Reply to Latchkey kid: Can I ask 10 year old to text me when he gets on the bus or home?

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Yep, texting an affirmative "I'm home safely." sort of message works. When I started doing this with DS, I put the fear of God in him by telling him that if I didn't get this or a call, the cops were getting called. [/quote]

This the problem. Any normal person would occasionally forget to text upon arrival, and would sometimes have the phone at the bottom of the backpack where they wouldn't hear it ring.  This would be true even of an adult, and surely true of any well-adjusted kid.  By demanding a text every time, you are setting yourself up for extreme anxiety on those occasions when the kid forgets - or setting your kid up for extreme uptightness to make sure he/she is perfect 100 percent of the time.

And remember, kids walked to school and looked after themselves for many years before cell phones existed.[/quote]

No. You entirely missed my point. The point was to make sure he remembered. I was single at the time. He was younger than some folks here would think appropriate. It worked. One the one or two occasions he forgot, I reached him. [/quote]

My kids are required to text me when they got home from school.  I would guess that the older ones forgot once or twice each.  I didn't panic because I am of the opinion that if there is a problem, I will learn of it pretty quickly.  But, I did talk to them about how it is common courtesy to let me know they are home since that is our agreement and their failure led me to worry unnecessarily.  That's not fair and they need to do better.  That's all it took for them to get consistent about letting me know.  We don't have to have a conversation - just a simple two word text.  So, OP, I don't see this as a problem.  However, I do agree with others who say that you will know if there is a problem.  If your kid misses the bus, he will call you.  If he doesn't arrive at school, the school will call you.  [/quote]

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