The 13-year-old’s mom made him sign an 18-point contract before handing over his new prized possession: an iPhone.
What is this, 50 Shades of Parenting?
The first rule reads: "It is my phone. I bought it. I pay for it. I am loaning it to you. Aren't I the greatest?"
Merry Christmas, I'm lending you some of my possessions! Now sign this contract!
She sounds like a right barrel of laughs.
The contract stipulates when Greg must turn off his phone for the day and where he is allowed to use it.
Not only is it just a rental, but I'm also going to control exactly how and when you use it, because **** you that's why!
It also forbids the teen from ignoring calls from his parents or using the phone to hurt others.
Fair enough.
Other rules in the agreement prohibit Greg from using the phone to look at porn or to send and receive “pictures of your private parts or anyone else's private parts.”
The last bit of this is also very fair, not allowing a teenager to sext is all well and good. But if you seriously expect them not to use their smartphone to look up porn you got another thing coming.
If Greg fails to follow the rules, the phone will be taken away, Janell warns in the contract.
In all honesty, the bulk of this is less about giving the kid a gift and more about exerting more control over him. It's like your company giving you a work phone. Yeah, you have a cool new phone, but you only have it so your employer can keep tabs on you in your free time.
If my parents tried to pull this **** I'd tell them they can keep the damn phone. But then, when I was just a year or two older than the kid in the article, I saved up and bought my own phone.
The biggest concern I have about this story, though, is that it was reported by a news outlet. It must have been a reaaaally slow news day for them to bother reporting this BS.