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Would/Do you let your teen have the computer in their room?

Would/Do you let your teen have the mac in their room?

  • Yes

    Votes: 120 70.2%

  • No

    Votes: 51 29.8%
  • Total voters
    171
Shotgun OS said:
I'm 18 and I've had a computer in my room since I was 15. My parents have trusted me enough, and I don't think there's anything really harmful on the internet to someone with the right upbringing and common sense.
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It depends on the kid and the age. Some kids are responsible and others aren't. Age maters too. "tTeen" is only a few years but what a difference between a 13 year old middle school student and an 18 year old high school senior.

My son is 17. I can't think of anything that could actually harm a kid that could come down an Internet connection. I think his skateboard is 100X more dangerous.

My daughter is 10 years old. She uses a computer downstairs where we can watch but so far she seems to be pretty smart about it

That said. I've programmed my wireless router to shut off the Iternet after a certain time at night, Otherwise they don't get up in time for school in the morning. Also, Iknow a little more then the kids do about networks (I've worked in the business for 25+ years) and keep DNS and proxy logfiles. So far nothing stupid is in the logs.
 
EV0LUTION said:
15 and under no.

16 and up I have no problem.
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Do you have some sort of evidence or research that suggests that the day a person turns 16 they develop a new mental/emotional maturity which would make you feel comfortable with them having a computer in their room?
 
I've had one in my room since I was 10.

Judging from what I saw on my computer when I was younger, there's NO way I'm letting my kid have a computer with internet in their room!
 
I had it in my room when I was a teen though I was pretty responsible. Also, since we had dialup in those days and the phone jack was in another room, I had to string a phone cable to the computer, so needless to say my mom knew when I was online. :p

So I guess it would depend on how responsible the kid is.
 
I've had a computer in my room since I was 11.

At first my mom didn't want me with it when I went to bed because she thought I couldn't get any sleep - but I was cool with that and she eventually let me use it in my room.

Then, after I got my macbook, my mom tried to pull the same thing on me, but I pretty much told her I'd paid $1300 for this machine and if I can't use it in my room at night, what else am I gonna do because I go to bed late.

I've never had a keylogger, blocker, or any monitoring software and I've done a few bad things, but gotten rid of 'em. I'm 14 now and I see no point anymore in doing stupid crap on the computer - so now when I'm bored I read my RSS feeds.

If I had kids, I'd let them have a computer with them in their room. Well raised and well guided kids know what to do when faced with a situation that makes them feel uncomfortable.
 
So when the majority of you get slapped with a lawsuit for your kids illegally downloading music, what are you going to do then? Parents are responsible until the kid is, 16? Or am I totally off base?

and I just think that if the kid isn't comfortable asking a parent, or googling certain information in front of the parent then there's a problem with the relationship. Plus, not everything you learn off of the internet is true.
 
yoyo5280 said:
Im curious...
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You honestly need it spelt out?

Porn (doy), {reference removed}, {reference removed}, {reference removed}, etc etc.

The internet is full of "undesirable" crud, but it also has a wealth of information, and encourages socialising, blah blah.

There's a million options to give your kid internet in their room but have some control over what exactly they're doing. OpenDNS, Safe Eyes to name a couple.
 
So before dinner my parents told me that im too tech savvy, tahts why I can't have the computer in my room.

After dinner (when we were talking about a news story about a Pakistani girl passing those micropoop engineering test thingys) that I should start doing useful stuff on the computer and try coding for the iPhone (downloading sdk now)

Strange how that works out....That being said, I wouldn't mind making 10k in day like iFart did :p

I guess they don't know about the more creative stuff I do.
 
Schtumple said:
yoyo5280, are your parents creative themselves?
If not that can be a big hindrance.
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My dad is like some software engineer (or something) of C.A.D software (when mom complains about apple software, my dad says " you should try ours! it makes you turn gray like me!")

Mom has done art, physiology, and owned an interior design business before we moved to Japan.

So i'd say they are...to a certain extent.
 
