7 Years Old with Computer

no , absolutely not. If it's in her bedroom you can't easily monitor what she's looking at. Computers should ever be in a child's bedroom. There are accounts of children with computers discovering and becoming addicted to pornography. This comes from parents not monitoring their computer usage.Having a computer in a child's room gives them access to all kinds of things.
Besides that a 7 yr old does not need a computer of her own. What's she going to ask for next?

No computers or tvs in any bedrooms no matter what the kids age.
When that stuff is out in public places it's easy to monitor what is going on and with whom.
Save yourself some headaches and just skip this stuff in the bedroom.

There is no need for a personal computer with internet access in a child's bedroom. Computers with internet access should always be in a common area; internet time should be supervised according to the age and maturity of the child. At 7 years old, your daugther should have supervision while on the internet.

Never - not so much for what she'll get away with now - it's pretty easy to keep tabs on a 7-year-old but because it will set a precedent that will be hard to reverse when she is older and has lots and lots to hide.

We have a family laptop that all 4 of our kids share. The younger boys (6 & 8) don't know their password and have to have my husband or I log them into the computer. Parental controls limit what they can do. My two 14-year-olds have their own accounts, but parental controls limit when they can log in (from 3-9 PM), what they can do, and sends me a weekly report of all of their activities (when they were on, what applications they used, what web sites the visited or were blocked from, what they searched for). This laptop is stored by our desk in the family room and can be used in the family room, at the kitchen table or, for school work, in the room that the two older kids share where there is no privacy anywhere.

I have a friend who has older kids and even when they all had their own laptops, they were not used in the bedrooms and we don't bring our computers in the bedroom either. Nor do we have TVs in any room.

At her age, I would recommend having a computer that she is allowed to access, but put parental controls on it and do not have it in her room. It should be something that is used only in the presence of others.

Internet stays in the common area of our home until the kids turn 16 (that's when they get their own computer.)
That's how it's done here.
They also don't have TVs in their rooms.
It's not because we are anti media, I just like being able to (literally) watch what they are doing online, and also because I want their bedrooms to be quiet places :)

study after study has shown that electronics in the bedroom make for poorer sleep habits which then results in lower academic performance

so, my vote as a mom to a 13 and 10 yr old is NO NO NO NO NO

our computers are all out in the open, and controlled by us. Other electronics (DS, IPOD TOUCH, Kindle Fire) are controlled by us as well and not allowed in the room except to charge.

I believe computers (for EVERYONE) should be on a common area or an area where it can be monitored. I've caught my son and friends watching videos that I don't think have appropriate language or that I just don't like and I wouldn't have done so if the computer was in his room.
As he grows older, more delicate subjects will have to be monitored, so I think the computer should be placed on a common area to avoid surprises.

Personally I say NO! That is just me though. Our kids are 8 and 9 and they do share a computer but the computer is in our livingroom. Kids can be sneaky so we keep an eye on things. I do occasionally have the talk aboiut strangers etc... what you can/cant tell people and so on. I have fixed all of the parental settings but I dont trust the system 100%. This decision is yours and his together. If you are not ok with it then dont. Why not try it out in the open first...monitor how things go then if she seems responsible enough then let her have it in her room? Or if you arent comfortable with it in her room no matter what, why not see what hubby thinks about having it out in the open so you guys can keep an eye on things? Just a couple suggestions. :/

Husband & I have agreed that we'll always have our family laptop in the living room area for the kids to use so that we can monitor what they are seeing. They can play games and we can easily walk by and see what they're doing. Homework is done at the dining room table and so the laptop is there in case they need to look something up. My kids are boy (almost 8) and girl (5).

I would not do it. I tell my kids no all the time...sometimes I give them an explanation and sometimes I don't. I would explain why to her. My 10 yr ol daughter has our old computer (most donation places wouldn't take it bc it was too old). But it does not have Internet access and we wiped it clean before we gave it to her. We loaded some games that she likes to play a
She uses Word to write stories andale pictures. To be honest...she doesn't use it much.
My husband and I are not big o our kids being so tech dependent. We finally broke down and got our kids handheld at systems after teeing them no for a couple years. They are not allowed to have have them in their room and we monitor their usage and ground them from the games if they are disobedient. They do not have cell phones either. My oldest, 10 yrs, is one of the only one of her friends withou her own cell phone or phone in her room. Weave no plans to get her one anytime soon. Fortunately my hobby and I agree on hear things, but when one says no to something we will BOTH tell the kids no until we are both on board.
If ou are considering it, I would at least make her give you reasons why she needs one in her room with Internet and why one in the family too won't suffice. If she needs it for school and you or your hubby are always on it for work to where she can't get done what she needs, maybe consider getting a laptop or second computer that can be I a common place for her to do her school work hat can still be monitored.

No computers/TVs in bedrooms in our house. Our boys are 8 and 14, and the computer is in a common area. It's easier to monitor that way, and besides that, I don't want them camping out in their rooms all the time. I would rather have them spending time with family. We haven't had any complaints about it.

Hi C.-

I would suggest that any kiddo UNDER the age of 12 have ONLY access to a computer in a common area.

Then...perhaps...given a track record of 'stellar' computer behavior in a common (monitored) area...consider a 'personal' computer in a room...

Just MY opinion...

There is just too much risk/temptation in a more private area at that age...

best Luck!
michele/cat

Not with the internet, she is too young. The internet should be in area where it can be monitored. When dd was 7 she was on kol and someone asked her some personal info and she answered, B/c it was KOL they shut down all our email accounts and when I called to find out why they told me. I was lucky, but there are a lot of times when people are not. She may not do anything wrong or that she is not supposed, but people seek out children. They pose as children.

Computer in room would be ok for school work and stuff, but internet access needs to be guarded at that age. You can invest in some blocking software for inappropriate websites.