Your thoughts on an iPod for a 9 year old?

[hsmomforlife]

Hi there! I actually work for Apple as a sales representative, so I’ve spent a lot of time guiding parents through the company’s various products to find the right fit for their kiddo. An iPod touch is a really great, popular device for younger kids.

The other posters are absolutely right when they say passwords can be set up to monitor the downloading of Apps, etc. Something I’ve seen a lot of parents do is purchase an iTunes gift card for their kid (say they allow them $20 a month). When the money is up, it’s up.

Additionally, remember that if you get the device, and it doesn’t work out - you can always return it. Customer satisfaction is our main goal. Typical return period is 14 days, but extraordinary exceptions can, have, and will be made. If you have any specific questions, I’d be more than happy to answer them.

Wonderful post and great advice.
Don’t think for a moment that a 15yo can’t bypass every-stinking-security-item that you or anyone else puts on an iPod touch. Even a really old one!
I now sleep with my phone, my Nexus and my son’s iPod on my nightstand. He’s required to turn it in to me when I go to bed (he’s a night owl and I am NOT!) The kids haven’t figured out the double code on the iPad (there’s one to access and one to get into certain things that are restricted, like the internet) so that’s the one thing that’s NOT on my night stand. I am the one watch dog that they can’t get past
I guess my point is that if you purchase an iPod Touch for your 9YO, prepare yourself for the massive amounts of monitoring and work that you are bringing into your life. Prepare yourself for your 9yo to want to check out of your family interactions and be proactive and set guidelines in place up front.
Oh…and when they want to ‘jailbreak’ their iPod because it’s become outdated…don’t let them! Without my DH and my DS2’s computer knowledge, I’m sure some very dangerous and expensive things would have happened in my household computer network during a ‘jailbreak’!
UGH…

 

[EasterJoy]

As long as we’re talking about how old and behind we all are…

…I am supposed to teach one of my original songs to the VBS in a few weeks. I told the coordinator that I would have my husband make some CDs to pass out to the teenage helpers in advance so that they could be familiar with the song and help teach it.

When I told my husband, he said, “I’m not sure if the teenagers will know what CDs are. I’ll just email the song to them.”

Wow. I’m a fossil. I’m still trying to figure out cassette tapes and players.

Oh,well, at least I don’t do 8-tracks.

It is kind of amazing, but our local library still has books both on cassette and CD. You can get a unit to convert cassettes to your computer, too. It isn’t a bad idea when you have cassettes you like, because of course they’re going to wear out otherwise, and the contents will just be lost to you.

Our kids don’t have video games, I think it has made a difference in their ability to focus, but I think it is a mistake to limit their knowledge of technology too much. If our kids didn’t have computers, I don’t think they could do their homework. They work on their drafts on the internet, and their teacher can make comments online and have the feedback returned immediately. They have good keyboarding skills now, having been started by their school in fourth grade or so. There are just so many things that can be done with electronic devices that can’t be done without them.

 

[JackieMom]

Wonderful post and great advice.
Don’t think for a moment that a 15yo can’t bypass every-stinking-security-item that you or anyone else puts on an iPod touch. Even a really old one!
I now sleep with my phone, my Nexus and my son’s iPod on my nightstand. He’s required to turn it in to me when I go to bed (he’s a night owl and I am NOT!) The kids haven’t figured out the double code on the iPad (there’s one to access and one to get into certain things that are restricted, like the internet) so that’s the one thing that’s NOT on my night stand. I am the one watch dog that they can’t get past
I guess my point is that if you purchase an iPod Touch for your 9YO, prepare yourself for the massive amounts of monitoring and work that you are bringing into your life. Prepare yourself for your 9yo to want to check out of your family interactions and be proactive and set guidelines in place up front.
Oh…and when they want to ‘jailbreak’ their iPod because it’s become outdated…don’t let them! Without my DH and my DS2’s computer knowledge, I’m sure some very dangerous and expensive things would have happened in my household computer network during a ‘jailbreak’!
UGH…

My kids are ages 12-toddler and the iPad and iPod Touch add MAYBE two minutes of work to my week.
“Can we get a new game?”
“No.”

That’s kind of it.

They don’t know the code to buy apps, they don’t have Youtube, they don’t have a search engine. They put it away when I tell them to… They don’t ask to use it excessively. It’s really super minimal work on my part.

 

[Johanna_C]

If you can’t afford it, that’s the end of it.

But facts are facts–this is the electronic age. Kids will eventually need to know this stuff, or they’ll be left way behind.

Even farmers are computer-savvy now.

