tkovie2002:
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I swear thats the most stupid comment so far... was there a BB BoldTouch 8 years ago? When he's 20, he'll use the available phones then. Do not deprive kids of modern Technology. I got fully into computers at 12 and my parents never restrained me at all. Now God knows what I can do

The best gift I can give a child right now is a Tech-based one. It makes us think faster and if he is the creative type, he might end up creating applications for that same phone given to him. Yes! I mean the 12 year old boy!.. Same way I started designing websites at 14 with my first "personal" computer.

I feel sorry for you! Go ahead equip your child with d latest ''Tech'' n watch evrything fall apart around u,u've had access to a computer since u were 12 n still kör...

If u watch d who want 2 b a millionaire for kids. D kids who won #1m said he uses a iphone. It does av a effect on d kid mayb positively or negatively dependin on d parent nd d kid. If u re gonna turn out bad u wil nt smartphone.

slimdiggi: I feel sorry for you! Go ahead equip your child with d latest ''Tech'' n watch evrything fall apart around u,u've had access to a computer since u were 12 n still kör...

I feel sorry for you the most. Give your kids Hammer and stones to write on walls and you will see how "good" they will become and watch everything "stick together".. LMAO. I have found myself calling a little cousin different times when am away from home to locate a folder on the computer, print out a particular document and take it to someone. Tell me how he could do that if he wasnt exposed to all these?

I will provide my children with all necessary gadgets they need (especially the boys), though they will have to earn it one way or the other. Please swear that playing Super Mario didn't increase your IQ. Well, maybe you never did.

Oh wow, thanks for the responses everyone. It seems many people think it's way too early for a kid his age to have a smart phone. I had wondered if i was being too rigid in my thinking considering that i'm not a parent. I think i might talk to my cousin about it one more time, and then drop the subject. I doubt they'd take the phone away from him at this point though, but at least i hope they'd figure out ways to strictly monitor how he uses it... how easy that would be, i don't know, since they are not with him 24 hours

Blackteeth: if not for internet pornograghy i would have no problems with it. But you just have to watch him/her. If you discover its causing a negative effect then you withdraw the phone.

The p*rnography thing is actually what worries me the most, especially as he's at an age where hormones are starting to show face. I'll share my thoughts with his mum, she's a good parent, she and her hubby will figure it out from there. Thanks!

tkovie2002:
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I swear thats the most stupid comment so far... was there a BB BoldTouch 8 years ago? When he's 20, he'll use the available phones then. Do not deprive kids of modern Technology. I got fully into computers at 12 and my parents never restrained me at all. Now God knows what I can do

The best gift I can give a child right now is a Tech-based one. It makes us think faster and if he is the creative type, he might end up creating applications for that same phone given to him. Yes! I mean the 12 year old boy!.. Same way I started designing websites at 14 with my first "personal" computer.

Hi tkovie2002, considering this is a tech-age, i do see your point. But, you were 14 though.... 12 and 14 could mean a world of difference when it comes to responsible behavior. I'm curious though, how did you or your parents make sure that you kept up with your school performance while continuing to have unrestrained to the computer? Did you also have free rein to all the indecencies out here on the world wide web? And considering that there's a lot more on the net than when you were 14 - except you are 15 now - would you still stay go ahead and give the kid unrestrained access? Just curious...

@Post

The only problem I see is that with a smart phone he will have unrestricted access to the internet. What if he stumbles upon and gets addicted to p/o.r/n? We already have enough ra.pists in Nigeria. we don't need more in the making since Nigerian parents don't bother to lecture their kids on .s.e/x when their kids reach puberty.

tkovie2002:

I feel sorry for you the most. Give your kids Hammer and stones to write on walls and you will see how "good" they will become and watch everything "stick together".. LMAO. I have found myself calling a little cousin different times when am away from home to locate a folder on the computer, print out a particular document and take it to someone. Tell me how he could do that if he wasnt exposed to all these?

I will provide my children with all necessary gadgets they need (especially the boys), though they will have to earn it one way or the other. Please swear that playing Super Mario didn't increase your IQ. Well, maybe you never did.

What has super mario gat to do with this?!! I think d memory space in your head is dat of a trium phone dat u cnt rememba hw d world has changed since u wer 12,its jst a shame u equipn them like this will com bak n bite u on ur arse!

