Does your riding 6th grader in public school have a phone?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, my rising 7th grader doesn’t. Most of his friends are in the neighborhood so he makes plans with them in person. [/quot

I'm always surprised how few kids now a days don't have neighbor friends anymore.

[Anonymous]

Yes, just got her one. I’d say more than half of her friends have them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, my rising 7th grader doesn’t. Most of his friends are in the neighborhood so he makes plans with them in person. [/quot

I'm always surprised how few kids now a days don't have neighbor friends anymore.

Our neighborhood is crawling with kids and they are typically tight through high school.

I see kids not have neighborhood friends in the large homes, big lots and busy streets. These are great scenes for playing outside and big lots means less homes that are often out of sight line for parents.

Even our friends that live in apartments have building friends.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes - that's how all the kids in this area plan to meet up. They are at the age where they plan their own meet ups - and they do it by text.

If you kid doesn't have a phone, how to they meet up with their friends?

On Chat or by asking parent to text friend's parent.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, my rising 7th grader doesn’t. Most of his friends are in the neighborhood so he makes plans with them in person. [/quot

I'm always surprised how few kids now a days don't have neighbor friends anymore.

Lots of kids have neighborhood friends due to ease and proximity when they are younger and when older the criteria for being friends changes. Pretty typical. By middle school most kids are not friends with who happens to live 2 doors down. Was true back even in the "olden times".

[Anonymous]

6th grade is when my kids got their first phone because they take public transportation.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes - that's how all the kids in this area plan to meet up. They are at the age where they plan their own meet ups - and they do it by text.

If you kid doesn't have a phone, how to they meet up with their friends?

On Chat or by asking parent to text friend's parent.

I do not want to be making plans for my rising 7th grader. No thanks.

[Anonymous]

MCPS parent and yes, they now have a phone.

[Anonymous]

No, she doesn’t. It’s bad for their brains, truly. We will wait till 8th grade or beyond.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Got a phone in 5th. Need a way to contact us if the bus is late, or if he wants to stop in to see a friend.

He doesn't "need" a phone for either of those scenarios. Land the helicopter.

You wouldn't be saying that if your kid was on lockdown in a classroom and you got to speak with them one last time because they had a cell phone.

Also, a friend of my parents, their granddaughter passed unexpectedly. They contacted my parents because they know I do digital forensics work and have the software to bypass pin codes to get into phones. The mom thought she knew her daughter's pin but she had changed it. Anyway, unlocking the phone was unlocking a whole world for the parents and grandparents. They had access to thousands of photos she'd taken, videos, drafts in her Instagram and TikTok accounts, all the text messages between friends, notes, etc. That mom had been on the fence about letting her daughter have a phone before 8th grade but in the end, what she got from the phone made her change her mind and she bought her 5th and 6th graders phones the next day.

All of my kids got a phone the summer before 6th grade. That's when most of their friends did as well. Some got them in 5th grade, too.

These have got to be the weakest arguments and most random reasons I have ever heard on the topic.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:No, my rising 7th grader doesn’t. Most of his friends are in the neighborhood so he makes plans with them in person. [/quot

I'm always surprised how few kids now a days don't have neighbor friends anymore.

Lots of kids have neighborhood friends due to ease and proximity when they are younger and when older the criteria for being friends changes. Pretty typical. By middle school most kids are not friends with who happens to live 2 doors down. Was true back even in the "olden times".

Guess I was really lucky that didn't happen to me, at least not until high school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Got a phone in 5th. Need a way to contact us if the bus is late, or if he wants to stop in to see a friend.

He doesn't "need" a phone for either of those scenarios. Land the helicopter.

I'm sorry -- did you think I was asking you for your opinion?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:No, she doesn’t. It’s bad for their brains, truly. We will wait till 8th grade or beyond.

Social media and game apps are bad for their brains. A telephone is not. The problem isn't the phone/text, it's that parents turn over the entire internet when they hand their child an iPhone or iPad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Got a phone in 5th. Need a way to contact us if the bus is late, or if he wants to stop in to see a friend.

He doesn't "need" a phone for either of those scenarios. Land the helicopter.

I'm sorry -- did you think I was asking you for your opinion?

I wonder why you are feeling so defensive.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes. Got a phone in 5th. Need a way to contact us if the bus is late, or if he wants to stop in to see a friend.

He doesn't "need" a phone for either of those scenarios. Land the helicopter.

You wouldn't be saying that if your kid was on lockdown in a classroom and you got to speak with them one last time because they had a cell phone.

Also, a friend of my parents, their granddaughter passed unexpectedly. They contacted my parents because they know I do digital forensics work and have the software to bypass pin codes to get into phones. The mom thought she knew her daughter's pin but she had changed it. Anyway, unlocking the phone was unlocking a whole world for the parents and grandparents. They had access to thousands of photos she'd taken, videos, drafts in her Instagram and TikTok accounts, all the text messages between friends, notes, etc. That mom had been on the fence about letting her daughter have a phone before 8th grade but in the end, what she got from the phone made her change her mind and she bought her 5th and 6th graders phones the next day.

All of my kids got a phone the summer before 6th grade. That's when most of their friends did as well. Some got them in 5th grade, too.

Wait, what? Are you saying you gave your 9-10 yo a phone and expected them to be able to freely access
it in their elementary class?