Phones and tweens
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Anonymous
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My kid got an Apple watch the summer before 7th, and I'm not sure we'll upgrade to a phone before 9th.
Most, but definitely not all, friends have phones that are locked down to varying degrees. |
Anonymous
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We got both of our middle schoolers phones when they started 6th grade because they would be riding their bikes 2 miles to school. We wanted to be able to track them down - we live in a neighborhood where kids wander all around on their bikes.
They have a lot of parental controls on their phones so they rarely use them except to text their friends on the weekends, listen to music/audiobooks, or call us for rides. No social media, very few apps, etc. |
Anonymous
| Your kid walking or biking to school doesn’t not mean they need a phone. Parents are crazy now |
Anonymous
Agree. And these crazy parents will surely raise even crazier / mentally-ill, offspring. |
Anonymous
Couldn't you just not let them bring it to school? Alternatively lock it down so it doesn't work during school hours? |
Anonymous
| Our school has a policy that devices need to be stored in the lockers or backpacks and off. If on, they will be confiscated and parents need to pick up the device. We gave our child an apple watch. She walks home alone as well as has extracurriculars she travels to by herself. Having the ability to communicate with her for pick up, drop off, and when plans change has been helpful. She certainly could borrow someone else's device if she needed to reach us, though. If it does not seem to make sense for your family to give a device, don't let them guilt you into doing so. They will survive. |
Anonymous
| My kid seemed to want to phone at that age, she had an iPad with an iCloud account for texting. Now nearing the end of seventh grade she’s going to get a phone and I know she’s super excited but in someways I think she’s probably not to have had one before. to me it just seems like a massive temptation for everything in the world in your pocket. I never wanted to unleash that on anyone. |
Anonymous
| My sixth grader has a Troomi phone - text, photos, maps, but no Internet access. I's worked very well as a communication device only, great starter phone. |
Anonymous
Do any of you have middle school kids? They almost all have phones, at least in 7th and 8th grade. Mine actually doesn't, but it's more common to have one than not. |
Anonymous
That doesn't mean it's not crazy. So much research coming out about the negative effects on mental health. |
Anonymous
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My kid got one for her 11th birthday ( summer) for MS. I would say in 6th the majority of kids have them. We have set rules around it though that haven’t changed from the beginning.
It hasn’t been an issue for us yet. I hate seeing kids walking around with phones in their hands, on them at the table in restaurants etc, but we don’t allow that so it’s not an issue. |
Anonymous
| My kid reacted the same way, but I stood my ground and they have been totally fine in 6th grade with just an Apple Watch. I see no reason to give them a phone until end of 8th or beginning of 9th. There really is nothing good for them about having an iPhone in middle school. |
Anonymous
This. |
Anonymous
| I was with you until my kid went to 6th. We didn’t even get them an Apple Watch before 6th. It was a total meltdown first day of school when they came home and literally everyone except two people had a phone. Might not be as big of an issue since your kid has a watch, but the vast majority of kids at our middle have iPhone. |
Anonymous
Not true at my kid’s school. They have to stay in the locker all day. |