Parents of teens - what are your rules?

[Shmily1]

Mine are DS20 and DD19 so I'm technically over this hump but here's what we "had".

What are your household rules for:

• Grades--like going anywhere, using anything like computers or phones, make good grades....anything is up to be mine if you don't.
• Driving--always tell me where you're going and when. I bought the cars and can take them back at any time!
• Cell Phone/texting--don't be talking or texting late. It would effect grades and then you have no one to talk to when I take that phone.
• Computer/Social networking sites--We had one computer in the living room until I was comfortable about what they were doing. DS now has 4 and DD has 2.
• Extra Curricular activities--tell me who's going to be there, what they will be doing, will adults be present, not just in the building, and when. If I like the answers, they could go, if not, they didn't go.... and stomped off about how bad of a parent I am.
• Dating--it depended on who was to be the date, where they were going, who would be there, etc. If I didn't approved, then the they were home at 10. If I approved, the time was later.
• Curfews--same as dating. Just hanging out with friends was always later than dating.

 

[Trish Bessette]

Ok, my dear DIS friends - time to share your rules for your teenagers!
My daughter is 16 and apparently I am "soooooooooooooooooo strict"! lol

So now, I am really curious about where I really stand on the "strict - lax" continuum.

What are your household rules for:

• Grades
• Driving
• Cell Phone/texting
• Computer/Social networking sites
• Extra Curricular activities
• Dating
• Curfews

And any other topic you see fit to share about...

I have 16 & 13 yr old DD's

- Grades - both do very well, A's and a few B's. I have never helped them with homework, they do it all themselves.
- Driving - my 16 yr old has her license and we bought her a car. In Vermont they can't have anyone in the car for the first 6 months - LOVE THIS!!! She isn't chomping at the bit to have a bunch of friends with her in the car either. She knows the liability she has driving others aroudn.
- Cell phone - texting - both girls have phones and put them away when they go to bed. Never an issue. 13 yr old textes more than 16 yr old.
- Computer - both have laptop and itouch with wifi. Neither one has a Facebook as they don't care to have one. Computer is mostly used for homework.
- Extra activities - girls can do what they choose as long as their grades are kept up. 16 year old works babysitting and will work full time this summer doing that. She really enjoy shopping so making money is what she wants to do. 13 year old loves basketball. She will be in a few camps this summer. She also plays soccer.
- Dating - neither one date. However, they have PLENTY of friends who are boys and they are at our house frequently.
- Curfew - so far we haven't had to deal with this. Even though 16 yr old has a car she hasn't wanted to go places and stay out late.

 

[princess.chell]

Hmmm...this was interesting to see what you guys enforce on your kids. Here's a teen's perspective (18) with a younger brother too (16).

Grades: For me, grades have never been an issue so I don't get punished for not trying or bad grades. I keep Bs in my AP/Honors courses and A's in my regular courses. My brother, on the other hand, puts little effort into school. So, if he has two C's because his test grades from the week were low he can't go out over the weekend. There are two different sets of rules for us.

Driving: My brother doesn't have his license yet, but I have to pay the gas for my car. When I first got my license my parents wanted to me to follow the one person for six month rule, but they didn't enforce it heavily. I'm allowed to drive basically where ever I want (into Chicago, the next town over, around the block). Anything that happens to the car is my responsibility.

Cell Phone/ Texting: Don't abuse the unlimited texting. My brother had 2,000 texts in two weeks; he got the phone taken away for the rest of the month. They can check the messages whenever but haven't in a lonnngg time.

Computer: I've had my own laptop for 7 years now. Three years ago they stopped checking what I do. We both have Facebooks and neither of my parents check it or are on Facebook. I got a MacBook Pro for my birthday/Christmas/high school graduation this year so that's stays in my room.

Extra Curricular's: Keep your grades up. I never had a problem with this but my brother is with golf next year. They are threatening no golf next year if his grades don't go up. I played basketball freshman and sophomore year and since the end of that have had a part time job plus a volunteer thing and an internship. As long as I can handle everything I can do anything.

Dating: I don't have time.

Curfew: 10:30 for my brother. 1am for me. Sometimes it's 2 or 3 depending on what I'm doing. If we miss curfew too many times curfew either gets moved up or we get grounded.

I guess I would say my parents are pretty leinent with the rules around here. We are good kids who don't get into much trouble so they don't have much to worry about.