Anonymous wrote:I’m told “everyone” gets them after fifth grade graduation. Public school in Potomac. My kids are younger so I can’t verify.

Like I give a shit what "everyone" does.

Anonymous wrote:
Most 6th graders have phones, heck half the 5th graders have phones.

That should NOT change your plans. My son got a phone when he needed one and not a minute before, in 8th grade.

I agree with this. Most will have them. But do what you think is best as a parent based on your child's/family needs and what feels right to you as a parent. Some kids in MS have an iTouch or iPad with text and web capability when on wifi. My kid had a phone early (6th grade) b/c she travels for sports without us. I want her to be able to call or text us from anywhere.

My kid says she's the only 8th grader who isn't allowed to have Snapchat. Oh well. I guess I'm the mean mom. She has Insta and has shown a tendency to seek validation there - that worries me. And I will continue to monitor her text and social media - she knows this.

It's helpful to know what others are doing, but ultimately, do what you think is right as a parent - every kid/family is different.

Neither my 6th nor 7th grader have phones. Most of their friends, but not all, have them. But so what? Do what you think is right. I see absolutely no point in my kids getting a phone now so I haven't gotten them one. Probably will get the older one a phone on 8th as he'll be riding metro on his own.

My dd is in 6th and almost every kid has a phone. She does not. We decided that we would wait until she’s 13 and we are sticking to it. We have older kids and wished we would’ve made them wait a little longer.

DS is in 6th and has a flip phone. He doesn't take it to school, and, even if he did, he would be required to leave it in the office in the morning and pick it up in the afternoon under school rules (parochial school). Call/text only, no data. I got it for him because I'm the only one available in the evenings to run my kids to practices and wanted him to be able to reach me if I was somewhere else and a practice got cancelled or ended early due to weather or whatever so I could pick him up. Half the time he forgets it anyway. He insisted he wanted one to text, but as far as I can tell his group of friends must not have phones or must not text because the only person he texts, for the most part, is his grandmother.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I believe you all but I just don’t get why parents are doing this! It seems so unnecessary to me!

We are in Nova and it seems like well over half of DS’s friends have old iPhones. He got our old one heavily restricted to talk and text in 5th. Most kids including ours do not bring them to school. It’s convenient to have when they are out during the evenings and weekends without me so I can call or text to come home. I can see where he is with find my iPhone if I want. Socially, all of the kids at least have iMessage from the house laptop and are communicating that way.

I am a 6th grade teacher. I have over 100 students and I am pretty sure that almost all of them have phones. Quite a few of them have Apple Watches too.

Anonymous wrote:Trying to figure out all of this, too. Do the kids have the phones in their lockers during the day and not in their pockets?

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/all-around/Pages/Cell-Phone-Radiation-Childrens-Health.aspx

At least at my kid's small school, they have to keep them in their lockers. If a teacher sees a phone out, it's confiscated.

All of them will have phones. You could probably count on one hand the number of kids in each grade that do not have a phone.

This is how kids communicate!

We got our kids a phone that only did talk and text, no internet (not even on wifi) in 6th and 7th, with the deal that they'd get a smart phone in HS, and if straight As in 6th and 7th we'd get it for them in 8th. They all got smart phones in 8th!

Anonymous wrote:Trying to figure out all of this, too. Do the kids have the phones in their lockers during the day and not in their pockets?

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/all-around/Pages/Cell-Phone-Radiation-Childrens-Health.aspx

You do understand you can use parental controls so that it can only call out to specific people during school hours, etc. And, you choose what apps to put on it so you don't put games or anything fun related.

There is radiation everywhere. You think holding off for a year or two makes a difference? Do you think there is a big difference between an iPad, computer and phone? The only difference is cell service to make phone calls.

Trying to figure out all of this, too. Do the kids have the phones in their lockers during the day and not in their pockets?

https://www.healthychildren.org/English/safety-prevention/all-around/Pages/Cell-Phone-Radiation-Childrens-Health.aspx

My DD is in 6th and got one for Christmas. It has parental controls and is not on during school but on after. No internet. She is at a small private and really didn't have school friends until the phone. Now kids call her and they review homework, talk and text. I think it helped her socially because the kids don't live in the neighborhood and they are too old for parents to arrange getting together.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I believe you all but I just don’t get why parents are doing this! It seems so unnecessary to me!

My kid goes to friends, sports practices and other places. We also go to events with lots of people so helpful if we get separated. I like to keep track of my kid.

In theory, everyone having a phone is unnecessary so why not start by getting rid of yours?

Most 6th graders have phones, heck half the 5th graders have phones.

That should NOT change your plans. My son got a phone when he needed one and not a minute before, in 8th grade.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. I believe you all but I just don’t get why parents are doing this! It seems so unnecessary to me!

We have one because she takes the public bus to school. There aren't any pay phones anymore, so if she needs to reach me, a cell phone is the only way.

Her phone has to stay in her locker during school hours. She has to give it to me in the afternoon when she's doing homework. She plugs it in downstairs when she goes to bed. She has no social media (other than texting with friends) and can't download apps without my permission (apple makes it easy to lock down phones).

How will your child get to school? If you're driving her or she's taking a school bus, it probably isn't necessary. Although by 6th grade, they should be beginning to explore going places on their own.