Debating whether or not to give your child a mobile phone?
A mum has shared a genius contract she created to make sure her 12-year-old son uses his phone in a safe and healthy way.
Mel Watts, who also goes by The Modern Mumma, explained on her blog that she had recently written up a contract for her son, Ayden, before he was given his first mobile phone.
She said that the list of rules gave the chance to “put down some ground rules” and to “monitor what he’s doing.”
The Aussie mum posted a version of the contract onto her blog, in the hopes that it might help other parents who are finding themselves facing a similar situation.
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She explained:
“Before we gave Ayden his mobile phone we wrote up an agreement that was to be agreed on by his three parents (modern day families these days lol) and then had to be signed by ALL parties.
“This piece of paper pretty much gave up the ability to put down some ground rules and also allow us to monitor what he’s doing.
“To be honest no I don’t think we should be giving our younger teenagers mobile phones with social media however I didnt want to be that parent who wouldn’t allow it.
“I grew up with parents who didn’t allow me to have a phone and I did feel isolated and left out, it wasn’t a nice feeling.”
The contract has 17 rules that Ayden must follow if he wants to continue to be able to use his new mobile phone.
It has been divided into further categories, with a note that if he breaks one of the more severe rules (which are listed in bold), the phone will be taken away immediately.
If the rule isn’t in bold, it’s a three strike system. The contract also says that it will be amended once Ayden turns 15 years old.
The contract includes conditions like “no messaging before 7.30am” and “ALWAYS answering your parents.”
You can read it in full below.
