Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please don’t do this to your kid.

It’s better than giving them a smartphone.

OP, look into Gabb or Bark or other phones that are safe for kids.

Why is it better than giving them a smart phone?

Anonymous wrote:this is an embarassment. get an apple watch

This. Got my kid an Apple Watch with its own cellular number in 2nd grade, works fine now in 5th grade. His friends went through two different gizmo watches, which are more bulky, less features, integration with my phone much worse etc. the cost is about the same.

It can call, text, track and that’s all we really need, anything else can be done on iPad. Also a nice feature, you can take FaceTime call on the watch and cell phone calls on the iPad, it really is a seamless integration within the Apple ecosystem.

Anonymous wrote:I would steer away from a flip phone and instead do something like a dumb phone or a watch focused on likes. Gabb and another company I can't remember right now make the watches and market them as a better first alternative to a phone. The dumb phones do what a flip phone would do but look more modern (albeit more expensive).

'

*oops - meant a watch focused on kids

I would steer away from a flip phone and instead do something like a dumb phone or a watch focused on likes. Gabb and another company I can't remember right now make the watches and market them as a better first alternative to a phone. The dumb phones do what a flip phone would do but look more modern (albeit more expensive).

this is an embarassment. get an apple watch

nokia. best phone ever. Got mine in '87 and haven't looked back since.

We ordered the one T-Mobile had in stock without Internet capability. it was glitchy and frustrating for him to text on so he like others predicted never charged shit or bothered to take it with him. He then moved onto an apple watch, which also had service issues I just gave got an iPhone with strict rules and parental controls. It hasn’t been a problem yet.

Anonymous wrote:Have you found any? We ordered the one our carrier had available and it didn’t work.

We haven't made a purchase yet -- I'm still trying to figure out what to buy. What phone did you purchase, and with what carrier did it fail to work? Are you trying to use a text/voice only monthly plan?

Have you found any? We ordered the one our carrier had available and it didn’t work.

Anonymous wrote:If it has lasted and worked fairly well, can you post what they have? Thanks.

I realize this is an old post, but I'm curious what flip phone you settled on? I'm going to use the same approach for my 11-year-old. My plan is to use the phone with a voice/text plan. So no data. I see no reason to include data. The phone is for emergency use -- so that we have a means of communicating if the after-school schedule unexpectedly shifts.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thanks dcum for mostly not answering the question, but giving advice that no one asked for. Why would you ask your kids what they want re technology. You are the parent. Here is what for all those who asked: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/12/1187130983/smartphone-tween-safe-alternatives?utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwAR2Vz3sLRUUbWgO7_2pxWc7kneXv5T6LznwptTavSDvS3JFC8jQ3VgFpEbw_aem_AX3bSkNMIl_qf_ADAtEmuzNqkqzf67w80St2NhbOqK6eGKIIH-tM-pzauZhQ6r8lQGI&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

I think these kinds of articles are overblown. I know plenty of tweens and teens who know how to put the phone down to get work done, limit social media use, etc. I will say that most of these kids are motivated to succeed and so don’t want to waste their time on their phones.

This sounds like you know 2 or 3 teens who put their phones down out of all of them, so maybe 3 out of 100 teens can put their phones down throughout a normal day.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks dcum for mostly not answering the question, but giving advice that no one asked for. Why would you ask your kids what they want re technology. You are the parent. Here is what for all those who asked: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/12/1187130983/smartphone-tween-safe-alternatives?utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwAR2Vz3sLRUUbWgO7_2pxWc7kneXv5T6LznwptTavSDvS3JFC8jQ3VgFpEbw_aem_AX3bSkNMIl_qf_ADAtEmuzNqkqzf67w80St2NhbOqK6eGKIIH-tM-pzauZhQ6r8lQGI&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

I think these kinds of articles are overblown. I know plenty of tweens and teens who know how to put the phone down to get work done, limit social media use, etc. I will say that most of these kids are motivated to succeed and so don’t want to waste their time on their phones.

Anonymous wrote:Flip phones are preferred by some older Gen Z (and Millennial) kids - who want to keep their lives off of the internet and live IRL.

Your tween may not be there yet but flip phones are making somewhat of a comeback now.

Lol, that never happened. I hear couches with floral patterns, covered in Saran Wrap are making somewhat of a comeback too.

Flip phones are preferred by some older Gen Z (and Millennial) kids - who want to keep their lives off of the internet and live IRL.

Your tween may not be there yet but flip phones are making somewhat of a comeback now.

Anonymous wrote:Thanks dcum for mostly not answering the question, but giving advice that no one asked for. Why would you ask your kids what they want re technology. You are the parent. Here is what for all those who asked: https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2023/07/12/1187130983/smartphone-tween-safe-alternatives?utm_term=nprnews&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&fbclid=IwAR2Vz3sLRUUbWgO7_2pxWc7kneXv5T6LznwptTavSDvS3JFC8jQ3VgFpEbw_aem_AX3bSkNMIl_qf_ADAtEmuzNqkqzf67w80St2NhbOqK6eGKIIH-tM-pzauZhQ6r8lQGI&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

Well, you must be a little slow if you don’t see how an Apple Watch has about the same features as a flip phone in a different form factor.

Of course you ask your kids what they want, you’re not a little iron fist dictator of the family. Won’t they decide for themselves what clothes to wear, what food they want to eat, present they want to get etc, what classes to take? Not saying they decide everything, but they should have some input.

Yes, the big fears of our youth being corrupted and ruined. Before cell phones it was video games, television, swing dancing etc. in Middle Ages it was books, during Socrates times it was philosophy. Somehow though, every generation has young people doing great things, in spite of the fears of their grandpas.