Wait til 8th

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Truly the dumbest mainstream idea ever. Kinda like Australian govt recent decision to make it illegal for teens to access social media.

NOT that I disagree with the philosophy at all but in the real world we live in, this just isn't a viable solution.

My 14 yr old 8th grader has friends who received a phone in 8th and those who did not. We gave it to her at age 12. Most of her friends received no earlier than age 12. Those friends in 8th who don't have a phone tend to have a watch or something however. ALL have ipads.

Here's the thing: consider that your kid is the most important person to dictate whether they may or may not abuse their phone privileges. You as the parent have so much power to limit those privileges as well. Simply not giving them a phone is stupid. You need to communicate with them quite simply! It makes life easier not harder to do that.

Also, you can't stop a kid from being online. My daughter had a birthday at age 13 where I caught ALL 5 of her girlfriends sitting together and ALL on ipads! I took all of them and told them they don't get it back until end of party. It was unacceptable to me that they are online and not interacting with each other. 2 out of the 5 of those girls did not have a phone. I rest my case

If anything, start earlier in training your kid to manage tech. And I'm sorry but most parents have the same over use problem. It's hard for even adults to track overuse. BUT it's a personal decision. Meaning, if you are going to have a problem with tech, you will have one because of your personality. The fact that you are 13 or 14, 25 or 33 does not negate that. The problem is your personality, not your age! My son on the other hand at age 16 just simply does not have a prob with being on his phone all the time. He has a video game problem

So my point is, it's not 100% that your kid at age 11 or 12 or 14 cannot manage phone privileges. My point is that you have to find a way to teach your kid no matter what age to refrain from going psycho with phone usage. I find it actually easier starting earlier v. later. Also note that peer pressure of all their friends at 13 having a phone except them is just not being a cool parent They aren't going to stop gawking at their friends' phones. They simply will be the only one who can't call you when needed!!!

No phone doesn't mean they automatically have an iPad. I signed the pledge, but my kid also doesn't have a tablet, watch, or computer. Ok, he has a watch but it's analog. I can't control what happens when he goes to Mike's house, but if his parents were similarly low-tech, I certainly wouldn't have to worry what they are looking at on Mike's iPad at Mike's house. Or Josh's, or Rohan's, or Ryan's. I don't know why so many other parents want to give elementary aged kids screens, but it's really not necessary. I also don't buy the argument that giving DS access to his own tablet and smart watch at home at 10 years old will teach him to use tech responsibly at other kids' houses.

+1 I would have to wonder about any parent who thinks "wait until 8th" is the "dumbest idea ever." There are kids, even in high school, that don't have phones, because their parents are well-aware of the problems of too much digital technology. In my experience, the "low-tech kids" I've met seem happier and more social and well-read than the ones I know who are attached to their phones.