anyone delay getting a cell phone to 7th grade or beyond?

[Anonymous]

We did dumb phone in 7th, hand-me-down smart phone in 8th. Would definitely not rush it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My DD really needs a phone in HS and we got her one in 7th...
In retrospect wish we had waited until 8th... DD in 9th uses her phone way too much but it's hard to control as she uses it for all her school classes.

Um, no. She really wants it, but she doesn't really need it.

[Anonymous]

I think it's fine in theory, but just know, when your kid uses my kid's phone to sign into their Instagram/Snapchat/etc account that you forbid them from having, I'm not going to tattle on them for you.

My kids have several friends who do this. Their parents think they are so smart with not having to deal with "all that social media nonsense" when really they look like uninformed fools who have no idea what their kids are posting. So instead of having a rule that you get your kid's password or being able to have tracking software, you're just in the dark.

[Anonymous]

my son got a flip phone in 7th grade. he upgraded to my old iPhone this year, 8th grade. he really only uses it to text me and a few friends and sometimes look things up. not all involved with social media at all. not an issue.

[Anonymous]

My 7th grader and 4th grader have iPod Touches, so they can text and FaceTime only if connected to WiFi. It works as my son's middle school now has reliable WiFi so he can text for a ride if he needs to stay late. Our rule is no phone with data until after 8th grade graduation. My 9th grader has a phone now and we let him use Snapchat. I think that it was good for him not to have social media during middle school, but high school is still an experiment...he does not always make the best decisions with what he posts (for example, photo of my husband's dive knife).

[Anonymous]

I got my first phone at 11 in 2011. You parents are weird.

Understand that any child can access the same content on a computer or tablet that they can on a phone, so there's no use in waiting. There are even apps where you can text over wifi on a tablet, computer, or ipod touch

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:My 5th grade b/g twins don't have cell phones. Originally I had said we'd get them phones for middle school but now I'm hoping to delay them another few years.
As it stands, they walk home from school with friends several days per week. If they need to call me after school (exceedingly rare) they borrow a friends' phone or call from the school office.
They're both in travel sports so they're busy most afternoons. After practice they come home and do homework. On the weekends they have a ton of sleepovers and play dates so they're very social kids. I know they're exposed to things on friends' phones but I
really don't want them on Instagram constantly like I see so many kids. Am I being realistic? Anyone else delay phones or at least smart phones until 7th grade+?

We held out until 9th grade, at this point it became logistically necessary because I was no longer picking DC up after school. And the iPhone shares apps with the family so DC can not load Instagram, Snapchat, Kik, etc. unless I allow it. Which I do not.