Would you punish a child that accidentally purchased a game on the psp? I'm fairly certain he didn't do it on purpose because he is the honest one. He might originally deny something but within 5 minutes he tells me the truth, if it even takes that long. I set it to require the password for purchases (I didn't know anything about that thing! I'm used to simple handhelds like the gameboy or ds...not this mini-computer type psp!) so we should not have the problem again. And he hadn't even downloaded the game, so if he was going to do it on purpose I believe he would have downloaded and been playing it. So I took the psp away last night, and I'm thinking about keeping it away today just as punishment for being on the game store page. Would you punish them or take away the psp if it was a legitimate accident??
Here come the tomatoes.... I would....along with a long talk. Carelessness (accidents) have consequences, whether they are from Mom or the world around them. My child at that age, would be old enough to start teaching about control and thinking BEFORE acting. Just IMO.
No tomatoes...I agree. lol. You are suffering the consequences if you paid for the game, right? So, he should understand that even accidents have undesirable consequences. I wouldn't punish the child severely. I would either take the system away for a short time or have him "earn" money to pay for the game. But I feel it is important to let him know that you do believe him but he needs to learn that even mistakes don't always get you a pass. My son pretty much destroyed a book he borrowed from someone at church. It looked brand new...after he was done it looked like 10 people had read it. Okay..well..not that bad..but it sure didn't look like it did when it came into his hands. He is tough on everything from books to shoes. lol. Anyway, my dh told him that he had to buy this person a new book. I then told my son to NOT borrow items unless he discloses that he will most likely wear it out in the first five minutes. lol.
I wouldn't. We had a similar issue with the wii - not a purchase, but my DH discovered I had been letting our 5yo play games with other players via the internet (how dumb am I?). Now we have a pin on there, too. No more problems.
I'd just make sure that your son knows that those games cost money.... and that he would need permission. If its not something thats been said before, maybe he didn't know. sometimes we will look at movies "ON DEMAND".... some are in the "free zone" and some we pay for, since we have movie night every friday occasionally one of the kids will ask to pick a movie from the "on demand list" we have to tell them we cant aford it that week or that thier movie is not on the free zone list.
You know...I just looked at your son's age....I'm no longer sure. LOL. Now that you set the password..it should be fine, right? You took it away for a day. Case closed...how is that? lol. I was picturing on my two older kids....a 12 and 10 year old should be punished...but 8? When my son was 8 and it was only 2 years ago..I totally could see him making a mistake like that. How could he have purchased it so easily? Wasn't there a payment required or do you have a card associated with your game system? I'm thinking if it was as easy as clicking a button..then maybe you should let it go. LOL...so I'm on the fence. Don't make too much out of it. Explain it to him. If you had to pay for it..then have him do the dishes one night and you already took the system away. No biggie. I don't think you will do the wrong thing really.
He's 9 in a month. It is a one click, then a confirm click I think. But he was told before not to be in the psp store page (this was when he was begging for a different game, maybe last month. I didn't know you could set a password). So I believe I'm going to keep the psp today as a punishment for disobeying me on that part. But I do believe that he didn't mean to buy the game. He didn't even know it was on there (he tried to sneak the psp this morning and said that he doesn't even see it on there...which of course got the game gone for the entire day). And I'm going to tell him that it is one of his birthday presents, so he better enjoy it! lol. The kicker is that he already OWNS this game! He just lost it so a few days ago he was asking me if he could buy it. I said no way, you already have it and I'm not buying a game that you have just misplaced!
yeah...I'm leaning toward this. Sounds like he does need a firmer reminder...since you did mention not be on that page. I don't think you will go wrong if he really didn't mean to buy it.
I must be a soft touch. If it was unintentional, I would ensure my son understood there's a real cost associated with the mistake, but I would not punish him for it. Neither would I make him work to earn the lost cash - although one or two of my boys would have thought to do something anyway to make up for it.
If it was a true accident, not one that resulted from disobedience then I would not punish my son, however if the accident happened because he was doing something he knew he shouldn't be doing then he would be punished for the disobedient act not the accident. I give my children the benefit of the doubt where I can.
Then your soft touch works! Maybe a soft touch is what is needed at times. If we never display mercy, a child will not learn the value of it. Also, sometimes showing mercy challenges the child to act rather than be told what is going to happen....I did not word that right..but I hope the meaning is clear. So...I'm on the fence again. LOL. I keep going back and forth on this one. LOL. I have shown mercy many times on intentional mistakes...so maybe showing it on an unintentional mistake is merited. But don't listen to me...I think either approach would be fine.
Other than losing the game yesterday, I have taken it pretty easy on him. With all of the anger issues he has lately, and us constantly struggling, I decided that this wasn't one I was going to make a big deal over. I told him he lost it yesterday for 2 reasons. 1) he wasn't supposed to be on the store page and 2) he tried to sneak it yesterday morning. Thanks for all of your input!!
If you feel it was an honest mistake no. I think in addition to punishing our kids for every little bad behavior or accident it is also our job to teach them grace, mercy, forgiveness and love. This seems like a great time to go easy (if you think it was an honest mistake) and talk about grace and mercy and such. Just my 2 cents.
Autumn I think you did the right thing, we all make mistakes one way or another. He is young and yes taking it away for a day is long enough. I am a big softy. Just remind him that everytime he does that someone has to pay this time you will next time he will. Then drop it. Life goes one and we have to learn which battles are important. Your a great mom and whatever you do I know it will be right.
I would. I wold make it a lighter punishment-but I would. You ant him to rethink if he's on the cablebox, computer, or anything the next time. My kids hit things all the time on accident-when using the remote controls....they're not even supposed to HAVE the remotes, but yeah-I would give himn a lighter punishment.
Autumn, I think you did the right thing. Accidents happen. These computers, electronics, etc. do not come with a manual. Children learn how to use their PSP and other electronics by trial and error. Becuase of that there will be some mistakes that do cost money. Once I bought an item from Amazon with the "one-click shopping" button. I thought it would give me a chance to confirm. No! The item was bought. I didn't really want to buy that item. I should have known better. Sigh. That was definitely an error in my trial and error efforts.
For the record, you can cancel a one-click order from Amazon. I forget how long they give you - an hour, maybe? - but you can go into your account and cancel the order.