Certainly, go ahead and strive for balance. I think a couple of hours watching TV or playing computer games is too much for a child or teenager.

But don’t throw it out entirely. We can’t live in a bubble.

Perhaps you are able to be isolated with your children, and that’s wonderful. It’s great when you can ignore the world for a few years and when homemade knit hats thrill them.

But eventually, the kids will have to enter the real world, which is electronic age. We can’t avoid it forever.

It’s not just my kids who think my hats are thrilling. I sold a bunch to adults at comic con. The dalek one is a favourite.

Modern user interface in the majority of electronic devices is extremely easy to master. I seriously doubt that any one even with minimal exposure couldn’t figure out an i touch within a couple hours. I don’t see how depriving children children of electronics most of the time will “leave them the way behind”, especially when typing and basic computer skills are part of school. Having your kid take computer programming in high school or learn to type 100 words a minute would be giving them a leg up, but they don’t loose anything by not having the latest electronic gadget to play games on.

 

[dailey]

My 9 yo has an ipod touch. She uses it responsibily. A couple of her friends have them too but they used their’s mostly for facetiming and such. That I don’t care for.

 

[ringil]

Given that my wife and I usually buy the newer models at some point, our kids will end up with iPads anyway, and maybe iphones when they are old enough to use the phone.

It’s technological hand-me-downs.

 

[on_the_hill]

Our 14 year old has had an iPod for a couple years. I was against buying it for her because of the price, and “does she really need something like that?”

That being said, everyone in the family, including me, has used it for games at one point or another. And music. We take it on long car rides for the music.

We do not have WiFi at home, and the iPod is not on any data plan, so anything that is downloaded comes through our family iTunes account on the family computer, which gives us pretty good control over it.

That being said, remember the expense is not just the purchase price, it’s also the expense of all the downloads.

 

[Joe_5859]

Our 14 year old has had an iPod for a couple years. I was against buying it for her because of the price, and “does she really need something like that?”

That being said, everyone in the family, including me, has used it for games at one point or another. And music. We take it on long car rides for the music.

We do not have WiFi at home, and the iPod is not on any data plan, so anything that is downloaded comes through our family iTunes account on the family computer, which gives us pretty good control over it.

That being said, remember the expense is not just the purchase price, it’s also the expense of all the downloads.

Although the downloads don’t need to cost that much. My wife follows some blogs like freeappalert.com that track when an app cost something yesterday and is now free today. Lots of apps run promotions where they’ll be free for a day or a week just to drum up more downloads and increase their popularity rating. We have downloaded literally thousands of apps and haven’t spent a penny. Once you’ve downloaded an app once, even if you delete it, you’ll be able to redownload it again later for free.

 

[Bezant]

You are well within your rights to raise your kids the way you see fit, but I think most families expect to spend well over $20 per child for birthday and Christmas gifts. It does not mean they are in debt or that their kids are spoiled. Honestly, I don’t know what you can even buy, aside from junky stuff, for $20! We aim for about $150 per birthday and $200 per child for Christmas (unless it is a “big gift year” i.e. new bike), and both are very modest occasions in our home!

Fair point, although IMO kids can be just as happy chasing balloons (at least before a certain age). I’d much rather treat my neice and nephews to a weekend holiday than toys, since they are more likely to remember the experience than the toy.

 

[on_the_hill]

Fair point, although IMO kids can be just as happy chasing balloons (at least before a certain age). I’d much rather treat my neice and nephews to a weekend holiday than toys, since they are more likely to remember the experience than the toy.

I agree. It’s also a personality thing, too. Kids who are happy chasing balloons will continue to chase them, with or without an iPod.

 

[Joe_5859]

I agree. It’s also a personality thing, too. Kids who are happy chasing balloons will continue to chase them, with or without an iPod.

Perhaps they might even find a balloon chasing app.

 

[CradleJourney]

I agree. It’s also a personality thing, too. Kids who are happy chasing balloons will continue to chase them, with or without an iPod.

Respectfully disagree just a little - in my experience, kids need a certain amount of “boredom” to discover that they like to ‘chase balloons’ or whatever. Just came back from the park where not all my children were happy to be … but after confiscating their books and devices, I told them we’d be there for the next 45 minutes - what they did was up to them. Took about 15-20 minutes but eventually they started moving, invented a game, made a friend or two, created a wrestling ring in the sand under the volleyball net, discovered a “new” type of flower.

As before, I’m not against tech stuff - but the concern is not only about it’s content. It takes a strong parent to refuse to increase the allowed tech time in response to the “I’m bored” - after all, continuous stimulation is the hallmark of tech devices (imo).