Not all technology is good technology for kids

There are two things my 8-year-old triplet boys are starting to talk about wanting that I'm not considering entertaining: a TV in their rooms and a cell phone.

I made the mistake of putting a TV in oldest son RJ's room. I could fill up this article with all the reasons why this was a bad idea. The biggest reason was he no longer interacted with the family. He never came out of his room. I also had a hard time monitoring what he was watching on TV. Oftentimes, I would get up in the middle of the night and hear his TV. Fortunately, the TV didn't affect his grades.

If I had to do it all over again, I never would have put that TV in his room. So now I have the opportunity to do it all over again. Whenever my younger children ask about having a TV in their room, the answer is a firm, "No." There is a television upstairs in their play room and one in the living room. There will never be another television in a child's bedroom in our house. It doesn't faze me in the least when they tell me that "ALL" their friends have televisions in their rooms. My response is always the same. "So did RJ, and it was the worst mistake I've ever made. Because of that TV, he doesn't really hang out with us, and I like you guys so much that you'll never persuade me to put a TV in your room."

The other device is the cell phone. How is it that an 8-year-old needs a cell phone? I was discussing this subject with some friends of mine at work. We were trying to come up with the right age to give a child a cell phone. One of the guys recommended 12. He said he thought all the kids were getting cell phones by the time they're 12. I cannot think of a good reason to give a child a cell phone until they are driving. Therefore, if your child is telling you that everyone is getting a cell phone when they are 12, and you don't want to get them a cell phone, feel free to use my children as examples of children who will not get a cell phone until they are driving.

I am a proponent of the unlimited plans for cell phones. I've tried to limit my 19-year-old on minutes and text messaging, but it's just not feasible, especially when the all-you-can-eat plans are only about $70 per month. I had to make sure I had a couple of hundred text messages in my plan just to communicate with my son. It's amazing how much his generation uses text messaging. Mike, my husband, just recently figured out how to use his text messaging.

I'm pretty sure RJ is in the middle of a college class, not paying attention to his instructor, while he's typing out, "Can u send more $. Starving 2 death." It is pretty convenient when I'm in a meeting and without stepping out of the room, I can just answer, "Get a job. Already paying tuition." And, as a bonus, I don't have to hear all the whining.

It'll be interesting to see where technology takes us in the next 10 years when my last four children are in college. In the meantime, they'll have to wait a few years to become connected with the world.

Lisa Brown is a Mount Pleasant working mother of five children ages 6-19. E-mail her at lbrown@postandcourier.com.