Freiburger: @ Odunu, i think a 15 yr old girl should be allowed to use a smart phone if she or her guardians can afford it.

Yea I guess so. Thats what everybody I take my fears to says. I let her stay in the boarding school and thank God, her school considers smartphones 'contraband', she would still find a way of smuggling it in! If she doesnt, she would be home the very next weekend to 'facebook, 2go, whatsapp and the rest. These social online stuff takes all her time! Doesnt and cant control herself!

violent: I think how people bring up their kids matters more, regardless of what technology they are exposed to at a tender age. Kids can learn and develop variety of skills if exposed early to sound technology, what counts more are the core principles and values you instill in them....It wouldn't matter who he's chatting with on his BB, as long as he understands what you parents consider acceptable and what is not...he should also understand that you won't bat an eye to enforce the boundaries between the good, the bad and the unspeakable.

Social skills are developed at a tender age, Parents, in their paranoia to shield their kids from the ugly world should not restrict their ability to grow and develop freely. [i]P[/i]orn is always going to be everywhere, you can't shield your kids completely from it....you can only instill in them good moral values.

Preach sir. I agree with your post hundred percent. The principles and values instilled in them is all that matters. Listen, a 12 yr old could own an Iphone4S today and still be the smartest, well focused, the most well behaved and well mannered kid you have ever come across.

I just pray for wisdom o. Before HBP kill me

I gave my 4 year old an android tablet as her birthday gift. Personally I was surprised at how she navigates it after a few days. The earlier you expose them the better. If you don't tell them at home, if you don't expose them at home, hundreds of people will do it for your outside. Can you say you won't own an LED TV at home because you have kids or you won't subscribe to a satellite TV cos of your kids? Yes you can set parental control on TVs but so also you can restrict sites on the internet. Bottom line is train your child well from the beginning. Help him/her to identify the various hazards in life. Hazard prevention starts from hazard recognition.

Kids these days are told to come to school with IPADS or Laptops. Every child here owns a laptop. How old was I when my own father taught me how to drive when I was in high school? How old was I when I got my laptop and a cell phone? Bless him cos that laptop helped me a lot. People used to look at me(In uni) typing without looking at my keyboards and wondered how I did that at such a young age. I used to be able to research so much on the internet and do my assignments that some of my friends who were my age(15) at the time would ask me to show them how to do a power point assignment. The reason why I studied a short course last year part online and the other part (one day a fortnight) in class was because I had become so self confident with my internet/computer skills that I thought to my self "Hey I can do this".

I am not giving myself unnecessary credit here but just want some of us to know that exposing our kids to the technological world does not change some of them as long as they have hands on parents who writes down rules for them to follow by fire by force.

LOL @ the thought of my per-teenage children asking me for a phone. I got my first hone like around 15-16 lol, even then my mom had to think 10x about it lol.

A basic phone for safety, yea. But whose going to be paying $60+ for a smart phone for a child? lol funny.

Needless Distraction,This recent Generation re in trouble, n parents re the one's encouraging it,Civilization is just doing More harm than good,the kind of things parents encourage this day,I can't shout oooooh,parents una weldone,Hope u will face the heat when it starts,

ebamma: smartphone or no phone,a brilliant kid will always remain a brilliant kid,its all about monitoring the kind of things he watches online especially porn

it can constitute distraction to the child.

For me, giving kids Hi-Tech devices is not a problem. The problem comes with what they do with it. You may want to pretend if you like. Those of you saying you will monitor what they do with it; you are just deceiving yourself. Once that child has access to the Internet on that device, you have lost the game; except if you do not have any other thing to do in life than to be tail-gating them. What parental control do you want to set on Iphone or BB? When my friend mistakenly upgraded her Iphone with the wrong firmware, it got deactivated and locked out by Apple. A 12 year old boy jailbroke the iphone and unlock it for her. If a 12 year old by can jailbreak a phone that was deactivated by Apple, it would not cost that boy any effort to outsmart the parents with what ever restriction they put on their devices. Such children only need to go online and find the way out.

