely making an effort.


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    #40
    Custardpi
    Registered Users Posts: 2,807 ✭✭✭Custardpi


    T-K-O wrote: »
    Great advice for everyone

    8. Do not text, email, or say anything through this device you would not say in person.
    9. Do not text, email, or say anything to someone that you would not say out loud with their parents in the room.

    Can you imagine such rules were applied to Boards users? Twould be a pretty quiet place. :D


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    #41
    Miss Lockhart
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,639 ✭✭✭Miss Lockhart


    I think it's good that she is attempting to establish some rules and precautions for the use of the phone but the cringeworthy self-applauding style of writing just makes her come across as an attention seeking idiot.


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    #42
    Meangadh
    Registered Users Posts: 3,963 ✭✭✭Meangadh


    Miss Lockhart wrote: »
    I think it's good that she is attempting to establish some rules and precautions for the use of the phone but the cringeworthy self-applauding style of writing just makes her come across as an attention seeking idiot.

    Yeah I'd definitely re-phrase things if I was her- particularly for an Irish teenager. I like the general vibe of what she's trying to get across, but as I said, it's a bit long-winded and could be more to the point. And the bits about music and talking to strangers and all that is total waffle, not necessary. Overall a good set of rules though.


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    #43
    T-K-O
    Registered Users Posts: 6,309 ✭✭✭T-K-O


    Custardpi wrote: »
    Can you imagine such rules were applied to Boards users? Twould be a pretty quiet place. :D

    :D No I can't

    But people seem to think they can say and do what ever they want online without fear of any consequence


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    #44
    wexie
    Closed Accounts Posts: 7,480 ✭✭✭wexie


    hmmmm.....

    I guess we could argue about how it's written.

    But if you ask me the spirit of the whole thing contains a lot of advice many 'grownups' I know would do well listening to.


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    #45
    matthew8
    Registered Users Posts: 9,599 ✭✭✭matthew8


    Sounds like a right bítch tbh. Doesn't seem to get the concept of the word gift.


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    #46
    Pottler
    Closed Accounts Posts: 5,073 ✭✭✭Pottler


    Mine would be a bit shorter, somwhere along the lines of "Here's a phone, don't sell it, and if you do, I want half".


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    #47
    Meangadh
    Registered Users Posts: 3,963 ✭✭✭Meangadh


    wexie wrote: »
    hmmmm.....

    I guess we could argue about how it's written.

    But if you ask me the spirit of the whole thing contains a lot of advice many 'grownups' I know would do well listening to.

    +100000000

    Whatever about how teenagers behave online, the crap some adults come out with sometimes makes me weep for humanity.


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    #48
    areyawell
    Banned (with Prison Access) Posts: 1,435 ✭✭✭areyawell


    I smell bull shi*t!


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    #49
    CuriousG
    Registered Users Posts: 420 ✭✭CuriousG


    At that age, way more than fair. I wish more parents were like this, children need things like this, it's a dangerous world.


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    #50
    meoklmrk91
    Registered Users Posts: 4,085 ✭✭✭meoklmrk91


    Maybe if Irish parents were half as consciencious regarding their kids and technology as this American mother then we wouldnt have 13 year old kids killing themselves because they are being bullied online.

    As someone who is loves tech and has every gadget imaginable it drives me mad to see kids being handed phones, iPads, laptops etc with minimal parental involvement, the only thing that they are usually warned about is predators and after that they don't care about or want to know about their daughter dressing provocatively and taking pictures and posting them on Facebook or their son who is bullying people online, through text message or whatever. This mother is giving her kid a set of guidelines to follow, all good in my opinion, except for the music one, seems a little off, to keep him safe, to keep him in line. She is taking it seriously, and it should be, so good on her she sounds like a great parent who put a lot of thought into this which is what is needed.


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    #51
    SureYWouldntYa
    Registered Users Posts: 7,725 ✭✭✭SureYWouldntYa


    She's the grinch. If you buy a present, thats what it is a present, not "my phone" as she calls it.


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    #52
    csallmighty
    Registered Users Posts: 650 ✭✭✭csallmighty


    What a croc of sh1te.

    You know you're failing at parenting when you need to make your children agree to a contract to make them behave.


