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Original poster

Please tell me there are more parents out there who like to keep their 8 year olds like 8 year olds?

73 replies

anniebear · 28/12/2009 08:27

feel a bit on my own at the mo. I know everyone parents differently.......

I have two 8 year old girls, they have IPods , DS's, like Miley Cyrus ect

But they dont have mobiles or go on Facebook and I am careful what they watch on TV

I have just seen on FB a child from School who is 9 :0

Then more of their friends are getting mobiles, say they watched Im a celeb get me out of here, Eastenders!

I am not having a go at those parents, each to their own, but it is so hard when I tell DD's they can have mobile when they start walking to school on own, no way are they watching Adult progs, they dont need to know certain stuff yet..then their school friends do

why do people want their 'children' to do all these older things (and make my life more difficult lol lol)

Please tell me Im not alone!

Just felt like having a litle moan !

OP posts:
Original poster
anniebear · 28/12/2009 08:28

sorry, just remembered there is a parenting section that this should prob have gone in

OP posts:
ssd · 28/12/2009 08:31

my 8 yr old doesn't have an ipod, neither does the 11 yr old!

each to their own, I don't want them to grow up too fast either (to me this is just lazy parenting)

emkana · 28/12/2009 08:31

I'm exactly like you. my eight year old has just had an MP3 player for christmas, and she has a DS etc. But I would never let her on facebook or have a mobile, not for quite a few years, and on TV she watches either children's programmes or family stuff like Strictly, x-factor, Dancing on Ice. They grow up soon enough, don't need to accelerate it IMO

ssd · 28/12/2009 08:33

just to add, my 11 yr old doesn't go on facebook, msn or anything like that, he's got no interest, he's rather play footie outside

FlamingoCrimbo · 28/12/2009 08:37

But feelings about what makes a child grow up too quickly differ from parent to parent. My 6yo has a FB account for playing on farmville with. She won't get a mobile until she's leaving me and not being with other adults for long periods of time because she doesn't need one and they're expensive. She watches any tv she wants to and/or can cope with with our help - but that's not much. I've banned Tracy Beaker and Horrid Henry because she copies them in their behaviour .

But she's HEd and I've noticed that the HE children I know don't seem to have the same peer pressure issues. They often want to do what their friends are doing, but there's no pressure to do so IYSWIM. They do the things they want to do because they want to do them, rather than to be in with the in crowd. DD1 wears tracksuit bottoms or jeans all the time; DD2 wears floaty skirts. Neither them, nor their friends, are into high fashion and that is what I would hate for them in terms of growing up too fast. I think they know how fast to grow up as long as they're not pressured either way by anyone - parents or friends.

Original poster
anniebear · 28/12/2009 08:37

well one has an ipod (a 2nd hand one!) and the other who has an MP3 player, cheaper than an Ipod lol

but they are listening to hannah montana and HSM on it!!!!!!

OP posts:
seeker · 28/12/2009 08:39

I have an 8 year old 8 year old too!

FlamingoCrimbo · 28/12/2009 08:40

Meant to add - no I don't want to keep my 6yo as some arbitrary definition of a 6yo, but for her to be able to be who she wants to be without outside pressure. If that means she is a mature 6yo compared to her peers, or an immature one, so be it - as long as she's happy and confident to do her own thing, and she's safe, then I'm happy too!

CarmenTinselPalmTreesSanDiego · 28/12/2009 08:44

Nope, you sound pretty normal! My kids are net savvy but they stick with the age appropriate things - Club Penguin, Pixie Hollow etc. It's against Facebook's aup for under 13s to have accounts on it anyway, so they could well get kicked off. I can't imagine mine having any interest in Eastenders.

misdee · 28/12/2009 08:49

i have a 7yr old and 9yr old, who like watching me play farmville but know they cant play themselves. we all have a moshi monsters account, and they enjoy that as well.

dd1 has asked if she can have a mobile phone. i asked her why she wanted one and who she would call, and she said no-one really. so i said she can have one when she starts secondry school. i have seen 8year olds with better phones than me, which is daft. people say it helps keep kids safe, but in my mind it makes kids a target for muggings.

JoeyBettany · 28/12/2009 09:01

I have a just turned 8 year old and last night i let him stay up to watch 'midsomer murders' for a treat

he has no interest in celebrity culture or much adult tv at all, does not have an ipod or ds and really only plays with lego.

long may it last, i say!

NoahAndTheWhale · 28/12/2009 09:10

I only have a 6 year old (and a 4 year old) but I anticipate the 6 year old will be an "8 year old 8 year old in two years time). I will do my best to make sure that happens anyway.

comefollowthatstarwithme · 28/12/2009 09:12

I know a 1 year old who got a pink plasma screen for her bedroom this Xmas .

Hulababy · 28/12/2009 09:12

I have a 7y DD. She has an iPod and docking station and has for a while - she loves music so it makes sense to let her access it surely. She has her own laptop too which she uses for supervised itnernet and various other gaes, or wordprocessing tasks. She also has her own digital camera, or other such things.

She has no mobile and won't have for a long time. She has no TV in her room and again, won't for a long time. Only one other of her friends has a mobile although a number (not majority though) have TVs.

