My daughter informed me today that she's very excited about her new teacher because he has something every year called "electronics day." Apparently, all the kids are invited to bring in one electronic device, such as an iPhone or an iPad for the day.
Then I made my daughter cry because I told her there was no way she was bringing a $300 piece of electronics to school with her.
I mean, the kid can't even manage to bring her water bottle home. And even if she were entirely responsible, she goes to an afterschool program where her backpack is out in the hallway, unguarded. Someone could easily just steal an iPad.
I don't know what they were thinking asking a bunch of eight-year-olds to be responsible for expensive electronics. seems like a recipe for trouble. Plus if anyone doesn't have those devices, they feel really left out.
I'm not sure what to do now. I don't want her to be only kid who doesn't have something with her. But I'm not letting her bring a $300 items to school with her. She'd be more upset than anyone if the iPad disappeared.
Here are tablets in the $99-199 range:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.laptopmag.com/articles/best-cheap-tablets
http://www.laptopmag.com/articles/best-cheap-tablets
And if that's too much, here's one for $38:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/datawind-s-38-ubislate-7ci-tablet-a-review-1.2619591
Yes, but I don't really feel like I can justify spending even $40 for some toy that my daughter will bring to school once and probably never use again.
DeleteOr, better yet, as the $38 one seems hard to get ahold of:
ReplyDeletehttp://amzn.to/1NeRCqS
We had a hard time with the same issues with our foster children. We found some used hand held games for them eventually but it's hard to buy luxury items when you have kids coming into the house with absolutely nothing . I really hated it because the kids were at a disadvantage socially and these types of situations made the issues worse.
ReplyDeleteWhat if you wrote a very nice note to her teacher telling him that you do not trust your daughter with expensive electronics, which means she will be left out of electronics day. On the premise that there will be other kids without gadgets (for various reasons), has the teacher made plans for those that will be left out? Or does he have a suggestion for something else she might bring? Or, possibly, the teacher would accept the expensive device directly from you, take if from your daughter at the end of the day and hold it safe until you could retrieve it.
ReplyDeleteHas that teacher not thought that parents might hold them responsible for losing or breaking it? Imagine if more than one kid lost a 300$ device...wouldn't want to be that teacher!
ReplyDeleteHas anyone checked with the teacher what they actually said? My little darlings (7,8 and 10) can't remember a message accurately for more than 5 minutes.
ReplyDeleteThat is a distinct possibility.
DeleteIs electronics day a privilege where they get to bring them and have them in their possession when normally they're contraband? Or is it that they're expected to bring them in for some sort of educational purpose?
ReplyDeleteIf it's a privilege... 8 seems young for electronics day as a privilege. Our 8-year-old isn't at all interested in electronics except as a way of watching cartoons on Netflix. She would, on the other hand, probably be thrilled about bringing able to bring in a toy of some sort.
If it's educational... your daughter may not be happy about it, but-- clock radios and calculators are both kinds of electronics. It's probably the equivalent of sending her with an apple when all the other kids are bringing candy... but it would check off the box.
Either way, I think I'd get in touch with the teacher to find out the real story and suggest the social imbalance he's setting up. I wouldn't like it, either.
Wow, I remember when my school had electronics day, but that when we were allowed to bring our GameBoy Colors/Advances.
ReplyDeleteIf he's done this before, surely he's run into these issues, would be nice to know how he's handled problems in the past. It would have been better for him to send home a written description of just what "electronics day" actually entails.
ReplyDeleteMy five year old in Kindergarten has electronics day too. Most of his classmates bring those hand-held video games. My son would ask to bring our iPad but when denied, he was fine with bringing nothing. He didn't complain about being left out. His friends usually let him watch them play the video games so he was fine with it.
ReplyDeleteGet your kid involved with the planning of "get inexpensive electric device to bring and demonstrate to mom I can not lose it at school". Will give you something to talk about besides "whyyyyy can't I all the other kids have theirs". Repeat planning stage until she either gets bored and drops it or she comes up with a plan that both you and she can deal with. Either she gets to practice being responsible or she stops pestering you. Bonus points for asking how her friends are securing their items or how many things are being lost.
ReplyDeleteOh for the problems of 2015. I don't think I even had a Walkman when I was 8 (let alone a Discman!).
ReplyDeleteThey want a bunch of eight year olds to bring expensive electronics to school? Like the above, would check and see if that's really what was said, but there's a distinct possibility it was. Are they mental? Of course you say no. She'll live over it, trust me.
ReplyDeleteat my son's school, kids who don't bring in their own electronics get extra time on the school's computers, or even sometimes on the teacher's Ipad. That way everyone has something, whether they brought it from home or not.
ReplyDelete$10 last-generation "smartphone" from Target.
ReplyDeleteSo what ended up happening?
ReplyDelete