What age should I allow my child to have a labtop?! Shes only in 6th grade but wants one badly for christmas..

Question

she knows that santa isnt real so shes asking me for it......

Please help !! she wants one badly!!!! she has lots of school work too but we have a fast computer in the living room.........

Answer 1

I wouldn't do it. She might be a great kid and a good student, but what does she really need a laptop for. If you have a computer in the home already then there really isn't a need for her own personal laptop. You should tell her to wait till at least high school. But if you do get her the computer, you need to make sure you keep an eye on her and what she is doing on the computer. There are alot of crazy people out there and you don't want her to fall victim to one of them. You could let her use the laptop only a certain number of hours a day. You should also get some of the spyware softwear that enables you to see what she was doing on it. Tell her that you are going to be monitoring her activity on the laptop. Then when she gets a little older, you can take the spyware off the laptop and give her more freedom.

Answer 2

I would say she is too young for a laptop, but not a desktop. Here is my reasoning: many laptops today come with a built-in wireless detector. This means she could easily take her laptop off and surf the net in private if you pick up any wireless signals from neighboring houses. I think age 12/13 is way too young to have unsupervised access to the Internet. You may trust your daughter completely, but you can't trust everyone out there online. If she really wants a computer and you think it's okay, get her a desktop and put it in the family room, an office, or somewhere where there is a heavy flow of traffic.

Answer 3

If the family can use a laptop, I think it's ok to have one within full view of parental supervision. But a 12 year old in private with internet access is risking predators and other dangers.
The only way I'd give a child a laptop is without any internet access. Haven't you seen those Dateline shows on internet perverts meeting 12-14 year old kids?? She's child.

Answer 4

at 6th grade she can survive with the home PC, sounds more like she wants a status symbol, my 7th grader would love one too, but in reality it is more prudent to wait until they would benifit more after grade 10 , for you thats 4 years away, technology would have changed so much by then, the laptop you buy today would not be the lap top she could use for serious high school applications in 4 years time.

Me? I would ride out the nagging and make her use the home pc, at least that way you can monitor her activities and protect her from the net nasties.

Answer 5

I honestly think that is a little young. For starters, kids that age aren't always gentle or responsible with equipment like that. secondly, a big plus to having a laptop is that it is personal and you can take it to a private area to use, both of which are reasons I would say no. A desktop is easier to monitor her on physically--you can look over her shoulder and see what she's doing when you peek in. With a laptop she could have the lid closed before you realize she's talking to some freak on Myspace.

Answer 6

Around the age of a high school student is the right age to have a laptop. A 6th grader does not really need a laptop

Answer 7

6th grade?! That's waaaaaaaay too young for her to have a laptop. Because with a laptop comes the internet. And with the internet comes online predators.
She's still a child. Tell her she's not mature enough or old enough to have the responsibility of having her own laptop.
You'll totally spoil her if you buy it.
What will she be expecting you to buy her when she's 16???

Answer 8

Are you kidding me? She is tooo young for a labtop. If you have a pc that works then thats what she uses. My son is 14 and he uses our pc when he needs to,,,hes lucky he has that. Just tell her shes too young and thats the end of it,,,you are the parent not her.

Answer 9

There is not a specific age that I would recommend getting a child a lap top, but if she is mature to take care of it then go ahead and get it for her. However, if she forgets things, etc., maybe she should wait until she is a little older.

Answer 10

i personally think that its not a bad idea. i know that at my younger sisters jr high they were loaning out a laptop for each child. and myself and parents thought it was a great idea, she is now in highschool and she just whizzed by not only jr high but highschool as well. it became extremely handy for her and her friends. i would just recommend that you block some websites and only allow her to have acess to certain things.