Like I said, the problem is not the device but the "Internet access" on the device. While other children abroad are likely use it judiciously to improve on them selves like doing their homework, solve some problems in their curious minds, learning some programming skill or even helping their parents on how to operate their phones, an average Nigerian child will likely use the phone the other way round. The good Nigerian child may either be buzzing all their aunties/uncles/friends for subscription credits, or wasting their precious time face-booking, twitting and even sexting. Others (the bad ones) might even start thinking of monetizing the smart phone through yahoozee. Only very few would likely use it for the actual intended purpose.

Buttom line, the device is not a problem. It is the Internet access on it, that can be a blessing to the Western world, but a course to a nation like Nigerian whose kids are more likely to abuse it than their counterparts here in U.S. Not until Nigerian youths have uncontrolled access to the Internet, there was nothing like yahoo-yahoo which have dented the image of the good Nigerian who are always assumed to be potential fraudsters. The device is good for kids, but the Internet access on it remains a great danger to kids especially in Nigerian.

Burrito:

Hi tkovie2002, considering this is a tech-age, i do see your point. But, you were 14 though.... 12 and 14 could mean a world of difference when it comes to responsible behavior. I'm curious though, how did you or your parents make sure that you kept up with your school performance while continuing to have unrestrained to the computer? Did you also have free rein to all the indecencies out here on the world wide web? And considering that there's a lot more on the net than when you were 14 - except you are 15 now - would you still stay go ahead and give the kid unrestrained access? Just curious...

Thank you very much for your understanding. Well, am very far away from 15 right now LOL... I understand there's alot between 14 and 12. But the fact is, when I was 14, 90% of people I saw using computers were at least 10 years older than me unlike today that even dogs would use computers if they could. Some of them would bully me with words, but when they found out what I could do, they mostly ended up running to me for help. As for unrestrained access, my parents know am a BIG fan of Technology, so they never bothered about that (which I must confess is not too safe). Also I was brought up in a "NIGERIAN" God Fearing Christian home by a strict Dad and a very sweet Mom that is very good with the canes LOL. So at every point in time I have the feeling there is someone watching me (That doesnt mean I didnt see some stuffs above my level though). He is in a very curious age and taking tech away from him wont help him. What matters is the upbringing and the level of discipline. Give him information before hand same way mothers tell girls approaching puberty that they could get pregnant when they get touched by a guy. Let him know there are alot of bad stuffs on the internet that could corrupt him. For example, those days, grown ups would tell us that if we open indecency sites, it will download viruses on the system and it will crash. You wont love a computer so much that you would want to destroy it. That still works up till now.

I know presently the amount of indecency on the internet has multiplied compared to years ago. There must certainly be a way to go around this. We cannot deny that right now kids are not fully exposed to indecency. They see it everyday on the streets. A simple once in a while un-announced check on his phone would do. For example, If I was the parent, I would have a very bad looking old phone, or a china phone separately and make a clear statement to him that the day I find anything above his level that isn't educative on his phone, he'll be using that until he is 18. They are children, what you put in their heads at home, would determine their actions outside.

slimdiggi: What has super mario gat to do with this?!! I think d memory space in your head is dat of a trium phone dat u cnt rememba hw d world has changed since u wer 12,its jst a shame u equipn them like this will com bak n bite u on ur arse!

Aww, I am so sorry the Super Mario line hurt u so much. LMAO... So funny you were tryna make me know you were shouting with the "?!!" signs.. hahaha I was simply trying to let you know why its good to expose children to "good" technology.

Please google the name [size=15pt]Lim Ding Wen[/size] and tell me what you find there. A 9 year old boy who programmed the iPhone. Everybody wants to have a smart child, but they hate the process it takes to make a child smart due to laziness. And most of you, like YOU!! take the wrong way and turn ur children to jailbirds who fly higher than a kite when they spend just 5 minutes away from home LOL.. Bottomline: IT TAKES A SMART PARENT TO MAKE SMART CHILDREN

I just promised my 8 years old a daughter a laptop by October!
Fyi she can use Asus transformer prime, hp touchpad and my htc desire s very well (All android gadgets)
Wish i had someone to give me these when i was her age, i'd have been a genius!

ebamma: smartphone or no phone,a brilliant kid will always remain a brilliant kid,its all about monitoring the kind of things he watches online especially porn

and how can u monitor him?is it when u are away in d office or when he was away in school?waiting 4 ur answer

na2day!:
I just promised my 8 years old a daughter a laptop by October!
Fyi she can use Asus transformer prime, hp touchpad and my htc desire s very well (All android gadgets)
Wish i had someone to give me these when i was her age, i'd have been a genius!

