My teenage son wants to build a computer for himself. Should I give permission?

[JustAnotherParentHere]

I have a 15 year old son who has recently got into technology and electronics. He has built a low-power computer for himself before, but wants a complete upgrade.

Whilst I don't know much about computers and the parts, I've been told that it would likely cost between £600-£700. My son has this money, which he has earned himself by doing chores and other jobs for me and other people.

He says it's his money to spend, but £700 seems a lot and I want him to be responsible, especially with his own money.

He claims it's not for gaming majorly, but that some of his parts are not compatible with the latest Windows. He has also told me that his power supply is dangerous (which he has proved with some websites and other's comments).

Anyway, its his money, and I trust that he knows the computer stuff, but I'm not sure if its a safe thing to spend money on. I don't want to be a helicopter parent I just want him to be financially safe.

What should I do?

I’d be delighted if my teenage son wanted to build a computer rather than sit in front of one every day tbh. I can’t think of a reason to say no.

I paid someone to build my son's gaming pc as I wasn't confident to do it myself and it was around £800, so depending on the spec I don't think he will be able to do it any cheaper. If he's able to do it it's a good skill to learn.

Sounds like an excellent investment in skills and confidence (and a safe power supply!).

Sounds an excellent idea. My two built their own machines a few years ago and they're still going strong. A failed disk drive or two were easily fixed as they knew how they got there in the first place.

My son did this. He used his own money too. He uses it for gaming and he’s seems really pleased with the result. Easy to upgrade too.

I think it’s actually easier than you might think as it’s mostly ‘plug and play’.

Why on earth would you not allow this? Good for him - he's saved up his own money and wants to use it for something educational and useful. He could be the next Bill Gates!

It is better to build a computer than play it the whole day. Let him do that. He will improve his skills and maybe he will realise that computers and IT is his vocation.

My Ds did this when he was about 14. He's now 19 and the computer is still going strong. Upgrades of hardware have been straightforward. It's a cheaper and more educational way to get a good device.

That's about the right ball park for a gaming PC and I think you should be delighted your DS wants to build it. Really excellent life skills involved

• research
• electronics
• planning and organisation
• IT

Plus in future he can upgrade components rather than buying a new PC if something breaks or some new tech comes out

That's a good point, but I'm worried he will spend all day infront of a computer.
It seems like gaming, coding, and getting school stuff done infront of a computer is all he does.

Both my teenagers did this at 13. Eldest pretty much managed it with minimal assistance from dad, youngest had more problems. But I don’t think his budget is high enough.

Well done to your DS. I'd not only be giving permission but I'd actively be encouraging him. What a good interest to have and skills to learn.

Coding and school,stuff sounds a good use of time? Coding is a well paid job. If he can code he won’t be short of work unless AI takes over.

Ummm yes!!

What should I do?

Congratulate him and be super proud of him

Definitely allow it. Son built own computer and upgraded it, made pocket money by running his own business while at school building and upgrading mates computers. He used a lot of computer modelling in his degree, now spends most of his work life behind a computer as an engineer.

Not sure what you do for a living but I literally spend all day in front of a computer !
IT skills absolutely essential these days and programming etc v helpful

Coding and school,stuff sounds a good use of time? Coding is a well paid job. If he can code he won’t be short of work unless AI takes over.

Then he can be an AI software developer 😄

True, but I don;'t want him spending too much time in-front of screens, it can't be healthy to be sitting down for hours on end, and I don't want him damaging his eyes.

Has he tried a raspberry pi as a starting point?

https://projects.raspberrypi.org/en

I'd be overjoyed if one of mine turned out to have the attention span and interest in something practical that had good earning potential.

Yes, he does programming an a Raspberry Pi every so often. He wanted to use it as a server to host a website, but I didn't want that, as it could get hacked, and I don't want that on our home WiFi.

He also has a PC, which is quite old (2014 or so), where he gets his coding, homework and occasion gaming done.

Not suitable for gaming

I wish my boss felt the same! 😀

Sounds great, it’s his money and he’d be building something he will be using frequently, so not wasted. He’s clearly into tech so letting him build a pc will be a lot of fun for him.