Bill Gates Banned His Children from Mobile Phones until They Turned 14

Megalith

Megalith

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Should you ban your kids from smartphone usage until they hit their teens? Bill thought so; none of his kids were allowed to have them until they turned 14. As the children of the world’s richest man, though, I am sure they had plenty of other ways to stay entertained. I wonder if they are still banned from using Apple products, though.

…even one of humanity’s greatest technological innovators still banned his kids from having mobiles until they were 14, forbids them at the dinner table and limits his youngest’s screen time before she goes to bed. Father to Jennifer, 20, Rory, 17, and Phoebe, 14, he admits: “We often set a time after which there is no screen time and in their case that helps them get to sleep at a reasonable hour. “You’re always looking at how it can be used in a great way – homework and staying in touch with friends – and also where it has gotten to excess. “We don’t have cellphones at the table when we are having a meal, we didn’t give our kids cellphones until they were 14 and they complained other kids got them earlier.”
 
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My kids will have phones when they get into high school, but they won't be used as portable gaming devices or social media extensions.

They already have tablets, that act mostly as a mobile Netflx portal, but those are also of restricted use. Besides my kids have more fun with Lego's than mobile gaming.
 
How shocking. A reasonable, common sense approach.

My kid didn't have a cell phone until she was 13, and we put restrictions on when she could use it.
Same with no cell phone at the dinner table and no Apple products :D
 
He should have banned them from using windows, they'd have been much better off. :p
 
Seems sensible enough. By 14 they should e able to use one in a sensible fashion.
I would prolly let my kid have a dumbphone a bit prior to that. Only my youngest 2 were still in HS a few years back when kids all having smart phones in school became common. The school they attended did not allow them in class. You could have them, and even use them outside of class, but if faculty saw or heard it during class, they would take it until end of school day.
 
It's called being a parent, not jumping on the "I give my kids THE LATEST tech because it then makes them SOCIALLY STATUS SYMBOL smarterer" stupid wagon.
 
14 is still too young IMO. My kids will not have phones until they move out and pay for their own. The last thing I want to encourage is teenage drama caused by social media and other stupid things kids do on phones.
 
I agree with his philosophy. Jobs was similar wanted his children to go to schools that did not use computers. My philosophy is no TV or anything else at dinner table. He is only 4 so phone will come later - I plan to have him get a phone only phone. No texting or internet on the thing. If I could give him an old moto phone I would lol.
 
Good for him, I believe in the same, and 14 is about the right level of maturity and independence.
 
bigdogchris said:
Why would it?
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New drivers tend to occasionally have issues more experienced drivers don't. Often teens get beaters - reliability isn't always the best. Etc etc. I was just curious if that factored into your opinion. What if your kid gets a job and pays for their own phone? Would you offer them a line on your plan to save them some money?
 
Agree that this was a good plan. So many folks today haven't been more then 5 seconds away from their parents since they got their first cell phone. Oh sure, they may be physically 7 states away but thanks to the tether, mom is always a text or voice call away. Kids need to learn to make their own decisions and cope with minor problems without the parents quickly rescuing them. Sure, they will make many wrong ones but most will learn and do better next time. Probably why so many under the age of 30 are still living at home.
 
JayteeBates said:
New drivers tend to occasionally have issues more experienced drivers don't. Often teens get beaters - reliability isn't always the best. Etc etc. I was just curious if that factored into your opinion. What if your kid gets a job and pays for their own phone? Would you offer them a line on your plan to save them some money?
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Very true but you also have to make sure they're not texting while driving too.
 
Easy to do when your kids have staff within earshot at any given moment, live in a house that is probably super connected as far as voice/video is concerned and doubtful are ever actually out alone and unprotected. In other words, if you aren't bill gates you are probably just being a luddite and not letting your kids develop necessary skills for a world that is going to be very different than the one you grew up in. I agree 100% you have to be a parent and control access, set limits etc. However the notion of "total ban until they leave the house and buy their own" is so laughably stupid that it borders on petty and spiteful.
 
bigdogchris said:
14 is still too young IMO. My kids will not have phones until they move out and pay for their own. The last thing I want to encourage is teenage drama caused by social media and other stupid things kids do on phones.
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You have to be a little careful though too, because you can end up with "overprotected college slut syndrome" where a kid is not given any responsibility and shielded from the world too much, and then everything hits them all at once and they haven't learned responsible ways to deal with it. Its like accelerating from 0-100 in a heartbeat, and can be overwhelming.

That's why in my personal opinion its good to give ever more baby steps of responsibility and tech (and consequences for abusing it) while they are still under your supervision. At age 14, like Gates recommends, you can start introducing that while still having control over them for another four years.
 
Didn't we have a similar thread a few months ago? Sigh...

Unlike when I was growing up in the 1980s, there is hardly a pay phone nearby. So, I can understand a young person needing a mobile phone. But, a smart phone? Nope. You gotta earn that responsibility.

I'm not a parent, but if I were.... my kid would start off with a restricted dumb phone where they could only send/receive calls from parents, school, doctor, dentist, and approved friends. You want a unrestricted phone? Prove to me you are responsible.

