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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to think 6 and 8 is too young to get your own laptop and email address?

43 replies

joshandjamie · 29/12/2011 16:28

Found out my children's best friends got this for Christmas. I fully understand that kids need to use PCs for homework and it's a huge part of life now. But I feel that 6 and 8 is just too young. What do you get them next year??

Happy to hear otherwise. My son is going to turn 8 soon and would love his own PC but I have always said no - not for a good few years yet. Am I wrong? Should they have them this young?

(he can use my pc for homework when he needs to)

OP posts:

Oblomov · 29/12/2011 17:28

I think Op is wanting to keep her children as children.
When we went to 'meet the teacher' meeting, at school, a few months ago, ds1 is 7 and was entering year 3, they said that they would be encouraging using of laptops alot this year. They would be teaching the children to use powerpoint, and they would be doing a presentation in small groups in the summer term. ( my eyes nearly popped out at this powerpoint.) they also said that they would be, every few weeks, sending home maths homework where you had to log onto myworldmaths.com at the bbc website. Dh has his own log on password,and school log on, to do set questions.

Lots of parents have bough their 7 year old laptops for christmas this year, in our playground.

they do typing and excel and word, apparently. they do alot of their maths learning on laptops.
bet ds will soon be able to use powerpoint more effectively than me !!
I think you are a bit out of touch with technology OP.

valiumredhead · 29/12/2011 17:33

Exactly oblomov

The school gave the kids email addresses and they spend ICT lessons emailing each other

Ds has had to do power point presentations since yr 2.

Oblomov · 29/12/2011 17:34

Agree with squeaky. Dh was suggesting that he got a new one and we gave his old one to ds. I was thinking that dh got a new one, I got his old one,and gave MY old one to ds,1, more like !!

GreenMonkies · 29/12/2011 17:37

My 8 year old has a gmail address, so she can play online stuff like Mini monos or Panfu. Wouldn't get her a laptop of her own though, not yet.

Oblomov · 29/12/2011 17:38

Agreed valium. Ds showed me some fonty thing on e-mail, and a clipart function attachment thing, that even myself and dh had not seen before !! And dh is more than reasonable at powerpoint/word/ etc.

ReindeerBollocks · 29/12/2011 17:51

DS is 8 and in his school they are supplied with email addresses within the schools computer system. They are also taught how to do essays, mathematics and power point presentations before they finish this school year. So it's not unreasonable to have their own email address. He has a personal email to keep in touch with his cousins abroad too - although he always forgets the log in details!

Personally i wouldn't let DS have him own laptop but we have family computers (laptops) for him to complete his schoolwork reasonably but in a safe environment. DS's school are very hot on getting them knowledgeable about the Internet so that they can use it safely. They let them use IE and teach them about social networking too, so that they are less likely to be susceptible to any dodgy connections via social networks.

So very similar schooling to Oblomov - and to be honest I would prefer it that way than avoidance.

startail · 29/12/2011 17:59

DD2 has had a lap top from that age ( she had an email address the day she was born).
All her emails copy to me and the computer goes through the house fire wall. We don't monitor what she gets up to very closely, but she knows her computer scientist Dad could.
No Facebook and no registering for things with out asking. She bends this slightly, but only for kids stuff I'd have said yes to.
My only bug bears are utube and iplayer.
She is very good, but there is a lot of stupid parodies etc on utube that come up for sensible searched and she watches enough telly without bloody iplayer.
She mainly had it to play Sims, which she still does. Increasingly it does school work too.
DD1 had a lap top when she went to high school.
She's not adverse to iplayer either, but she watches mostly science and history not kids junk.
The only words we've had was over torch wood, which she really enjoyed, because she's ment to ask for post watershed drama and films.

Oblomov · 29/12/2011 18:00

I'm jst waiting for the day (next month I fear) when ds1 comes home and starts correcting my work Corporation Tax calculations, telling me that the pivot table is so oldschool and that I am an old codger

Moominsarescary · 29/12/2011 18:10

My 8 year old got a laptop last Christmas, this year he got a wii, presents dint have to get bigger or more more expensive

zest01 · 29/12/2011 21:57

I think each to their own. My younger ones don't have their own laptops because they don't need them but we have a "family" PC and laptop they can use. 12 year old has a pc in her room with parental controls and internet time limits for homework but is not glued to it. The older ones all have their own email addresses though and have done since about 5 - they email their other parent (blended family), grandparents and me when I am work and can upload and send photos, scanned pictures they have drawn etc.

I think using a computer (whether a family one or own laptop) is an important part of life but it doesn' have to dominate their time. My 8yr old would still prefer playing out and my 11 yr old spends more time reading books than using her PC

ArthurPewty · 29/12/2011 22:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

AnnoyingOrange · 29/12/2011 22:03

at oblomov.

BastedTurkey · 29/12/2011 22:03

Lots of educational stuff on the net, DD3 is 7yo and has homework mailed to and from school (ordinary state primary)

I don't want to share mine with the DDs as it has lots of family stuff on so I would be very unhappy if it got damaged. DH needs his for work so again DD can't use that.

DD1 and DD2 have had laptops for a couple of years and DD3 asked for one for her birthday last year. It hasn't affected her ability to play outside / progress at school.

aquashiv · 29/12/2011 22:05

We have a desktop for our 6 and four year old. I built it myself so really reasonable. The eldest has an email address that she has started using. Why not? They use it for hands on learning and has been brilliant for that. Its only another medium and I can see everything they do.

They consider it a treat and have timed sessions.
Far better than the TV.

forwantofabetter1 · 29/12/2011 22:53

My boys are 5 and 8 and are both pretty computer literate they share an email and use it for moshi monsters and other online games as I dont want them clogging up mine. They had an ipad2 for Xmas as I was fed up of them using mine. They watch a lot of utube stuff and love parodies I don't police them that heavily but have talked to them about things that might not be appropriate and they do tend to turn it off and tell me if they stumble across something that's not suitable. The 8 year old also has his own Facebook

CurlyJims · 29/12/2011 23:22

It depends on the family really, I also have a 6 and 8 yr old and they got a pc (not a laptop) for Christmas, this was because they keep getting homework which requires them to use a pc and I need to use my own lap top for work... They have their own email addresses and the 8 year old is on Facebook, as are the majority of her classmates- her account is totally secured and she is only allowed on it under supervision (I have her password). On the otherhand, my best friend bought her dc8 a laptop for Christmas, she doesn't have to share this with her siblings who are 7 and 5 and none of them can read or write, they do not have any books in the house - NOT EVEN ONE!!!!

Goolash · 29/12/2011 23:26

It's not too young to use a computer or use email, so I don't think it's an automatic No No to give a laptop to a child.. No one would suggest 6 or 8 is too young to send a card or letter, email is no different? I wouldn't give my 6 year old a laptop because we have a family pc, dp and me have netbooks, smart phones and iPads. There really is no need for anything else! If we had one computer at home that was used a lot then maybe I'd get them a joint cheaper netbook.

My eldest son does have a couple of friends who get expensive electronic gifts every birthday and christmas. Strangly enough they get bored of the games quickly. In this family just because you get them something expensive or electronic one year it doesnt follow that I have to try and better it next time?! One year I got him an iPod touch, after that it was stunt scooter, then Lego. It's not really about the cost but the variety. There's only so many games consoles one child can use!

randommoment · 29/12/2011 23:34

We've got a rule that nothing electronic goes in bedrooms. So long as they can't get involved in the weird stuff that we all know is out there, anything over 5 is ok. Having said that, I wouldn't have trusted mine not to trash expensive stuff until they got to double figures. And maybe not even then!

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