I'm 14 and I have had a computer in my room since...I guess since I was about 6 (Dad has always been really big into having the latest and greatest technology wise). I've switched rooms and houses a few times though. My parents trust me to use the computer for good purposes only. I would say that I am more mature than most boys my age, so I hope my parents can count on me to do the right thing based on morals. I do not watch porn, btw.....I figured that was implied but I thought I'd make it clear. :apple:
 
LeahM said:
So when the majority of you get slapped with a lawsuit for your kids illegally downloading music, what are you going to do then? Parents are responsible until the kid is, 16? Or am I totally off base?
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LOL Not downloading music illegally or sharing it illegally is the reason my library is so small. Granted, I've spent about 3-4 thousand $$ on all of my stuff from iTunes (video included) and CD's but I'd rather pay than get into trouble later or risk corrupting my files with all of the junk software.
 
My son has had a TV, PS2, hacked Xbox, Xbox360, phone, cell phone, computer, laptop and other gadgets in his room since he was a freshman in high school.

For the most part he used them responsibly and when he didn't they not just one but all were taken away.

I was much stricter when it came to usage than my wife. I never had a problem cutting power cords, network cables, cable tv cables, restricting his wireless connection, pull a hard drive and so on. Yeah I was a dick at times but it he always understood there why he lost things.

his grades was his performance reviews, the better his grades the more privs/toys he had, the worse his grades were the less he was given.
He lost privs to the home theater and his toys his senior year in high school.

I related his grades to real world. If your performance at work is poor your raise is zero, if mediocre you get a average raise, outstanding performance bigger raies. No usage (no extra cash to do things), limited usage (some extra cash), and unrestricted usage (lots of cash to spend).

He is a spoiled kid, mostly my doing, but he earns what he has. On the flip he earns what he lost.

I feel kids can have whatever in their rooms as long as there is a concrete agreement/policy . Write up a contract with the kids and include what happens if the contract is broken.
Base it on a life experience/lesson not a parental punishment.

So you may ask why I cut cords.
Everything in his room was designed for that, cables were made longer so when he earned items back all I would have to do is put a new connector on, hard drives were made removable, game consoles power and cables are quick disconnect, tv with the cable input cut is useless. Plus it is a heck of a lot easier dealing with cables than carrying a tv and other things up and down stairs.
 
bruinsrme said:
So you may ask why I cut cords.
Everything in his room was designed for that, cables were made longer so when he earned items back all I would have to do is put a new connector on, hard drives were made removable, game consoles power and cables are quick disconnect, tv with the cable input cut is useless. Plus it is a heck of a lot easier dealing with cables than carrying a tv and other things up and down stairs.
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Instead of cutting the ends off, why not just unplug and remove the cables? :confused:
 
if I had a kid, I would let them have their computer in their room. However, I would have a OS X server that they log into just so I can monitor what they are doing. If they are becoming vicious kids talking about killing someone I would just lock their account while they throw a temper tantrum.
 
Both of my kids have had computers in their rooms before they were teenagers. Sure, there have been some tough times and I ended-up having to put-up a Linux server with some content filtering to keep my daughter off of some inappropriate sites (for her age at the time) and because their computers had USB wi-fi adapters, I was able to just unplug the adapter and take if from them for awhile if things got too out of hand. Never really had any problems with my son, but then again, my daughter has always been the rebel.
 
jlewis2k1 said:
if I had a kid, I would let them have their computer in their room. However, I would have a OS X server that they log into just so I can monitor what they are doing. If they are becoming vicious kids talking about killing someone I would just lock their account while they throw a temper tantrum.
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I was monitoring my son's full activity on a PC network.
There are some very good programs far cheaper than what a lawyer charges for an hour if their time.

you can monitor every keystroke, passwords, emails, IMs, websites, downloads and so on. You can also limit logon times, websites, and many other cool things. It got real boring looking at the logs of what they talk to their friends about.
 
I've had a computer in my room most of my life. No parent controls, nothing. I was trusted to use it wisely and I always did. Wasn't interested in anything naughty :eek:
 
Depends on the kid. My daughter had a Mac in her room when she was 13, but we didn't provide her with an internet connection. All of her surfing was done on the Mac in the family room. We got her a MacBook w/Airport card when she graduated high school.
 
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