Does that make her a genuis?
While her peers are busy writing programs, making robots and animations in Japan. Dont expose her to basic software tutors, languages and projects but expect her to be a genius because she can handle your devices.
SMH.

Frawzey.

ayox2003:
Does that make her a genuis?
While her peers are busy writing programs, making robots and animations in Japan. Dont expose her to basic software tutors, languages and projects but expect her to be a genius because she can handle your devices.
SMH.

Frawzey.

I was about writing the same thing..knowing how to operate a phone makes you a genius? good lord!

honeric01:

I was about writing the same thing..knowing how to operate a phone makes you a genius? good lord!

As in the type of people that father children these days!
Frawzey.

honeric01:

I was about writing the same thing..knowing how to operate a phone makes you a genius? good lord!

I think na2day? also took into consideration his daughter's age and her ability to understand technology and its functionality.

Ileke-IdI:


I think na2day? also took into consideration his daughter's age and her ability to understand technology and its functionality.

Still doesn't make his daughter a genius, give any 8yrs old anything and they will learn to use it perfectly in no time.

The geniuses are the kids building these gadgets in China/Japan and not the ones consuming them and wondering how these gadgets were created with statements like "oyinbo na winch", "sha oyinbo pass us", "sha oyinbo na god", mennnn "oyinbo eeeehhhh".

Doesn't it start from somewhere?

All it takes is the kid's interest and the fast-paced ability to comprehend an adult's "world".

Ileke-IdI:
Doesn't it start from somewhere?

All it takes is the kid's interest and the fast-paced ability to comprehend an adult's "world".

Yes it starts from somewhere but please this is Nigeria, Nigerian are mostly good at "consuming" and not "producing" and an fruit can't fall far away from the tree.

honeric01:

Yes it starts from somewhere but please this is Nigeria, Nigerian are mostly good at "consuming" and not "producing" and an fruit can't fall far away from the tree.

I think na2day? is not in Nigeria, so there's a higher chance that his daughter might go somewhere with her interest in technology.

Even if he was in Nigeria, let's not assume a future for our kids. Let's help them as much as we can.


That saying, I'm still granting my kids the "advantage" of a smart-phone at such a young age. (contradicting myself, huh)

you are right Canada is not Nigeria becos we are to behind. If you can afford a fone for ur child there is no problem getting your child one, u just have to control the way they use it, like put parental locks on it.

Digriz: canada is nt Nigeria pls.

Burrito: Hello all,

I know recently there was a topic about whether children should have phones. I'd like to take it a notch higher and ask this - if a parent decides to give their child a phone, is it helpful/ harmful to give them a smart phone?

My older cousin, who i'm very close to, has a 12 year old son (in JS 2) who was recently given his dad's old repaired blackberry phone. I'm not very comfortable with this because i generally think that as much as possible, kids should not be handed 'luxuries' but should be be raised to grow up and work for them. He is not allowed to take the phone to school, which is good. But i also worry about what he does on the phone and what sort of BBM conversations he has with his contacts (kids his age, from school) when his parents are not home. Also, having an active BB means you have internet access to browse, right? So more than likely, he has free access to the internet.

I have tried to subtly tell my cousin that i don't subscribe to the idea but i want to be careful to not come across as trying to tell her how to raise her kid. Am i making too much of a deal out of this? If i'm not, would you suggest that i discuss this more with my cousin? How?

(For the most part, the boy is well behaved and just because of the school he goes to, i would imagine that his friends are decent kids also).

Your comments would be very much appreciated.

Thanks!

e be like say you no get person wey go buy you BB. Mtschewww. AMEBO

you knw is not a bad thing to get access to computer at an early age. There are goods things u can do and bad things, u just have to let them knw what the bad things are , and tell dem how the good things will benefit them in future.

slimdiggi: I feel sorry for you! Go ahead equip your child with d latest ''Tech'' n watch evrything fall apart around u,u've had access to a computer since u were 12 n still kör...