Please don't give your elementary school child a smart phone

[Anonymous]

I'm curious about 2 things:

1) OP, what school is your son in? I ask bc my son is a 5th grader at a close-in MoCo school, and he has ZERO interest in texting or a phone of any kind. In fact, a grandparent (who ironically has never used a computer or smart anything) gave him an Itouch/Ipod Touch/whatever it's called for Xmas and he hasn't even opened it. So where is it that the demon text is such a siren song to 10/11yos?

2) To the PP who said their child's school permits "research" via smart phones in class - really? WTF? That's insane. I'm guessing you're not in the DC area, but if that's a school policy anywhere in this area, I'd love to know where.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:My DD (now 7th grade) got an iPhone in the sixth grade. Because it made it easier to communicate. With my family plan, it costs $180/mo, not $700/mo.

Right now, with a smart phone, I can keep a better eye on my DD. It has parental controls. And it has tracking -- so I know where she is.

Learn to read. I said $700/year. Which is what it is.

$40 a month line access fee, plus $10 in taxes is $50 a month/$620 a year. Plus the cost of the phone.

I have att, a family dare plan, 10 gb shared data, then $15 per device, unlimited talk and text....

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not my problem that you "aren't ready." This is how things work today - deal with it or go off the grid.

Typical DC Asshole response. Try to do better by your kids, OK?

I think it's a lot more assholish to try to dictate what other people get for their children because they aren't secure enough in their decisions to deal with their child's whining. If OP was confident she was right, she would tell her child how it was and not care about the protests.

OP here. I did that. But I still resent the conflict being injected into my house by the inappropriate decisions of others.

And I resent other for judging everyone based on there own cocoon. You call it inappropriate, but you don't get to decide that for me. The conflict is your issue. Not mine.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Just because your kids weren't raised to the point that you can trust them has no bearing on me and mine. I gave my 1st grader a 5c iPhone so he has something for emergencies. It has been perfectly fine.

My youngest had an iPhone 4 in second grade. It was handed down to him when an older sibling upgraded to a newer iphone. He had that phone for three years - never lost it or broke it. When he was in fourth grade we switched to Republic and bought him a new phone. He is in sixth grade and still has that phone. Perfect condition, never lost.

His teachers even allow the kids to use their smart phones in the classroom for research. Times have changed. Most kids have Smartphones. You certainly shouldn't cave and buy your child one if it goes against your values. But I'm not changing the way I parent my kids simply because you don't think kids should have cell phones.

what school is this? My DC is in a gifted program, and no one uses a smart phone for research. They do go to a computer lab for research, and at home, DC uses the laptop that's parked in the living room where I can see what DC is doing at all times. And no, most ES kids do not have smartphones, except for maybe the ones in the extremely wealthy areas, which is a bubble with little view to the "outside" world, or how the rest of the 99% of people live, clearly.

[Anonymous]

We are MoCo and my kids use their smartphones for research in school.

[Anonymous]

We are in FCPS and my kids use their smartphones (as well as their tablets) for research in school. FCPS has a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy.

http://www.fcps.edu/it/byod/

[Anonymous]

Yep, BYOD (bring your own device) is pretty standard across the DC area and the country. My kids use their smartphones in class all the time for research (FCPS Middle school).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yep, BYOD (bring your own device) is pretty standard across the DC area and the country. My kids use their smartphones in class all the time for research (FCPS Middle school).

Not in MoCo.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm curious about 2 things:

1) OP, what school is your son in? I ask bc my son is a 5th grader at a close-in MoCo school, and he has ZERO interest in texting or a phone of any kind. In fact, a grandparent (who ironically has never used a computer or smart anything) gave him an Itouch/Ipod Touch/whatever it's called for Xmas and he hasn't even opened it. So where is it that the demon text is such a siren song to 10/11yos?

2) To the PP who said their child's school permits "research" via smart phones in class - really? WTF? That's insane. I'm guessing you're not in the DC area, but if that's a school policy anywhere in this area, I'd love to know where.

You have to have friends to want to text.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting that people see the smart phone kids and the kids who text as automatically the wealthy ones.

My kid has a Smart phone. It cost $39.99. It's on a pay as you go plan with unlimited texting. If I had gotten him a "dumb phone", I would have saved about $10 on the phone, but be about another $10 a month to move up to a plan with more minutes, because we wouldn't be able to do most of our communication by text.

