flip-phone for 6th grader -- curious for your thoughts

[Anonymous]

My wife would like to give my 6th-grade daughter a smart phone, but in my view all that she needs is a flip-phone that allows her to send texts. This is sufficient so that we can communicate with her when she is at events or sports practices after school. I'm worried that a smart phone will be a distraction while at school.

I realize that there are phones like Bark that whose features can be controlled by parents, but, if we were to use Bark, I would simply turn off the data plan most of the time, thereby reducing it to a text-only phone.

Curious for your thoughts on this issue -- for a 6th grader, what type of phone is appropriate? Is a text-only phone sufficient?

[Anonymous]

Honestly, I would not bother. Just get her an old iPhone and use screentime to remove all the features you don’t want her to have. You can remove internet access altogether and disallow the downloading of apps. Is fairly easy and straightforward. Texting is easier and more user friendly on smartphones. If you go that route, you can allow additional features later on and not have to purchase a new phone.

[Anonymous]

It’s damn near impossible to text on a flip
Phone. You will end up replacing it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s damn near impossible to text on a flip
Phone. You will end up replacing it.

Also the kids mostly text via apps, not SMS

[Anonymous]

Flip phones all can connect to the internet these days.

[Anonymous]

Depending on your kid's commute to school, it's likely worth it to get an apple watch or a refurbished iphone. The security of being able to send money, track them, get a hold of them, and also being able to block and set screentime is really useful. I thought we would wait for 8th grade for a phone, but the middle school commute made it really valuable for our peace of mind.

[Anonymous]

No. Smartphone with Screentime monitoring & Internet disabled, phone charges in parents room at night, and open access for parents- can check anytime, is what I’d do for a 6th grader. Fyi you can remotely turn even texts etc off during school hours if you like…can essentially control her own phone from your own. I’m not even sure flip phones allow that but IDK

[Anonymous]

My now 6th grader got an iPhone for her birthday this summer. It’s been fine for us so far. Most ( not all) if the kids in her grade have regular phones. It’s handy when she needs to look things up on google too which she couldn’t do on a flip phone.
She hasn’t taken it to school but if she did it has to be in her locker all day. If she caught with it a parent has to go pick it up. She is at a K-8, not sure what the phone rules are in public school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Depending on your kid's commute to school, it's likely worth it to get an apple watch or a refurbished iphone. The security of being able to send money, track them, get a hold of them, and also being able to block and set screentime is really useful. I thought we would wait for 8th grade for a phone, but the middle school commute made it really valuable for our peace of mind.

Yep. I like the ability to track location, screentime monitoring features and Apple Cash. Makes my life easier.

[Anonymous]

+1 on iPhone and use family monitoring. She can’t have access to anything that you turn off. You can even turn off safari. The one bug to that to be aware of is that apparently if you have the app your kid can download it without permission if you’re on the family plan. But you can delete it and/or just cut off access to it.
They can’t download any apps without your permission.
You can set total screen time limits, limits for particular apps, limits by time of day.
Location Tracking is great.
Charging at night not in their room. You have the Pw and can check at any time.

[Anonymous]

OP this was my idea too in 6th grade. My kid refused to use the flip phone. Said it was so embarrassing he would never ever get it out in front of anyone. Said he would get made fun of by other kids. It was buried deep in his bag and maybe once or twice he was desperate to reach us for his own reasons and he would hide in a bathroom or go somewhere alone and call. It was useless to reach him. And no my kid was generally not difficult or a jerk or entitled. The reaction surprised me at the time.

We did a very stripped down phone. You can disable it during the school day other than messaging you during the school day.

[Anonymous]

We bought a flip phone for $80. For $7/month, it serves as the backup "Jerk Phone". If my kids lose phone privileges, they carry the Jerk Phone for the day. They can call me/I can call them but that's it, which is really all they NEED (vs. what they WANT). My 8th grader is about to carry it to school for the next 2 weeks since he has been late to school and got detention. Tardiness was directly related to spending too much time in the morning/walking on his phone.

[Anonymous]

Apple Watch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:It’s damn near impossible to text on a flip
Phone. You will end up replacing it.

OP here. What about a SmartPhone with a text-only plan? With this arrangement, would I still be able to track my child's location? Or is it essential to have a plan with data in order to track a phone's location?

[Anonymous]

My kid is in college now but I just found her old "first phone" that I got for the same reason - texting/calling only, no internet (had a slide out keyboard.) You know what happened? She never charged the thing because she didn't see it as a "real phone", so it ended up being pretty useless. Much better to have a device they will value with strict parent controls on it. Honestly I have lost track of how controls work because my kids are older, but I think that tech just continues to improve.