Get rid of tablet for one kid but not the others?

[Anonymous]

I think we need to lose the tablet for our oldest child. She is 8 and it seems to make things worse with her moods and outbursts. But we have 2 other children and they are fine with their tablets and we use them when we travel, etc. do we get rid of the tablet for one but not the others?

[Anonymous]

The younger 2 will turn into the older one. Get rid of them! Big tech lobbyists are doing their hardest to suppress all of the smoking gun research that shows a negative impact. It will be the equivalent of cigarettes in a few years. Kids adapt quickly. Just say you don’t value those things as a family and you’ll all move forward without iPads

[Anonymous]

I think you have to go all or none. Consider just limiting it to road trips for everyone, or getting them an audio player with no screen.

[Anonymous]

Not fair at all

[Anonymous]

Put a week restriction on it and she has to earn it with behavior

[Anonymous]

How much are they using it? Would 30 mins a day be a problem?

[Anonymous]

How old are the other kids?

I think it’s one thing to take it for a specific punishment/consequence - we do that all the time. Taking it completely seems harsh unless there is some mitigating circumstance. I totally get you - I have had to get rid of them for my four and six year old.

[Anonymous]

Just bring them out on big trips. Hide them otherwise. We all survived without tablets. They can too

[Anonymous]

I don’t think you need to get rid of it entirely. Just take a break.

[Anonymous]

I took the IPad away from 1 kid for 6 months. Their behavior significantly improved. Now they can only use it on Friday after school and Saturday.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Just bring them out on big trips. Hide them otherwise. We all survived without tablets. They can too

I agree with this. I think taking it away from the kid who is already having outbursts won't reduce the outbursts, there will just be different triggers (unfairness, boredom while other kids play, etc).

And don't say it's because of the one with bigger outbursts! I told my kids it was because I saw research I hadn't seen before on screen time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not fair at all

It is fair if one is misbehaving and the other isn't.

[Anonymous]

My younger one is the one with with problem with it. We didn't take it away but we scaled back. It's an Amazon fire and we put it in kids mode so we could hand pick what we allow. I also have it shut down at a certain time in the evening. That way it's not me nagging to turn it off, it just turns off and she has to watch the clock.

She complains about the older one and I remind her "you're 9. You may have different privileges at 12, but you have to earn them and show me you can handle them." And the 12 year old also had time restrictions built in, and we have to approve all apps.

[Anonymous]

No

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not fair at all

It is fair if one is misbehaving and the other isn't.

It's not, but there is no way a parent can be perfectly fair. And a kid is neither entitled nor will necessarily benefit from having an iPad, so as far as unfairness goes this is about as innocuous as you can get.