Am I responsible?

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Athanasius

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I hope this is simply my scrupulosity, but…

I live with my parents, as well as my two nieces. We only have 3 bedrooms in our house, and until the last few weeks, it had been where my parents had a bedroom, and my two nieces had a room each. My “room” was a shed outside for my belongings, and I slept in the living room. Recently, though, I made an arrangement in which I started “renting” a room from one of my two nieces (who is 13), for $10 week, and she now sleeps in the living room, and has her things in there…

My problem, however, is this. My niece had already spent a lot of time on her laptop computer (she was not allowed to use it except in the living room). Now, though, without a room, she is spending even more time on it than before perhaps. But that computer has illegal software on it (i.e., Windows 98, etc). There might be other things she does on there I don’t think she should (I don’t know).

Am I responsible in any way for her spending more time on the computer than she did before? Is it all right for me to continue “renting” her room, depsite that fact? Or is it just my scrupulosity?
 
sounds like scrupulosity to me.

What do the adults have to say about this? Anything?
 
I would say your renting her room and what she’s doing on the computer are two separate things. You aren’t at fault for her actions.

If you are concerned about her computer habits that’s a whole 'nother thing. And to go into that I would say there is a lot of ground to be covered, especially with today’s youth and pirated software. First, most of them think that there is nothing ‘wrong’ with pirating software, even though it is illegal (that doesn’t matter, because ‘they’ll never get caught’). Second, even if it is wrong, most youth seem to weigh sin on a cost-benefit analysis along with a ‘what can I get away with’ attitude (okay, I’m kind of a cynic here, but that was my experience with my peers not to long ago). There is one good argument to fight that which I have heard: why steal it when there is practically always a freeware program you can download that does everything you want to do for free? I say this in part because I am no fan of MS, but also because it is the truth and is a statement I have put to myself on the issue of pirated software. No gaurantees, but if you wade into that issue, I wish you the best of luck and will pray that it goes well. WARNING: you may just be seen as the stick-up-the-rear, holier-than-thou parenting I-know-better person. Tread softly.
 
Athanasius said:
Actually, it’s my father who set up her computer with the software on it…
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You are not their father. I’m not asking why they are living with you and not their own parents, but it is your parents who have taken them in, and they are responsible for “parenting.” If you are old enough to pay rent, you SHOULD pay rent, and it is not unreasonable for you to get a room in exchange for the rent. The girls should double up (if possible).
 
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