Wow, I usually don't respond to threads like this, but I'm going to take the bait. Normally, I wouldn't bother, but I think the OP is serious.
Let's see- My youngest daughter is 15 and she has a tv in her bedroom. It isn't hooked up to cable, but that's only because when we bought the house only the master bedroom had cable hookups. She can watch VHS tapes or DVD's on her tv.
She has a computer and a laptop. Her computer is in her bedroom and we have wireless internet throughout the house, so yes, she can access the internet from her bedroom. She can also take her laptop anywhere in the house and be connected to the internet. She even has a MYSPACE account. BUT, she has rules and she knows what those rules are and she knows she has to obey them, or she risks losing the use of her computer and laptop. Her MYSPACE account is set to private so that not just anyone can see her account. She knows that at any time, myself or her dad can ask to see her account and she knows we check up on what she is doing on the computer.
Daughter has a cell phone with unlimited text messaging. Again, she has rules and understands them and abides by them.
She also has an IPOD and designer clothes. Daughter has had some of these things since she was twelve, and other things she's earned gradually.
Daughter spends a LOT of time with us. She is not overweight or unhealthy. She has a good head on her shoulders, a very high GPA at school, is polite, and well liked by peers and adults. She dances 9-12 hours a week. We spend a lot of time doing things as a family. We eat out frequently, play games, go to movies, the theatre, and she has traveled with us to numerous places.
My two older kids have also grown up with many of these same things. Both are college graduates. Oldest daughter graduated in the top 5% of her high school class, graduated summa cum laude from college, and is now a grad student.
I know where youngest daughter is at all times, and yes, I can say this with absolute certainty. She is not one who hangs out with kids after school, nights, or weekends. She has never been in any kind of trouble. She has rules and limitations and knows what we expect of her.
I guess the thing that prompted me to reply to this thread was the bit about being a lazy parent. My husband and I are very much "hands-on" and very involved parents. I don't like being called lazy because we provide these things for our daughter.
Parents have the right to give, or not to give, tv's, computers, cell phones, etc., to their children. Just as the OP has the right to NOT give these things to her son. Yes, some kids that have these things, do have lazy parents and some kids without these things have lazy parents. Making sweeping generalizations, however, is wrong.
I've gone into teacher rants before too, but I certainly don't mean them all -- same thing with school administrators.
