Leaving tween/teen home over summer

[Anonymous]

OP - are you talking about leaving your kid alone overnight for 3 weeks?

[Anonymous]

I can't imagine that op meant overnight. I think it's just day time

[Anonymous]

I don't think that screens are the devil, we had our tech back in the day too, the difference is that's all kids today want to do. It's fine if kids have these things, but parents if they allow it, need to teach healthy habits and moderation. A kid/teen shouldn't waste their entire childhood in front of a screen.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

Parents fear unstructured time, it's really sad and not good for kids.

The internet (and the world) are different now. It’s silly to pretend otherwise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

Parents fear unstructured time, it's really sad and not good for kids.

The internet (and the world) are different now. It’s silly to pretend otherwise.

Yes, things are different, still doesn't mean kids don't deserve unstructured time. It's on the parents to figure out what to do about the screens.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

I posted about my fun summers. Here’s an idea. Don’t give your kids these devices at those ages. If they don’t have them, they won’t be addicted to them. It’s very much under your control.

PP here. They didn't get smartphones until 8th grade, and that was on the late side compared to friends. And I didn't give it to them - they saved allowance, babysat, did odd jobs, and paid for them.
I don't know if you have a kid in high school, but by that age it's not practical to not have a smartphone - sports teams use apps to communicate, clubs use Instagram, the kids use certain apps to text. We lock it down, have time limits, etc. to the extent possible, but it's not like they can use just use the landline and have an OK social life.

Mine got a phone at age 14 when he started HS. He did an individual sport so no apps needed. If he wanted to talk to friends, he’d talk to them while he was at school or they came over. Most boys I know aren’t calling or texting each other outside of basic communication like “I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” He had no interest in social media (he thought it was for girls). I said no phones and gaming for only an hour a day. I’d change the WiFi password if I thought he was abusing that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

I posted about my fun summers. Here’s an idea. Don’t give your kids these devices at those ages. If they don’t have them, they won’t be addicted to them. It’s very much under your control.

There aren’t pay phones anymore and people need phones to look up Maps, check locations, etc.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

I posted about my fun summers. Here’s an idea. Don’t give your kids these devices at those ages. If they don’t have them, they won’t be addicted to them. It’s very much under your control.

There aren’t pay phones anymore and people need phones to look up Maps, check locations, etc.

Your kids don’t need to do that on their own phones. This is about tweens/teens and phones. If your tween/teen is addicted to the device you gave them, that’s on you. Stop making excuses.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

I posted about my fun summers. Here’s an idea. Don’t give your kids these devices at those ages. If they don’t have them, they won’t be addicted to them. It’s very much under your control.

PP here. They didn't get smartphones until 8th grade, and that was on the late side compared to friends. And I didn't give it to them - they saved allowance, babysat, did odd jobs, and paid for them.
I don't know if you have a kid in high school, but by that age it's not practical to not have a smartphone - sports teams use apps to communicate, clubs use Instagram, the kids use certain apps to text. We lock it down, have time limits, etc. to the extent possible, but it's not like they can use just use the landline and have an OK social life.

Mine got a phone at age 14 when he started HS. He did an individual sport so no apps needed. If he wanted to talk to friends, he’d talk to them while he was at school or they came over. Most boys I know aren’t calling or texting each other outside of basic communication like “I’ll be there in 10 minutes.” He had no interest in social media (he thought it was for girls). I said no phones and gaming for only an hour a day. I’d change the WiFi password if I thought he was abusing that.

YouTube and tik tok check his viewing time

[Anonymous]

^ they watch even if they don’t actively participate

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

+100

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

I posted about my fun summers. Here’s an idea. Don’t give your kids these devices at those ages. If they don’t have them, they won’t be addicted to them. It’s very much under your control.

There aren’t pay phones anymore and people need phones to look up Maps, check locations, etc.

Your kids don’t need to do that on their own phones. This is about tweens/teens and phones. If your tween/teen is addicted to the device you gave them, that’s on you. Stop making excuses.

if my kid is going to be unsupervised all day and out and about - yes they need a way to make phone calls.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

I posted about my fun summers. Here’s an idea. Don’t give your kids these devices at those ages. If they don’t have them, they won’t be addicted to them. It’s very much under your control.

PP here. They didn't get smartphones until 8th grade, and that was on the late side compared to friends. And I didn't give it to them - they saved allowance, babysat, did odd jobs, and paid for them.
I don't know if you have a kid in high school, but by that age it's not practical to not have a smartphone - sports teams use apps to communicate, clubs use Instagram, the kids use certain apps to text. We lock it down, have time limits, etc. to the extent possible, but it's not like they can use just use the landline and have an OK social life.

Yep and they all use Apple Pay in hs

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

I posted about my fun summers. Here’s an idea. Don’t give your kids these devices at those ages. If they don’t have them, they won’t be addicted to them. It’s very much under your control.

PP here. They didn't get smartphones until 8th grade, and that was on the late side compared to friends. And I didn't give it to them - they saved allowance, babysat, did odd jobs, and paid for them.
I don't know if you have a kid in high school, but by that age it's not practical to not have a smartphone - sports teams use apps to communicate, clubs use Instagram, the kids use certain apps to text. We lock it down, have time limits, etc. to the extent possible, but it's not like they can use just use the landline and have an OK social life.

Yep and they all use Apple Pay in hs

My kid in college doesn’t even use Apple Pay. Stop spoiling your kids. Not all teens are rich.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No. One day? Sure. Two hours each day? Probably. But three weeks? No, that’s asking for trouble.

If you can afford camps great, but most people do leave teens home over the summer because they can't afford hundreds of dollars a week in camp fees. Life has still continued for those kids.

If they're too old for camp then they're old enough to get a job. They can work while their parents are working.

What job employs a 13-14 year old from 9-5 all summer?

Why are people so afraid that their kids have unscheduled time? You all need to chill out. My summers from age 10-15 or so involved the following: sleep until 11am, watch The Price is Right while eating sugary cereal. At noon, I rode my bike about 20 minutes crossing major streets to get to the pool. I'd lather up with baby oil and spend my afternoons tanning and reading. If I had any money, I'd buy a snowball and candy at the snack bar. I'd go home at 5pm and start (or make) dinner for everyone. Once a week, I'd mow my lawn and my neighbor's for $10.

I mourn this too, but the summer you describe was in the pre-smartphone era.
I would love to give my teens an unscheduled summer, but they will be on YouTube/social media/games 10 hours a day. Yes, we lock down devices, but it's whack a mole to really lock things down that they can't get around. Much easier to just schedule them so they have to be out of the house and around other people.

I posted about my fun summers. Here’s an idea. Don’t give your kids these devices at those ages. If they don’t have them, they won’t be addicted to them. It’s very much under your control.

There aren’t pay phones anymore and people need phones to look up Maps, check locations, etc.

Your kids don’t need to do that on their own phones. This is about tweens/teens and phones. If your tween/teen is addicted to the device you gave them, that’s on you. Stop making excuses.

if my kid is going to be unsupervised all day and out and about - yes they need a way to make phone calls.

Get a phone without internet access.