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

Forum Index » Elementary School-Aged Kids

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

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]This is our plan, so that we can track our kid's location and they could text us if there was any problem. I'm assuming this is what everyone does? Just curious how other people handle this transition.[/quote]

I walked to school every day in 4th-6th grade. I didn’t have a smart watch, although once for my birthday I got a calculator watch and that was totally badass.

In any case, I’m still here.

What, exactly, do you think is going to happen if they walk to school without a smart watch?[/quote]

OP here. I walked to school alone starting in 1st grade and didn't have a phone or anything (80s/90s). I was also a latchkey kid.

But back then pay phones were more readily available, and it would have been fine for me to go into a store and ask to use the phone to call my parents if I needed to. That's not true now. Also I actually think it might have been good for me if I'd had a bit more accountability/connectivity back then. Sure, I became very independent very early. But I also learned the lesson that my parents weren't really a resource for me when I struggled, which I think was kind of dysfunctional.

I also view the watch as something that could help create more independence. Eventually she could text me and maybe meet me somewhere other than home, since I work in the neighborhood. Or she could use it to see if she could go to a friend's house after school instead of home, that kind of thing.

I don't get what the problem is, other than wanting to limit tech for kids, which I agree with. But the gizmo watches are really basic and you can limit who kids can text on them and monitor everything really easily.[/quote]

I think there is value is learning to rely on yourself that we are not allowing our kids anymore. If something goes wrong- who should you ask for help, where do you go, etc. [b]I always tell my kids that any mom will have a phone if you need to call me. [/b]

I don’t know much about the gizmo watch- but the Apple Watches are awful. I run two Girl Scout troops, and the girls with watches, from a young age were distracted by texts and notifications. We always out cell phones away, but that’s harder with a watch. Additionally, my daughter has told me before that her friends with watches could do all kinds of stuff even though they were in “school mode.”  I just don’t love such a distracting thing being attached to my (or my kids’) bodies.

Having said that- in your case with a more urban area, I can see where safety would outweigh the other negatives. We will probably still prefer a dumb phone in your case, but I understand wanting them to have a way to contact you[/quote]

The bolded is simply not universally true. Also there aren't moms everywhere. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics