The day of gadgets

You know I honestly miss the days of not so many gadgets.  Especially the communication kind.  Like so many others on the internet have said we've forgotten how to communicate thanks to the internet avenues like Facebook or texting. 

My boys got Ipod Touches for Christmas.  I loaded some freebie apps on them, but that was it.  Well, neighbor boy who has little to no rules and free reign over anything he want had all kinds of apps and proceeds to load them onto my boys'.  The boys just handed them over.  He's 10 like Chase.  So not very old to have free reign, and not responsible enough for it either.  He put a texting app on.  I only found out because Cole answered the phone and the answering machine picked up with H saying to text him.  So I questioned him, naturally.  I let it go so I could think about it a bit.  I decided that while I wanted to trust the boys I needed to see what they were doing with their texting ability along with seeing what other apps were loaded.

That ended up being the only app I had an issue with.  Chase hates these fangled ways of communication so he hadn't used it.  Cole, on the other hand, had quite a few text conversations.  One was with one of Chase's other 10 yo friends who used cuss words most adults would be offended by.  Granted Chase isn't close friends with him...thank goodness.  But, I was appalled.  Of course, Brian tells me that he guesses most boys this age talk like that.  This is being heard by me, a girl who didn't say her first cuss word until well into teenage years and I remember apologizing to God for it.  Cole was never mean mean and never used foul language, but H had given Cole his girlfriend's (yes girlfriend, eye roll) cell number so he could text her, pretend he was someone else and bug her.  It worked.  She was perturbed.  He wasn't rude or hateful; just annoying.  Really annoying. 

So, after all that I deleted the app and told them that if H ever downloaded on their Touches again without me seeing what it was they would be taken away.  I then called H and told him (very nicely) that he needed to do me a favor and not do that anymore since it's my house rules or he couldn't come to my house anymore.  He actually respects me and listens pretty good to me once I talk to him.  At home he seems to have no rules, so he does whatever. 

I'm waiting for the day that the 14 year old (almost) matures enough for me to EVER trust him with a cell.  He needs to learn now he can't use texting to aggravate anyone.  It could get you into a world of hurt you do not want to enter.  I'm PRAYING lesson learned.