“No more pencils, no more books, no more teachers' dirty looks.” Record that outdated rhyme on an audiocassette, put it in a time capsule, and never mention it to your kids again. School supplies are a completely different beast now as children as young as 8 covet tablet computers and smart phones fancier than the ones their parents own. But what's essential and what's simply a toy? There's value in many of these pricey devices, experts say – parents just need to find the best deals and enforce usage rules from the get-go.
Tweens
At about Grade 5 or 6 they'll be begging for gadgets, says Jennifer Kolari, a Toronto-based child and parent therapist, and author of Connected Parenting.
A personal computer at that age is unnecessary, she says. Let them use the family one for big projects as well as an hour or two of leisure time a day. “The more you can delay [those purchases], the better.”
But it won't be easy. “It's harder for parents to say no when you hear, ‘Everyone's BBMing and I'm the only one that doesn't have a BlackBerry.' ”
If the answer is no, explain why and stick to your guns, she advises.
“Every time you say no and give in, you're giving a history for yourself that your child is banking in his memory,” she says.
If you think your child will use the device responsibly but you're turned off by the prospect of exorbitant bills, consider an iPod Touch, says Andy Walker, general manager of Toronto-based tech site Butterscotch.com. Kids can still use it to play music, games and connect to Wi-Fi networks without you having to face charges for phone and data use.
If you only want your child to use his phone for calls or texts, set up a browser block when you open the mobile account to stop excessive downloads, says Bret Stewart, a mobile manager at Best Buy in Burlington, Ont.
Teens
When your teen sets out to get her own cellphone, make sure you check with your wireless carrier first to see if your loyalty can win you a discounted plan, Mr. Walker suggests.
“Customers are very volatile, so there's an inclination to add more business by giving a student a deal.”
When you're helping your teen choose a plan, keep in mind that they send thousands of texts each month, Mr. Walker says. If you budget too low – say, only 250 a month – you'll end up with a startling bill when your teen inevitably exceeds that amount.
Even if you're giving your child a monthly allowance, make sure that payments are her responsibility, Ms. Kolari suggests. “I think it's a good idea that kids pay for their own plan so they don't think it's free,” she says.
Lay out usage rules from the start, she adds, even if your child purchases the device with her own money. If your daughter stays up till 1 a.m. texting, tell her you'll give her three days to change her behaviour before you take the device away.
“Give them the chance to have some sense of control first with consequence laid out in advance,” she says.
If you're not ready to drop $1,000 or more on a laptop for your teen, go for a netbook instead, Mr. Walker says. You get Internet connectivity, a functional homework tool and, best of all, he says, “if a kid happens to be not responsible and loses it, you're not losing a several-thousand-dollar investment – it's a few hundred bucks.”
University-bound
If your kid is moving away for school, chances are you're already forking over a small fortune for housing, tuition and textbooks. Hold off on the laptop purchase for a semester, though, Mr. Walker suggests.
If your child already has a smart phone or a tablet computer with a word processing application (which will probably only cost a few dollars) and a wireless keyboard, he can turn that device into a decent stand-in for a computer. It'll also be much easier to schlep to class than a laptop.
When you're forking over the big bucks for portable devices that cost upward of $500 – netbooks, laptops, tablets – consider an extended warranty, Mr. Walker suggests.
“The biggest failure on computers are the hinges and your optical drives and, if you're an aggressive typist, your keyboard,” he says. Electronics store employees may try to sell you warranties on peripherals such as computer mouses, but those items are so cheap they're not worth it.
And don't make big-box electronics stores your first and last destination, he adds. You can find some great second-hand locked and unlocked phones on eBay and some end-of-line, deeply discounted computers and gadgets at TigerDirect.ca.