Oh, you want a smart phone? I see a lawn mower with your name on it, a snow shovel with your name on it, and hows your grades? Oh, you don't get to make payments. You have to have the cash up front plus a month or two of service charges.

Don't like it? Welcome to this thing we call "adulting".
 
My son has had a phone since he was 9, but that was my old one, wi-fi only. Now he is 14, I track everything he does on it, plus is restricted for time, and hours of use, so he has time for homework, sleep etc.
 
The guy is smart. He's also trying to be a reasonable parent which i applaud. My kids are young and have tablets but only for education apps and games. They get to watch youtube once and a while but its not free reign.
 
JayteeBates said:
New drivers tend to occasionally have issues more experienced drivers don't. Often teens get beaters - reliability isn't always the best. Etc etc. I was just curious if that factored into your opinion. What if your kid gets a job and pays for their own phone? Would you offer them a line on your plan to save them some money?
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You mean like all the 40 year old truck drivers (commuter trucks, not big rigs) that can't keep their trucks in between the lines, or use indicators, along with the minivan assholes? No one is an experienced driver (though I get what you're saying, newer drivers are just that, newbies), with the shit state of the driver education system in this country. You walk in with a pulse and walk out with a license.

On the second part, I'd definitely let them, especially if they insist on paying for it. It's my kid after all, why wouldn't I try to save them money?
 
"but dad, android and Apple phones have way more apps and better app support. There isn't even a snapchat app in the Windows store"

" you're grounded."
 
JayteeBates said:
New drivers tend to occasionally have issues more experienced drivers don't. Often teens get beaters - reliability isn't always the best. Etc etc. I was just curious if that factored into your opinion. What if your kid gets a job and pays for their own phone? Would you offer them a line on your plan to save them some money?
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In the case of the kid needing a phone, I don't see why you can't buy a pre-paid family phone that they will take if they need emergency help. That's a long stretch from having their own phone.

Ducman69 said:
You have to be a little careful though too, because you can end up with "overprotected college slut syndrome" where a kid is not given any responsibility and shielded from the world too much, and then everything hits them all at once and they haven't learned responsible ways to deal with it. Its like accelerating from 0-100 in a heartbeat, and can be overwhelming.

That's why in my personal opinion its good to give ever more baby steps of responsibility and tech (and consequences for abusing it) while they are still under your supervision. At age 14, like Gates recommends, you can start introducing that while still having control over them for another four years.
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I agree about this too. However, isn't it the newer generation that people (that grew up on phones) that we keep talking about don't have values? I'm not saying that's true, but we can't say modern children and millennials need technology and phones to learn to be responsible with them, but then also say in other areas they have no values, don't want to work, don't respect people or whatever when they most certainly. Point is, you can install values into a child and teach them responsibilities, without a phone.
 
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bigdogchris said:
14 is still too young IMO. My kids will not have phones until they move out and pay for their own. The last thing I want to encourage is teenage drama caused by social media and other stupid things kids do on phones.
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GG on your kids developing a social network for job hunting or landing that internship. They might as well be fresh off the boat with no contacts or job history, with only contacts from "the home land".
 
I don't see the reason why? Especially if your kids are ever going to get into technology, then the phone is probably the most common device to give them. Also, if the kids abuse these devices in any sorta way, that's cause you didn't raise them correctly.
 
nightanole said:
GG on your kids developing a social network for job hunting or landing that internship. They might as well be fresh off the boat with no contacts or job history, with only contacts from "the home land".
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LOL OK. If you positively correlate a 14 year old having a cell phone to a late 20's adult having a career after college ... I don't know how I can help you.
 
bigdogchris said:
LOL OK. If you positively correlate a 14 year old having a cell phone to a late 20's adult having a career after college ... I don't know how I can help you.
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I was shooting for 18-19 years old....

Hell i was trying to get into post secondary wire pull monkey jobs at 16 at the vocational high school.

Then again dont listen to me, i still have a land line, and my phone is wifi only with g-voice :p
 
I think this is awesome. I just think to many phones are handed out to kids. Without one it works just like when I was in school. They know where they have to be after school or if I'm picking them up from somewhere else. If there is an issue the school office has no problem letting them call home from the office. Until there mobile and much more self reliant they don't need one. IMHO. Of course when there driving and off on there own then it's a whole new set of problems. Not least of which is texting and driving.
 
Good, I don't think you need a cell phone until you're old enough to go out and about on your own anyway.

But I wouldn't ban them from phones just don't get them their own. They can use one under supervised conditions at home.
 
Phones are pivotal in life now. Dening your kid a phone until he gets his first social security check is only hindering them from being able to adapt to life. The phone doesn't hurt or hinder a child in any way, just bad parenting.
 
His kids have their own butlers and live in a mansion with anything they want at their fingertips. I doubt having a smartphone would have enhanced their lives or "status" much anyway. I'm not afraid of technology and I take a different approach than some of the old timers here, if I ever have a kid, by the time he or she is 8 yrs old they will have a phone + any of the latest PC tech they want.
 
Trimlock said:
My kids will have phones when they get into high school, but they won't be used as portable gaming devices or social media extensions.

They already have tablets, that act mostly as a mobile Netflx portal, but those are also of restricted use. Besides my kids have more fun with Lego's than mobile gaming.
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I do the same with my kids as well.
 
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