Teen finds Apple iPhone 5 under the tree, along with rules and conditions from his mom

10. jmoney62987 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 13:38 2 0

Wow talk about crazy parent. I understand a lot of this but 13 and 15 are dumb. Let your kid take pics of whatever as long as it isnt sexting. dumb.

11. gwuhua1984 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 13:44 1 1

I'm taking some GREAT notes!!!!

13. protozeloz posted on 31 Dec 2012, 13:46 3 0

And that's why I would have waited for the kid to turn 15-16 before getting a phone, anything under that age is annoying..... Also I can already see a lot of loopholes to do things I want :D

14. timtimity posted on 31 Dec 2012, 13:51 4 0

I get a lot of these points, but if mobile phones were as integrated into everyday life as they are now when I was 13 and I was given a phone, my parents would have trusted me without having to make a list. My parents trusted that they'd raised me well enough that all the stuff regarding politeness had become natural behaviour to me and wouldn't need to be mentioned.

16. tigermcm posted on 31 Dec 2012, 13:52 4 1

I don't know how long I've been saying kids need not have cell phones. If you as a parent want to get your child a phone 1. get a simple flip,feature phone. 2. if they are a teenager go to work and get your own phone point blank period.

17. solidsnakeduds013 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 13:52 2 0

Might as well not have the phone. Not even that. Give him a flip phone. He wouldnt want to use it much. He would still have his social side.

18. jimjam posted on 31 Dec 2012, 13:56 3 1

So that is where all the dumb comments on here come from ... 13yr old boys.

20. KingKurogiii posted on 31 Dec 2012, 13:57 4 0

i think a lot of this is fair but it doesn't seem like he's going to get to use it enough to justify it. he can't even take it to school.

21. jimjam posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:00 2 1

Its a gift....need to rewrite #1
I thought he was a "proud owner" Doh!

22. jimjam posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:03 2 0

He also could probably replace the phone with the money he got selling this story!

23. darkkjedii posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:04 1 5

Smart parenting. I wish we had gifts like this, when I was 13.

26. brycdavis posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:09 0 0

Parent of the year! I applaud her rules and guidelines. I can't imagine what kinds of freaky stuff I would be into if I had access to the internet at a young age....It took me all night to download a good "adult" movie on the old dial up days 28.8k all the way...ha!

28. skymitch89 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:13 2 1

I can see where the parent is coming from with most of the rules, but the one I don't understand is having to hand the phone over at 7:30pm on school nights an 9pm on weekends and doesn't get it back until 7:30am. That means he only gets it for 12hrs, but that doesn't include having to leave it at home when he goes to school; so he technically only gets like maybe 4hrs of use out of it during the school day. I would say that it's pointless in him having an iPhone, let alone any phone, with those stipulations.

On another note, I don't see how starting your teenager off with a smartphone is very smart. In my opinion, teens should be started off with a cheap pre-paid flip phone, mostly to see how responsible they really are. Then I believe they should be "upgraded" to a pre-paid smartphone, or a smartphone through a non-contract post-paid company like Boost or Cricket.

29. Sniggly posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:15 1 0

I like this. My nephews have limits as well. There isn't anything inherently wrong with a kid having a phone.

30. Jimstar posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:16 2 1

It seems like she's trying to use the phone to teach him social skills, or at least make sure it doesn't stunt them...but I think that's borderline skiing up hill, or at least pissing in the wind.
And I feel like the idea of a loan or loaned item as a Christmas gift is borderline insulting.
Well, we'll see where it goes maybe?

31. SavageLucy42 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:21 4 0

The basic gist I get from rules like this is "I neither trust you nor have faith in you to behave as I have raised you to behave."

I just didn't let my little brother get a smartphone until I felt he was old/responsible enough to handle one. I remember telling him that no 14-year-old needs an iPhone. When he turned 17 I got him a Galaxy.

Admittedly his little girlfriend is 15 and has a Galaxy as well, but her mother makes her pay for any data overage she incurs. I felt this was a pretty smart way to regulate usage. She left her phone over at our house once, and my mom was about to look through the photos when I said, "Even children deserve privacy." Mom agreed, and we gave her phone to my brother to return to her.

38. Slammer posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:28 2 0

Obviously, the parents are grooming a child that knows nothing about Apple, on how to follow rules and regiments that he will encounter while owning an Apple product!

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Happy New Year everyone!

John B.

40. EclipseGSX posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:37 1 0

Why the f**k is this news?

41. ilia1986 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:38 0 1

I salute this mother!

I wish all the parents were like her..

47. korean411 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 14:57 1 0

i understand that most people would say people under 18 shouldn't use a smartphone and should feel lucky if they have any technology at all . that is pretty much wishful thinking considering this is the golden generation of technology. where it is fast, always updated, and pretty much the society is connected up this technology especially smartphone. An example if you go say like south korea pretty much everyone that is like 10 and up has a smartphone. it is they way the society works around the technology. some parents are being smart about like this parent is doing. Cellphones wasn't has big back then as it is now because back then it was starting up and wasn't really stable and expensive, while now it is stable and pretty much every phone cost the same and same goes with the plan. To me it isn't a big deal but i have to say smart parenting.

51. iGREGG posted on 31 Dec 2012, 15:18 1 3

what's the point of giving the kid the phone if he cant use it..??
i'd be like f**k it... give me af lip phone and a 4th generation ipod and keep your rules MOM!

that/s like a girl telling u to go out and buy condoms so yall can have sex
and she says that you cant touch her during the act

GTFOH!!

53. ckoch125 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 15:26 4 0

13 year olds getting iPhones? Man when I was 13 I didn't even have a flip phone lol

58. MrWilli5 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 15:59 0 0

wowww im done

66. emes360 posted on 31 Dec 2012, 16:43 0 0

I think having the kid agree to some rules is a great idea, but the rule about not taking the phone to school seems a little silly to me. I mean thats exacly when he needs it most, to call or text his parents in case of an emergency, or play a game or something when he gets bored at lunch break.

67. ibap posted on 31 Dec 2012, 16:43 4 0

One part of me says think of this as an iPod Touch with a phone in it.

But as the parent of an 18-year-old freshman chemical engineering student who has repeatedly turned down a smartphone as too distracting, I'd say buy him a phone, but not the phone you bought him. If he wanted a car, would you buy him one? And what is the point of a phone that he can't take to school at all? The primary reason our daughter got one in eighth grade was that she was involved in so much stuff at school, it was a convenience for her to be able to call when she needed to stay after, and I could text her knowing she'd see the message at the end of the day. Our school had rules and enforced them, regarding cell phones.

Children learn by watching their parents. What kind of smartphone manners have you demonstrated for him? "Hot Damn!" - in a document for a 13-year-old? No wonder you're worried about his behavior around the families of those he might communicate with.

69. ibap posted on 31 Dec 2012, 16:44 1 0

And to all those who can't write a comment that doesn't require multiple asterisks - you don't belong in this conversation.

71. Deaconclgi posted on 31 Dec 2012, 16:50 0 0

Soooooooooo she curses in the letter to her 13 year old child....and before anyone asks, I'm a father of 2, ages 16 and 19 and responsibility extends to the parents as well.

73. dreddserious posted on 31 Dec 2012, 17:03 1 1

Just don't get him one in the first place, and don't tell someone how to use their own phone. Stupid set of rules, glad she's not my mom, though I bought my own first phone when I was 19

76. parkwaydr posted on 31 Dec 2012, 17:08 2 0

This just shows how technology has changed things, when I was thirteen all I cared about was riding my dyno. Playing football and hanging out with my friends. House phones were sufficient enough