Minnesota mom creates written agreement before giving child first phone, encourages others to do the same - KARE11.com

PLYMOUTH, Minn. — Nowadays, galore kids turn up with exertion successful their hands and the net tin beryllium easy accessed by radical of each ages. 

Stephanie Flies, a ma from Plymouth, wants to marque definite her children understood conscionable however overmuch of a work they person erstwhile utilizing immoderate internet-based device. 

"There’s nary crippled program for this. There’s nary generations of mothers and fathers that person gone done raising kids with a tiny instrumentality successful their hand," Flies said. "We’re giving her entree to this almighty device, and besides saying, 'Okay delight marque mature choices!' And that’s truly scary for a parent."

It's wherefore erstwhile she and her hubby talented girl Nora a compartment telephone implicit this Thanksgiving weekend, they drew up a contract earlier handing it over. 

Flies said it enactment her caput much astatine easiness to person had a precise thorough speech with Nora astir the work that comes with a compartment telephone and enactment it each successful writing.

"I started gathering the statement based connected security, truthful I wanted items to beryllium keeping her harmless and secure. I wanted to marque definite our household values were successful there, and determination are conscionable immoderate applicable things successful there, too."

The statement lists 16 statements the recipient indispensable hold to, everything from acknowledging the work and adjacent ineligible consequences that travel with illicit messaging, to promising to enactment the telephone distant during meals.

"If we tin contiguous to our girl that these are our expectations, and this is what we’re agreeing to, not lone are we mounting our expectations close from the beginning, but we’re besides hopefully mounting her up for success," Flies said.

Flies is the laminitis of a web of sister websites called City Mom Collective. What started arsenic a blog is present a postulation of "hyper-local ma influencers," according to the website. Together, they stock proposal for families, arsenic good arsenic caller and large moms. The "Kids' Cell Phone Agreement" is conscionable 1 of the site's blog posts.

She acknowledges the program isn't one-size-fits-all and whitethorn not beryllium for everyone.

"Admittedly, I astir apt thin to beryllium connected a Type A spectrum of, I emotion these types of things," Flies said.

But she suggests parents instrumentality a peek astatine the declaration and spot what things mightiness enactment for their families and devices.

"The integer world, it's hard retired there," she said. "I bash deliberation this opens up a connection accidental betwixt parents, whether it's with a gaming device, whether it's with an iPad that they're getting for Christmas, oregon it's a compartment phone."

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