Gifted Issues Discussion homepage Forums General Discussion What age for their own computer?

Mr W (3y6m) got his first computer when he was 2.5 when he asked for one and was able to use my laptop independently.

I bought a $350 low end system at Fry's and loaded Ubuntu Linux on it. I got him a trackball because his fingers got tired with the touchpad/mouse.

He spends a lot of time on it using google and such. I set the search filter to the highest level and run the patches once a month.

He is mostly into computer games and starfall, but likes to search youtube for videos of stuff like cars, jets, and animals.

He is independently able to use DW's droid to make calls but still has some coordination issues when it comes to texting. He asked for a droid two weeks ago but we will get him a leappad instead.

DS got his own computer when he was 2. It is a desktop machine built by us parents a few years prior. At first he mostly used it for playing simulations like Zoo Tycoon. I have kept it off the network so far.

Now he is about to get his first netbook, a hand-me-down x100e. I am going to have to think carefully about whether I net-enable it. I may wind up only letting him use it on the web with supervision. Part of the reason for using the netbook is just to let him camp out on the couch or wherever we are with a computer, and part of it is that it has a good-sized keyboard for him built in (although he now has a very small keyboard for the desktop too, and a little mouse).

Irisheyes, that's why I keep recommending the kidzui. It's got like a google and lots of YouTube, but every site and video clip u can get to has been screened and ok'd for kids by a live human, teacher, or parent. Less chance of an oops.

Eta: I see everyone's kid's are older than mine. Mine's a preschooler and kidzui is fine.

Mine has had his own since 2.5. We didn't buy it, it was DH's old computer. For a family of 3, we now have 6 computers :-0.

People may disagree but he also has completely open internet. I spend a lot of time watching him, discussing ads and ad placement and how you can tell if it's an ad. We talk a lot about how to search on Google, what is an appropriate search and how to use operators to make sure you get what you want. He is not allowed on youtube without me looking over his shoulder. He knows I check his history and any transgression results in immediate loss of computer. His computer is in our home office so I can pretty much always see what he's doing.

Worst offense so far at age 8? Finding, then begging me to get him a Wizard 101 account :-)

OK, I feel a little better now CAMom.... I deleted my earlier post because all of a sudden I felt like a horrible mom for letting my 7yo have free access to the internet and YouTube! He is within hearing/viewing distance in a central location, and so still monitored. We have had discussions about bad language coming up in some of the Minecraft demos he watches. That's pretty much the worst thing that DS finds, and he does turn those off when he finds them and knows to not go back to the videos created by the worst offenders. Interestingly, DS has commented that the guys (teens) with the worst language have had the most boring videos anyway.

As for age of kids getting their own computer, depends on the kid and the family. I am not sure yet what age I'd let my kiddo be truly independent with a computer not monitored by his parents. If we did get DS a computer, it would still be centrally located at this point in his life.

I certainly hope I did not make you feel this way, St. Pauli. It was absolutely not my intention. And I have so often enjoyed reading your posts here over the years that I know you are a wonderful mom

Quite honestly, I wouldn't have thought twice about giving my dds access to a computer with internet in their rooms had I not seen this presentation. The detective talked a lot about internet predators and he said the victim is almost always a tween or teen with unlimited and unmonitored access to a computer. So the fact that you and all other parents who have replied are monitoring and "looking over the shoulder" does not put you in that category.

The things this detective showed us had nothing to do with bad language or stumbling on to some nakedness. There are some really awful things going on in cyberspace that I had never considered (and I used to work in a pretty gritty profession).

CAMom, I can't remember how old your son is. My dds are 7 and 5 and do not have any interest in going away from their mainstream sites. However, the Middle School parents who attended the same seminar had a much different story. So, like so many things, situations may change as the kids grow up.

Irisheyes - Oh no, it was not you at all! It was me. Actually typing out what I let my kid do kind of made it sound bad. And thank you ever so much for the kind words.

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Irisheyes- my son is 8 1/2. But I have worked in middle school many years as a teacher and administrator. I would absolutely agree that those that have unfettered internet access have bigger problems overall.

However, most of them have web-enabled cell phones. This is where they're getting into trouble, IMHO, not on internet in their rooms. Or at least, not as often.

St.Pauli- I'm glad coming out of my parenting closet made you feel better :-) I grew up in a house of computer programmers. I know that my kid is going to be able to break any sort of parental controls in under 5 minutes. It made a lot more sense to go proactive and start a dialogue early with him. He is a kid that responds well to clear rules and won't even click "ok" to run a Windows update without checking with me first.

Camom, that's why I'm pushing for the laptop instead of an iPod touch. I think it's easier to control the net. (can you even control it on an iPod touch or iPad?)