She has seen my FB and likes to see my status updates, etc and some selected others. And she has done some of the child friendly quizzes, etc. But she doesn't have her own FB account and again, not for a while yet. Don't you have to be 13y?

She watches a range of TV programmes from Disney to some adult shows. For example she loves Holby City which she is allowed to watch, but she isn't allowed to watch things like Eastenders. She enjoys things like Strictly, and has seen bits of X Factor and I'm a celeb - but not much as they are generally on a bit later.

However, she may do some things other 7y aren't doing, but she is still a little girl. She loves playing and will spend hours with her sylvanian families and animal hospital toys, gets dolls out to play schools and cafes, spends ages giggling with her best friend, etc.

nymphadora · 28/12/2009 09:25

I have an 8 year old and a 10 year old. Neither have iPods etc though neither are that interested in music, they haven't got as far as miley cirus or HSM yet either(I think that's a good thing!) both have DS but no accounts on FB etc (dd2 sometimes plays games on my account)

Dd1 has a hand me down mobile which is mainly used when she is on holiday with her Dad or me for texting the other person. She sometimes plays games on it or uses it as a camera but never makes calls on it.

We moved house in the summer and since the change of school I have noticed dds friends are much more like them than the previous ones. No mobiles , play with dolls, no high heels and make up. Dd1 used to come home from school and complain that othrs kept talking about HSM and she wasn't interested

TheFoosa · 28/12/2009 09:28

my 7y dd is desperate for her ears to be pierced & to have a tv in her bedroom

but in many ways she is still quite emotionally immature, sneaks into our bed in the middle of the night

LordPanofthePeaks · 28/12/2009 09:28

we're at a bit of a consensus aren't we? Similarly dd aged 9 has a mini ipod, that she never uses, a ds (though she now wants a dsi whatever that is so I'd better find out...), MAY get a mobile at big school stage, no laptop of her own but goes on mine and her mums for Club Penquin, miniclips.com - is 100 miles away from a FB account. Watches X factor and Wild at Heart and animal documentaries and the rest is Nickelodeon ( Spongebob is her role model)......has tv in her room but with no ariel so she can only watch dvds

and she loves her cuddly toys and collects jungle in my pocket toys.

OrmIrian · 28/12/2009 09:44

Bugger me! I'd be horrified if my DD liked Hannah Montana and Miley whatsit! But she does listen to Rage and Green Day. My DD has a mobile (she's 10) but rarely uses it apart from as a camera - just not that interested. She will want it in Sept when she walks to secondary school. No Ipod or MP3 player unless she borrows mine.

I think that each parent's idea of growing up too young is different.

PS Does SSD get a MN bonus point for the first use of the classic 'lazy parenting'?

cocolepew · 28/12/2009 09:51

My DD is 8 and has got a Hello Kitty mp3 player for christmas she loves music, (well I say music her favourite a the moment is Black Betty). She has her ears pierced but no mobile. She's allowed on Club Penguin etc. She is allowed to watch Waterloo Road if it's a holiday.

DD1 is 12 tomorrow and has a mobile she never switches on. She isn't allowed on FB/Bebo etc or wouldn't want to watch Waterloo Road or the like. This is because she is emotional immature and a very sensitive and anxious child.

So it's really up to what the child can cope with IMO.

OhYouMerryMerryKitten · 28/12/2009 10:01

ddd who is 10 has not got a laptop, tv, phone or ipod (she doesnt want one!) She has no interest in reality shows or HSM. She likes Boomerang. Music wise she likes classical. On my pc she likes club penguin and creating powerpoint presentations and writing odes to puffles! Its funny, shes very not interested in doing the same as her friends, she does stuff because she likes them.

ronshar · 28/12/2009 10:02

I still make my 10 year old go to bed before 8 oclock because as far as I am concerned anything on television after that time is not considered children friendly viewing.
We did buy her a net book for her birthday because she needs to have powerpoint etc for loads of her school homework. I dont have it nor do I know how to use it[blush. DD1 wont be getting anything like a chatroom identity until she is much older and wiser. Too many nasty people out there, young and old.
I also have a 5 year old who was most indignant that Father Christmas didnt bring her the Enchanted dressing up dress again this year.
Swings and roundabouts!

blueshoes · 28/12/2009 10:18

Maybe your dd's friends have older siblings?

Younger siblings get exposed to the trappings of older childhood earlier.

LIZS · 28/12/2009 10:21

dd is opne of the youngest in the year (as are yours iirc) and definitely less "sophisticated" and "savvy" than some of her classmates. Definitely no mobile 9nopt aware of any who do tbh , although many can work their mum's), ipod, fb etc. We dontl follow sopas so she doesnlt see them but probably sees some more adult tv. Only just passingly interested in High School Musical,but not Hannah Montana, Jonas Bros or any serious music. Christmas presents were largely Sylvanians and she can spend hours playing with them, reading or on a ds/Wii.

RumourOfAHurricane · 28/12/2009 10:28

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OrmIrian · 28/12/2009 10:35

I don't want any of my DC to use FB ever. I think it can be quite nasty in it's effects. Anyway they have flesh and blood friends that they actually play with thank god.

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