If your elementary kid walks to/from school without you, do they have a smart watch?

[Anonymous]

My kids don't have smart watches or phones, just regular analog watches. Their walk home is just under a mile and involves a traffic light intersection and multiple all-way stops. It's not isolated or dangerous. My 5th grader has been walking alone for a few years. My 2nd grader will walk home with his older brother. He is capable of walking home alone but is afraid of the traffic light intersection so he doesn't. My kindergartner still needs an adult because he has behavioral problems.

We identified a couple houses along the way that they could go to if they need emergency help. They know our address and my phone number. If they want to go to someone's house after school they'll either call me from the school phone (it's a low tech school so this is very normalized) or from the friend's parent's phone. I simply haven't seen the need to spend the money on multiple smartwatch plans to be able to send a couple texts per week max.