11, start of 6th grade. Rule following kid with screen time restrictions. Barely texts or calls anyone, but comes home before we do and no landline.

My oldest was 8th. I realized later that it came at a cost socially. Her friends were making plans throughout middle school by phone so she was often left out. Also there was a lot of FaceTiming etc she missed out on. I guess this could have been solved with an iPad but then an iPad has all the same risks as a phone. My 2nd and 3rd got them in 6th. All were responsible users but one of my kids had a “friend” borrow their phone and post on social media leading to a huge nightmare. So teach your kids never to let anybody touch their phone.

11th. Worst thing ever, but he needed a smartphone for one of his jobs since it required apps to be active during his shift. I would have held out until he left the house if I could have. No need for young kids to have constant screens at their disposal.

End of 7th grade. He already had an iPad for games and certain chat apps, so the phone wasn’t a big change.

Anonymous wrote:5th grade for DC1. It was an old iPhone 4 and we locked down everything on it. Couldn’t take to school until 8th.

6th grade for DC2 with a lot less restrictions than DC1 had. No issues with either kid.

Pathetic

Beginning of middle school - 7th grade here. No regrets yet (going into 10th).

Right before 6th grade. Public school.