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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]My husband has a 13 year old daughter, and lately she’s been begging him to buy her a new iPhone. He keeps saying no. She gets really upset—crying, yelling, saying all her friends have one and she feels left out and even bullied.

[b]Right now she doesn’t have any personal devices, just TV at home.[/b] I get why he’s strict, but I also remember being that age, and how important it felt to stay connected to friends. I also think about safety and being able to reach her.

Sometimes she asks to use my phone to message her friends, and I’ve let her. Well today, she took my phone to school and was on social media during class, first thing in the morning. The school contacted my husband, and now he’s furious. Her school doesn’t allow kids to use phones, so now she’s in trouble with the school. My husband went to the school to pick up the phone early, and instead of handing the phone to me, he threw the phone in an another direction. He grounded her (which consists of writing repeating phrases, no electronics, no hangouts, nothing, only homework), and is also really upset with me, giving us both the cold shoulder.

I didn’t know she took it this morning—I would not have allowed that. But I also get that me letting her use my phone at all probably led to this.

What should I do now? How do I fix things with my husband, and also handle this going forward? Do all 13 year olds have phones? Shes insistent.[/quote]

There has to be more to this story.

Where is the mom in the picture? Have you met her? I almost wonder if he kidnapped his daughter and is isolating her so mom can’t track her down

“ Right now she doesn’t have any personal devices, just TV at home.”[/quote]
I’m actually pretty close with her mom and we talk frequently. My husband and she, on the other hand, really struggle to get along—they tend to clash—so I usually handle most of the communication with her. Her mom feels strongly that her daughter should have an iPhone, but with restrictions in place for safety. My husband, on the other hand, is hesitant about her having a phone at all and would prefer to wait until she’s 16–18. We’re trying to find some kind of compromise. She’s in 7th grade, doesn’t care much about general screen time, and mostly just wants a way to text her friends. She does enjoy watching TV shows, though.[/quote]

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