Reply to Any reason NOT to get my 9 year old fitbit?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]We got the Garmin Vivofit for our 8y old last Christmas. He wears it everyday and never takes it off - except for showers. He just looks at it for the number of steps he gets (he gets far more in school that I do at work!) and is always trying to beat his 'record.' :) And he competes with his sitter for the number of steps they get.

It has worked great for my kid.
[/quote]

This. My 7 year old begged for a month straight and also offered to use his savings. Bought it in January and he is still very much in love with it. In fact, there has not been one toy/item that has kept his interest like his Fitbit. We have daily challenges with DS, DH, cousins and aunts/uncles. My DS usually beats us all every day. He has been very responsible with it. Takes it off before showering (even though it's resistant). He got bummed last sat when we had to leave for baseball game and it was still charging. Equally bummed when I told him it would be best to leave it home this summer during camp as they will be swimming/lake most days. I never thought I'd say it has been the best purchase we've made for him to date. [/quote]

I'm sorry this just sounds really unhealthy to me. You have the family competing against each other and your 7 year-old wins? This is a perfect illustration to me of why I would never get a fitbit for a child this age. The thing is set up to maximize, maximize, maximize. It just encourages the child to run those numbers up as high as possible. This can lead to very unhealthy practices. These are young children. They should not be trying to meet a randomly chosen number every day. What about days when they don't make their goal? Have they failed? Plus it undermines a practice that is incredibly important for athletes, to listen to their bodies when determining exercise levels. Finally, if its all about the numbers it just robs children of the joy of moving. I didn't think there were any more ways to rob them of their childhoods but this seems to be a new one.

Children are not mini-adults.[/quote]

I am the poster with the 8y old. The parents don't compete. I probably get in 1/3 of the steps my kid gets - I work full time so whatever steps I get are just from me being at work. He just likes to look at mine and his and say, "I won again today!"  He is in school all day so it isn't like he is outside running laps to increase him number. But between recess, walking around school, and playing outside in aftercare, he routinely gets around 8000-9000 steps. He isn't a slave to the Fitbit and if he was pushing himself to excess, I would certainly stop it and take it away, but he isn't.

In no way is my kid a mini-adult.[/quote]

Original PP with 7 year old. Yes, we are pretty competitive in our household. My son especially loves to beat dad and we are all pretty fit and active. We race putting our seatbelts on, brushing teeth and doing chores. I would definitely say it's friendly and not intense. My kid doesn't get upset when he loses a seatbelt challenge or a baseball game. He doesn't have a goal each day as far as numbers go, just to get more than dad (they both beat me). DS gets about 11-12k on school day with school aftercare and playing outside for 30 minutes. He gets 12-15k on days with practices or games. DH averages 9-10k and I am at about 8-9k. This summer we are doing a family challenge to see who is going to read the most books. Feel free to diagree about competition but it works for our family.[/quote]

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