He has a Smart phone because he doesn't have the luxury of a parent at home, and so he's on his own a lot, including transporting himself by public bus. We don't have a landline, for budgetary reasons.

I have trouble with the family with the SAHM (a luxury we could never afford) and the house with the landline (which costs $) who drive their kid everywhere, pronouncing that kids don't "need" phones.

As a sahm, depending on the age of the child it is very appropiate to drive your child or it is neglect. If I have to pick up my kid, then yes it is appropiate if I am running a minute late or she is not where she should be. A home phone is for safety. We have one. We have limited minutes on our cell and do not use them as a primary phone. I do not want everyone having that much access to me. If my cell is not charged we need a way to call 911. Our cell phone battery life sucks. A land line is not that expensive on the whole.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yep, BYOD (bring your own device) is pretty standard across the DC area and the country. My kids use their smartphones in class all the time for research (FCPS Middle school).

Not in MoCo.

Well, many other schools systems across the United States have BYOD policies. Several are cited in this article from September 2012:

http://blog.sharpschool.com/edtech-watch/10-districts-going-byod-this-year-2/

This is the Older Kids and Teenagers forum, correct? Therefore posts are not centered solely on MoCo, correct?

[Anonymous]

Oh, my! Montgomery County does have BYOD in place for some schools. I stand corrected!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/stem/schools-move-toward-bring-your-own-device-practices-to-boost-student-tech-use/2014/09/14/4d1e3232-393e-11e4-9c9f-ebb47272e40e_story.html

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I think it's interesting that people see the smart phone kids and the kids who text as automatically the wealthy ones.

My kid has a Smart phone. It cost $39.99. It's on a pay as you go plan with unlimited texting. If I had gotten him a "dumb phone", I would have saved about $10 on the phone, but be about another $10 a month to move up to a plan with more minutes, because we wouldn't be able to do most of our communication by text.

He has a Smart phone because he doesn't have the luxury of a parent at home, and so he's on his own a lot, including transporting himself by public bus. We don't have a landline, for budgetary reasons.

I have trouble with the family with the SAHM (a luxury we could never afford) and the house with the landline (which costs $) who drive their kid everywhere, pronouncing that kids don't "need" phones.

As a sahm, depending on the age of the child it is very appropiate to drive your child or it is neglect. If I have to pick up my kid, then yes it is appropiate if I am running a minute late or she is not where she should be. A home phone is for safety. We have one. We have limited minutes on our cell and do not use them as a primary phone. I do not want everyone having that much access to me. If my cell is not charged we need a way to call 911. Our cell phone battery life sucks. A land line is not that expensive on the whole.

Wow. You missed the point.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not my problem that you "aren't ready." This is how things work today - deal with it or go off the grid.

Typical DC Asshole response. Try to do better by your kids, OK?

I think it's a lot more assholish to try to dictate what other people get for their children because they aren't secure enough in their decisions to deal with their child's whining. If OP was confident she was right, she would tell her child how it was and not care about the protests.

OP here. I did that. But I still resent the conflict being injected into my house by the inappropriate decisions of others.

And I resent other for judging everyone based on there own cocoon. You call it inappropriate, but you don't get to decide that for me. The conflict is your issue. Not mine.

Exactly. I could care less whether or not you get your kid a smart phone but you don't get to decide what is and is not appropriate for everyone else.

I'm S. Korean and every one has a smartphone by the time they are 8 yrs old if not sooner.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Not my problem that you "aren't ready." This is how things work today - deal with it or go off the grid.

Typical DC Asshole response. Try to do better by your kids, OK?

I think it's a lot more assholish to try to dictate what other people get for their children because they aren't secure enough in their decisions to deal with their child's whining. If OP was confident she was right, she would tell her child how it was and not care about the protests.

OP here. I did that. But I still resent the conflict being injected into my house by the inappropriate decisions of others.

And I resent other for judging everyone based on there own cocoon. You call it inappropriate, but you don't get to decide that for me. The conflict is your issue. Not mine.

Exactly. I could care less whether or not you get your kid a smart phone but you don't get to decide what is and is not appropriate for everyone else.

I'm S. Korean and every one has a smartphone by the time they are 8 yrs old if not sooner.

I'm S. Korean, too, and my 9 yr old does not have a smart or dumb phone, and neither do any of my Korean friends' kids.