Convince Parents to give me back my mac

[yoyo5280]

He took it out cause im addicted. Not because of pr0n or anything of the sort...because, they says, that if they put it in my room they will never see my face and I will be on Bebo/IM 24-7

I feel this is true to a degree, but also not true cause I have been trying to regulate my usage.

He has parental controls on the mac.

Excuse me btw, but my dad is not a tool. I don't appreciate you saying that to be honest.


Okay, so maybe I don't need it in my room but I do want my own computer at least. I do not want to be stuck with the new soon to come family iMac or I don't my Mini to be used as the family computer...I feel I kinda payed for some of it...and was given it so I don't need to share with my sisters...you know? How do I convince him that I should at least have it back to my self on the other desk (our apartment has the bedrooms on one half and then a very large L shaped living area connecting the kitchen with two desks)...?

<terrible advice to follow>
If you want to know how to manipulate fathers into giving you what they want (totally off the record btw) you need to trick them into thinking that your idea is really their's. For example, you might start by getting your dad to express a feeling of frustration at the fact that the mini is in the living room. You might accomplish this by using it more often and showing how "obtrusive" it is to have a mini in the living room. You then suggest another room in the house (knowing it can't go there at all) and then let him sit on it for a while. If you know how to manipulate well enough, you can get your dad to give you that mini within six months.

</terrible advice>

I have been doing this for the last 6 months..

 

[CalBoy]

I have been doing this for the last 6 months..

You've got sisters. They can teach you the subtle art of manipulation.

If your dad is worried about you being addicted, then that's a legitimate concern. You do need to learn some moderation. Either way, it's his call. If you prove that you can handle the computer by not being on it all the time, then you'll likely get it back sooner.

Good grades and getting all your chores done will help drive that point home.

 

[iMpathetic]

You've got sisters. They can teach you the subtle art of manipulation.

If your dad is worried about you being addicted, then that's a legitimate concern. You do need to learn some moderation. Either way, it's his call. If you prove that you can handle the computer by not being on it all the time, then you'll likely get it back sooner.

Good grades and getting all your chores done will help drive that point home.

I would have to agree with you about that. My father usually lets me go on the computer for as long as I want, within reason. He lets me because I have a job writing for a Macintosh website, and that's how I get all my money.

I used to get A's, B's, a couple C's, and the occasional D last year. Whenever my report card came home and it was worse than the previous one, i.e. no improvement in all subjects, I would lose computer for around two weeks, period.

Now, I usually get all A's and B's, and he's much more lenient about letting me do electronic things. He does completely trust me, meaning no pr0n or anything. This really makes my life a lot easier, and it's the reason I have 737 posts as of now.

If there is room at all for improvement in your willingness to follow directions and get good grades, please, please work on that. As CalBoy has said, grades are sometimes the key to unlock parents' disciplinary common sense. Better grades have worked wonders for me.

Also, if you use the computer to pursue monetary interests like I do, such as writing for a website or buying and selling things on Craigslist, be sure to stress that, to you, the computer is a tool to make a living and have fun doing it.

Good luck.

 

[kuwisdelu]

What are you doing while you're on our computer? Are you just talking on AIM and socializing and playing around? I'd be worried about your addiction, too, if that's all.

If you show him that useful things you can do on a computer, and show that you're learning from the computer or doing something productive, then I'm sure he'll be much more likely to see it your way.

Perhaps you can write him an essay about all the things you've learned from being on the computer, and if you haven't learned a lot, then you probably should. Tell him about what you've learned about maintaining a computer, or what you've researched on Wikipedia. You can show him how important it is to schoolwork, how quickly you can look up information, or what cool things you can do with a computer that will help develop your creativity or critical thinking skills. Start dabbling in computer programming and impress him with a simple command line program. And remind him that the essay itself was written on a computer.

If you take some sort of proactive approach like that about the benefits of being computer literate like that, I'm sure he'll be impressed. And try to keep your schoolwork up and stay fit, so he'll know you're not going to let it rule your life and distract you from other important things.

 

[yoyo5280]

What are you doing while you're on our computer? Are you just talking on AIM and socializing and playing around? I'd be worried about your addiction, too, if that's all.

If you show him that useful things you can do on a computer, and show that you're learning from the computer or doing something productive, then I'm sure he'll be much more likely to see it your way.

Perhaps you can write him an essay about all the things you've learned from being on the computer, and if you haven't learned a lot, then you probably should. Tell him about what you've learned about maintaining a computer, or what you've researched on Wikipedia. You can show him how important it is to schoolwork, how quickly you can look up information, or what cool things you can do with a computer that will help develop your creativity or critical thinking skills. Start dabbling in computer programming and impress him with a simple command line program. And remind him that the essay itself was written on a computer.

If you take some sort of proactive approach like that about the benefits of being computer literate like that, I'm sure he'll be impressed. And try to keep your schoolwork up and stay fit, so he'll know you're not going to let it rule your life and distract you from other important things.

Thanks for the advice. I do IM,Bebo, I make videos and edit photos, and play around with google sketchup/easy cad applications.

My dad knows I have a knack for technology (when I was choosing my subjects for next year my tech teacher was going on to him about how I must choose IT and blablabla)

I was thinking of making a mini presentation of what I think would be best for the family aswell as me.

Since we live in an apartment that is much smaller then our previous house, I think the best thing to have is a laptop. My mom has a macbook and he has a company Dell (however he uses my moms macbook more often then his dell at home. He loves Aperture.) If we get maybe 2 more laptops (one for me and one for sisters) then it would be much easier because their would be no need to cram the little desks we are using into the corner of the rooms. The laptops, obviously do not need to be new. Though I would always prefer a new macbook, and old PowerBook G4 would still be faster then my MacMini at the moment. My sisters would also use a G4 iBook. The rule should be that the laptops (for example) can not be taken to the bedrooms after a certain period of time, and can not leave the house etc.

I will be happy to use the money I have been saving to buy a laptop.

THe reason why I think we should have two more, or even 3 is because of homework. At the moment, when mom is working and dad is at work so we only have the mini for homework one of us is doing it while the other two are in a line waiting to do theirs. If we could all do the homework at the same time it would be better...

opinions on my hope/plans?

 

[jfull15]

thats a good idea, because you could probably get away with using it in your own room for a little bit of time, and if your parents wanted you to be with them or w/e you could just bring the laptop out. Maybe you could even set it up where you work to earn $$ to prove that you're responsible and then pay for the laptop, you'd at least earn some brownie points.