At what age do you think a child should have a ipod?

My 11 yr old is pestering us for an ipod touch for Christmas. I still think he's too young. Our neighbors down the street have one. One of them got one at age 10 which I believe is too young. Just curious as to some of the opinions on here......

 

My daughter got her Ipod Touch (upgraded from a Nano that she got a few years prior) last Christmas at the age of 10. She absolutely loves it and takes it everywhere she goes. She uses it not only for listening to music, but also playing games, taking pictures, texting, internet browsing, netflix, Facebook, etc. We explained to her that it was a very expensive gift that she needed to be extremely careful with it. It is basically a mini tablet and you do pay for those features. With that being said, if he is only looking for a device to play music, I would go with an Apple Nano. Also, there are many cheaper options than Apple products out there. Good luck!

 

Why do you think 11 is too young? Is it price? I would say any age is appropriate. I would not waste money on a nano. Go ahead and get a touch.
A case is a MUST. You can buy waterproof and shock proof ones.

 

Depends on the kid. My son is very responsible with electronics, has had his first cell for 10 months with no issues.

 

This is true! Some kids (mine included) lose everything! I hope as they get older, they won't.

 

Mine does to a point, he is very scatterbrained at times, but electronics for some reason, he is pretty good about.

Gloves, socks, homework....................different story. :lol:

 

Definitely depends on the child and what you want to teach them. Mine is a whiz now with electronics, good with responsibility of those electronics, also knows they are a privilege and not a right and that I monitor usage and purchases.

 

My husband and I don't measure when our children do things by what their friends are doing. We instead decide what we feel is appropriate for OUR children. I encourage you not to feel pressure to do what your daughter feels everyone else is doing. We don't feel our 11 year old needs to be texting nor needs to be browsing the internet any where other than the family computer under watchful supervision. We also feel our children should communicate with others when out in public ... not isolate to themselves with plugs in their ears and focused instead on music, games, and movies...they can do all that at home. Our children have ipods (purchased with their own money) and Nintendo DS which they typically only use at home and in the van.

 

My boys got their 1st portable CD player at the age of 9. They took great care of it for over a year and then got an iPod. They just got an iPod touch 2 years ago. They are very responsible with their electronic devices.

Bottom line, I think it depends on the child. But I also think that you have to start somewhere in learning how responsible they are (since electronics are destined to be in their future). Plus as they get older, taking the electronics away as punishment is profound and a great attitude adjuster. :mrgreen:

 

that's a boy thing! :banghead:

 

What about a cheaper device to start with and then maybe next year if they show resposiblity you can go for the bigger name brand? Our younger kids want one, too but I have been looking at the ones at Big Lots; still a touch screen, camera, etc. but a cheaper brand name at $30 - $50 compared to the $200 iPod.

 

My son got his at age 7...he routinely takes it out of the case so he can clean the case and make sure it hasn't sustained any damage.

He also has a cell phone now...he's 8. Yeah, some may say he's too young, but should he every need anything, he knows how to get in touch with someone and how to work the electronics.

 

my daughter has a ipad2, and it doesn't have one scratch on it..she has taken very good care of it, she is 11 and makes honor role and is a all around great kid..we share it, but she uses it more then I do.

 

Bought son Ipod around 8 1/2...maybe 9YO...but went with the cheaper Shuffle. He's done well with it. Same with his Nintendo DS.

 

another point of view

I find it strange that the main focus here is on how the child takes care of the device. What about the dangers the device can bring to your child? For instance there are apps for drinking, drinking games, social sexually oriented sites, gay apps, skype (watch out for predators), some of the games I play (word games and hidden object games) a chat now ad comes up at the bottom of the screen with a person with a very sexual name (just one accidental click away from danger) because I have accidently clicked an ad they put the ads right next to where you have to click some of the games, fortunately it wasn’t a perverted ad. In Social Networking there are over 1500 apps, anything you can think of and then some. There are sooo many inappropriate apps, for instance I just typed in adult and these came up (adult sex trick, adult sex dares, adult chat, adult truth or dare). I use craigslist to sell a lot of things and it has a whole section of personals with xrated pictures. There are ways to block some of this but kids are very smart. Always make sure they do not have the password that sets the protection, and they will need it to download apps from time to time so you will need to change it. These devices let predators right into your childs bedroom. You can login to your itunes account on your computer to see what they have downloaded but if they take it somewhere else you also lose that control. I rarely post on this site but this has been bugging me since I first read it the other day. I am very glad that my kids are older and I don’t have to deal with this. Good luck with your decisions, just keep track of what your kids are doing.

 

It is called Software Monitoring, which I did the whole time she lived under my roof. She knew it and so did all of her friends. That's why I included it in my original post.

Sherry

 

ummm, we were talking about music...not free reign to the internet.....

an ipod with music on it doesn't mean they are on the internet. an ipod touch with music means they do have internet IF they have a wireless connection. In order to have an itunes account, you must have a credit card. My iTunes account that I use to download music for my kids is monitored extemely well by me.

While you bring up an important issue, it's not what the OP was asking.

 

Wow, another person who manages to assume none of us know how to parent and safeguard our own children. Gotta love it!! :lol:

 

most everything comes with parental controls and locks I have my son's DS XL locked so he can not chat, browse the internet or anything else..

I think monitoring is the whole key to ANY electronic device we give our kids!!

 

I think my point is much stronger than your "that I monitor" comment. I am just merely trying to point out the danger in these devices, while they are wonderful learning tools and fun for gaming, there are dangers in letting kids have devices. As long as they are monitored regularly, then that is great. I am just bringing awareness where some may not know like you do.