Reply to Is a cell phone essential in middle school?

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[quote=Anonymous]I am struggling with this as my son is about to start 6th grade and will be across town on his own and it would be great to be able to communicate with him about whether he got himself to practice, where he's headed, what may have changed about pick up.
On the other hand, I think it's a great life skill (and one that people seem to have less and less due to smart phones and the ability to immediately change plans) to be able to make a plan for the day and stick to it (ie, ill meet you here at this time, etc).

When I was a kid, everyone just called each others land lines. I was talking on the phone with friends and making plans regularly by 4th/5th grade this way. In a sense i miss that entry point for elementary kids because its a low-stakes safe way to practice independence.

Due to the pandemic, my kids now have the ability to message friends via their computers and they seem to like that, but we still have very strict screen time rules. Laptops live downstairs and are locked down hardcore with parental controls.

My son has asked for a phone but hasn't pushed it hard (though I'm anticipating this will change when he starts middle school in the fall and is in person  amongst peers with phones.) I may set some goals and if he meets them then maybe he can earn a phone for 7th. We'll see.

My answer when my kids ask for a phone isn't a magical number or grade, but rather, "you'll get a phone when you need a phone".

I imagine it will be pretty clear to me as a parent when that time comes and we will go from there.[/quote]

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