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    #53
    My name is URL
    Registered Users Posts: 25,068 ✭✭✭✭My name is URL


    meoklmrk91 wrote: »
    Maybe if Irish parents were half as consciencious regarding their kids and technology as this American mother then we wouldnt have 13 year old kids killing themselves because they are being bullied online.

    Hugely generalized comment. It's not as if no teens in the US ever kill themselves due to online bullying. And how do you know that Irish parents don't offer such guidance to their kids? Maybe they just don't share those guidelines with the media to further their own interests...


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    #54
    Dr. Jonathan Crane
    Closed Accounts Posts: 261 ✭✭Dr. Jonathan Crane


    1. It is my phone. I bought it. I pay for it. I am loaning it to you. Aren’t I the greatest?
    So it isn't a gift.

    This kid will probably go crazy when he hits sixteen, if he's treated this way now. Helicopter parenting at it's finest. And for those wondering, she posted it on her blog, probably hoping to gain some pats on the shoulder from other over the top parents. http://www.janellburleyhofmann.com/gregorys-iphone-contract/

    This made me laugh though https://twitter.com/JanellBH/status/286903196532756480


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    #55
    meoklmrk91
    Registered Users Posts: 4,085 ✭✭✭meoklmrk91


    My name is URL wrote: »
    Hugely generalized comment. It's not as if no teens in the US ever kill themselves due to online bullying. And how do you know that Irish parents don't offer such guidance to their kids? Maybe they just don't share those guidelines with the media to further their own interests...

    Point taken, I shouldnt have generalised by saying Irish parents and just said all parents, it is true that this is an issue everywhere. And I do know that there are parents who do take the time to monitor there kids, but I also know of a lot of parents who think nothing of buying a phone and handing it to their kid or letting them use the internet without even a modicum of supervision or guidance and I think that needs to change.


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    #56
    StinkyMunkey
    Registered Users Posts: 1,398 ✭✭✭StinkyMunkey


    Alot of what she said is the way you would want your kid to act regardless of the phone.

    If a parent is at fault for trying to teach a child how to show manners and safe guard themselves against bullying and the likes, i guess that must make me a bad parent as well.


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    #57
    longhalloween
    Closed Accounts Posts: 2,207 ✭✭✭longhalloween


    Valetta wrote: »
    Shouldn't have bought an iphone5 for a 13 year old.

    Terrible parenting.

    I suppose she's giving him some responsibility and showing that his actions will have consequences.

    I think it's a good idea.


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    #58
    the purple tin
    Registered Users Posts: 10,943 ✭✭✭✭the purple tin


    Why couldn't she just tell her son the rules? Why did she have to post them online?
    I think mammy's fishing for an invite to be on Dr Phil or Ellen or whatever.
    If I was the son I'd be mortified.
    The private parts rule ffs :rolleyes:


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    #59
    housetypeb
    Registered Users Posts: 1,184 ✭✭✭housetypeb


    Dear Gregory
    Merry Christmas! You are now the proud OWNER of an iPhone. Hot Damn! You are a good & responsible 13 year old boy and you deserve this GIFT. But with the acceptance of this present comes rules and regulations. Please read through the following contract. I hope that you understand it is my job to raise you into a well rounded, healthy young man that can function in the world and coexist with technology, not be ruled by it. Failure to comply with the following list will result in termination of your iPhone ownership.
    I love you madly & look forward to sharing several million text messages with you in the days to come.
    1. It is MY PHONE. I bought it. I pay for it. I am loaning it to you. Aren’t I the greatest?

    Who owns the bloody phone.


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    #60
    Ihatecuddles-old
    Closed Accounts Posts: 6,785 ✭✭✭Ihatecuddles-old


    My parents got me a phone when I was 12. (im 21 now)

    All they said was 'no prank calls'

    I lasted about an hour before I had the phonebook out.


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    #61
    Lisha
    Registered Users Posts: 8,693 ✭✭✭Lisha


    Ihatecuddles wrote: »
    My parents got me a phone when I was 12. (im 21 now)

    All they said was 'no prank calls'

    I lasted about an hour before I had the phonebook out.


    Ha damn caller Id wreaked all the best games :)


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