<p>Basically i just think you need to be responsible and set limits for yourself, not have your parents putting rules and restrictions on every little thing. pretty much every kid is going to have a computer in their room when they get to college, and i'm sure they will stay up IMing people, or be up all night pulling all nighters.. they will learn to deal with it.. but i think kids who were "sheltered" from this prior to college are more... prone to doing it in college... and a lot of times times they will see their grades drop because they aren't used to such freedom and don't know how to adapt.</p>
<p>i mean, i think if you can blame tv or computers for grades dropping, then you can also blame band, yearbook, work, sports... all the other things that take time away from studying.. but really all it comes down to was that the individual wasn't capable of/whatever of making an adjustment so that it wouldn't affect his/her grades.</p>
<p>for example, my first semester senior year i had 18 credits, was part of three or four clubs, and was working 40 hours a week. ( i was talking to one of my prof's after class one day and he found out about how much i was working, and asked if i was sure i could handle that.. i wound up getting the second highest grade in the class).. i ended up with a 3.75 that semester and had plenty of time to hang out with friends, watch movies, and occasionally IM with people... it was a great semester. my last semester senior year, i only took 12 credits but i knew i would have much more work to do than with my previous semester of 18 credits, so i cut back to only working about 10 hours a week at work and ended up having a great semester. I wouldn't continue to work 40 hours and then blame my grades slipping on working a job. You just need to know your limits and how to make adjustments.. and i think some people know how to do that automatically, but other people will never learn until they fall on their face at least once ;)</p>
<p>i just think i was raised like... do what you want to do, but don't let it screw up your life... because you're responsible for your actions.</p>
<p>My 17 year old senior D has a laptop she uses in her room with full internet privs. She has earned it by showing that she is responsible. </p>
<p>My 13 year old S has a computer without internet access in his room. If he needs to access the internet, he does it from my office. We still need to work on the trust thing....</p>
<p>We are a one-PC family with the computer located in what used to be the guest bedroom. For a while, D used the previous PC with limited capabilities (no Internet access) in her bedroom so she could work on her school papers while S used the newer one for his design work and schoolwork. That worked until the older computer kicked the dust. When she was home over winter break, she was able to use a wireless connection (we have a Starbucks down the street) with her laptop from school, so that left the family PC available for H and me.</p>
<p>I can't imagine having parents as controlling as most of you sound. I've had a TV in my room since I was a few months old, I've had every major system ever made in my room, I've had a VCR since 2nd grade and I've had a computer in my room since 7th grade. I learned to deal with distractions. How on earth can you control your kids so much and then send them off into total freedom at college?</p>
<p>Eliminating distractions is only a short term solution; learning to deal with them is a long term one. How do you expect a sheltered child who isn't even used to having unsupervised internet access to deal with total freedom, 24/7 unrestricted high-speed internet, frat parties, etc? </p>
<p>My parents respected my freedom and autonomy, and I am a better, tougher, more resourceful and more capable person for it. That said, I was also responsible for the consequences of my actions; they were fine with calling me in so I didn't have to go to school when I didn't want to and with me procrastinating and pulling all nighters, because I was successful with those strategies.</p>
<p>The kids have had computers in their rooms since they were 13. There's a computer in the home office and two laptops as well. One TV and stereo in the living room. I walk in on the computers regularly. My oldest has been interested in programming since he was 6. We got him his own computer so he could stop messing with ours.</p>
<p>"Basically i just think you need to be responsible and set limits for yourself, not have your parents putting rules and restrictions on every little thing. pretty much every kid is going to have a computer in their room when they get to college, and i'm sure they will stay up IMing people, or be up all night pulling all nighters.. they will learn to deal with it.. but i think kids who were "sheltered" from this prior to college are more... prone to doing it in college... and a lot of times times they will see their grades drop because they aren't used to such freedom and don't know how to adapt."</p>
<p>Well said. Our S has had a computer in his room since he started high school, mainly so that he could have a place to work without distractions. He does IM and Xanga and has learned to balance time somewhat. (with straight A+'s and 4 APs, he must be doing something right)</p>
<p>We also talk about Internet safety on a regular basis and we know we can trust him- he's very conscientious. </p>
<p>12-year-old D uses the computer in the family room because she doesn't really need to use it that much for schoolwork yet. She'll probably inherit S's when he goes to college in two years.</p>
<p>Alas his room is quite empty now but during hs it was command central-computer, tv, stereo, cd player purchased pre-ipod era. Oh yes it did have a faux fireplace, desk, small sofa, several bean bag chairs and a lofted bed with the underneath festooned with multicolored Christmas lights.</p>
<p>Needless to say, it was a major hangout place for girlfriend and buddies.</p>
<p>Got my own computer for my room for Christmas in 5th grade. Younger sister got hers the following year, when she was in 4th grade. I didn't have an internet connection until 7th grade, had to use the downstairs computer for email, and my sister and I fought over (err...shared) the dialup connection for a year before we got high-speed when I was in 8th grade. Old computers were replaced with newer models when I was in 9th and my sister in 8th grades. Our parents trust that my sister and I won't get into trouble, and we never have.</p>
<ol>
<li>Homework, from middle school on, is computer-intensive. Teachers here assume that each student has a computer with internet at home and assign papers, research projects, other assignments accordingly. There are not enough hours in the day for my sister and I, sharing a computer, to finish all of our homework.</li>
<li>There is no place in our house for these computers to live if not in our rooms.</li>
<li>Rooms allow a peaceful environment for homework-doing.</li>
<li>This wasn't an issue in middle school, but as a high school student with a heavy courseload and extracurricular commitments, I'm often up very late doing schoolwork. I'm less of a disturbance to the rest of the family, first as they relax after work and then when they go to bed, in my room. My parents don't like that I'm up late but they do expect the homework to get done and they trust me to handle it so they don't comment.</li>
</ol>
<p>IM is used simultaneously but almost all discussions on weeknights are homework-related. "How do you do number 8?" "Let's review for our history test." "Can you proofread my essay?"</p>
<p>My mother purchased a laptop to use for work a few years ago, and since then her old desktop downstairs has been largely unused. We are wireless so my mother's laptop travels and we have one printer in a central location. My dad has started using the computer downstairs when he needs one at home - he has a laptop for work, but it's a Dell and we are a Mac household so he likes to switch to the Mac for fun stuff.</p>
<p>Neither my sister nor I has ever had a TV in our rooms - we've never been a big TV-watching household. When I was younger I read, now there's no time. Until a few years ago we had a very very old, smallish set. It was replaced with a fancy high-tech widescreen tv which is used almost exclusively for watching DVDs.</p>
<p>The one thing that was always an absolute no in our house was video games of any and all sorts.</p>