When did your DC get a smartphone?

[Anonymous]

6th for one, start of middle school. 5th for the other, but that’s bc it was 2020 and weird times.

Almost all get one in 6th here, a few stragglers in 7th. The 6th graders who don’t have iPads they use for group texts (at that point, may as well get them a phone and be able to call them when out of the house bc an lpad gives them the same access to the internet )

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:https://www.cnn.com/2024/04/16/health/cell-phones-jonathan-haidt-wellness/index.html

This author recommends holding off until high school.

I am only 40 pages into this book and already recommend it. Some sobering info/stats in there.

We are not iPhone people, and as of last summer at least, android/pixel did not do stand alone smart watches. We got our 6th grader a pixel watch, and got the accompanying phone for free with a promotion and keep it at home as a land line. He sometimes uses the phone to respond to a text after he gets home, but rarely does.

Our plan is to hold off on letting that be 'his phone' for a few more years.

Luckily his DCPS middle school takes all phones and watches as kids arrive and hands them out at dismissal so that's at least 7-8 hours a day nobody has access.

Don't even get me started on that topic that has been discussed on here before about group texts between iPhone and non-iphone users. Luckily my son is not interested in texting much yet, but the exclusion by type of phone is real!

My kid has a stand alone Android watch, if by stand alone you mean not needing to be in close proximity to a cell phone to work. There is a cell phone that can use the same number but that stays home with parents and the watch is what goes to school and out and about.