You sound like an over involved, anxious, helicopter parent that over shields your child. Let me guess, your child only is allowed one hour of electronics a day, isn’t allowed to eat junk food, and will never be allowed to play Fortnight. 🙄

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our son got a cell phone the summer he was going into sixth grade. We have set limits and have clear expectations about how and when he can use it. He does NOT stare at it for hours or text friends endlessly for hours. He plays multiple sports, is busy and has a consistent way for us to reach him should we need to. I vote for a phone over a watch. It may be a more cost effective purchase in the long run.

Seriously why not just get a flip phone then? That’s a consistent way to reach him. Why buy a kid a smart phone if the only purpose is to reach him when you want.

If just for calling, flip phone is most cost effective. I went for the watch for these reasons.

Location sharing. I like knowing where the kid is. At some point he said he went to the park but later went on to visit his friend. I can use it as a teaching moment to tell him that he always needs to let us know where he is and ask for permission first if he goes somewhere else.

Fall detection. I was worried that my kid could get in an accident when he was younger. This is a feature a lot of old people living by themselves turn on, useful for a young kid too. You get alerted when the person wearing the watch trips and falls.

Text to speech. This makes texting from the watch usable, kid had no trouble figuring it out. Things may be different now, but back in the day texting from a flip phone was impossible.

Anonymous wrote:Our son got a cell phone the summer he was going into sixth grade. We have set limits and have clear expectations about how and when he can use it. He does NOT stare at it for hours or text friends endlessly for hours. He plays multiple sports, is busy and has a consistent way for us to reach him should we need to. I vote for a phone over a watch. It may be a more cost effective purchase in the long run.

I don’t agree with the cost effective part. So you buy a phone for $500, that will be used as a large watch since everything is blocked. Presumably you’ll be ready to give the child more “freedom” and allow phone specific features. But then you’ll have a two year old phone that is probably worth $250. You can buy a watch now for $350 and it may be worth $175 after 2 years. Same usage from both devices, but you paid more for the phone and didn’t use the features that make the phone more expensive.

You are better off buying for what you need now instead of for what you might need a couple of years later.

Additional prod for the watch, much more comfortable to keep around, less likely to lose. I agree with the PP that texting and calling on a watch is adequate. My son does group calls on it with his friends.

Anonymous wrote:Disagree with PP. Middle school is the time for a cell phone unless you are a helecopter parent. This is the age when your daughter should be given more freedom. You want her to have a way to easily contact you and vise versa. An Apple Watch will not cut it for good communication. Also, all of my DD's friends got phones this summer.

Why doesn’t the watch cut it for good communication? Have you used an Apple watch? It’s very easy to call and text.

Wait until your daughter’s “more freedom” includes getting solicited for nudes on her phone. Have fun!

Anonymous wrote:Our son got a cell phone the summer he was going into sixth grade. We have set limits and have clear expectations about how and when he can use it. He does NOT stare at it for hours or text friends endlessly for hours. He plays multiple sports, is busy and has a consistent way for us to reach him should we need to. I vote for a phone over a watch. It may be a more cost effective purchase in the long run.

Seriously why not just get a flip phone then? That’s a consistent way to reach him. Why buy a kid a smart phone if the only purpose is to reach him when you want.

We got our 6th grader a watch.

You can get them their own cell number on your family plan. No need for an associated iPhone just for the watch.

It accomplishes all the things we wanted. He can call and text us and his friends and we can see where he is. No access to the internet or social media on a phone. Sure you can block all that stuff on a phone, but with the watch it’s just a non-issue. No negotiating. No carrying it around and staring at it all the time.

Anonymous wrote:Anyone with experience with having their 6th grader wear an Apple Watch? I don’t want to get him a phone until 7th grade and he doesn’t like to wear the Gizmo. Does your child wear the Apple Watch or do they complain about it too?

My 6th grader has been wearing an Apple Watch cellular mode since last year. I can track his real-time location, and he can track his own daily movements. Both of us are happy.

Our son got a cell phone the summer he was going into sixth grade. We have set limits and have clear expectations about how and when he can use it. He does NOT stare at it for hours or text friends endlessly for hours. He plays multiple sports, is busy and has a consistent way for us to reach him should we need to. I vote for a phone over a watch. It may be a more cost effective purchase in the long run.

We know 6 kids in the 6th grade that has the Apple Watch because the parents do not want them to have a phone yet. Both parents and kids love them.
They say it allows the child to do a quick check in with the parent(s) that has the Iphone, like I'm at ABS's home, I'm ready for pickup, I'm heading home now on the bike.

It is an expensive watch, that is why I'm still thinking about it.

As for a phone, the user will keep staring it at it for texting, even if it doesn't have internet service. We have seen this proven many times. Even parents have complained about their kids about it.
The other drawback is, a phone is bulky to carry. Boys do not always carry their backpacks with them and some shorts do not even have pockets. Whatever happened to those old slim phones we used to have. They were like 4 inches in length.
So, my son has neither watch or phone. And the drawback is I don't know where he is half of the time he is out. We trust him but do not necessarily trust the kids he is with cause they have exhibit some careless behaviors. But, most of the time, he is with someone that does have a phone and that is used for communication to tell us where he is with. But, who is to say the friend just ditch him. Who knows right.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Anyone with experience with having their 6th grader wear an Apple Watch? I don’t want to get him a phone until 7th grade and he doesn’t like to wear the Gizmo. Does your child wear the Apple Watch or do they complain about it too?

I believe your child will still need an iPhone to use Apple Watch. I made this mistake. I bought my 5th grader Apple Watch (she has been walking to/from bus stop/home alone) without realizing she needed an iPhone to use the watch. I am now using Apple Watch myself and I got DD the cheapest iPhone (almost free at AT&T). She does not use the phone at home at all, but takes it with her when she is out or hanging out with friends.

If you buy the right one you do not need to pair it with an iPhone. It can call and text after being set up on a parent's phone that is used to manage it.

Anonymous wrote:Disagree with PP. Middle school is the time for a cell phone unless you are a helecopter parent. This is the age when your daughter should be given more freedom. You want her to have a way to easily contact you and vise versa. An Apple Watch will not cut it for good communication. Also, all of my DD's friends got phones this summer.

So if you dont buy your doughter a phone in middle school you are a helicopter parent?

Every situation is different, buy what makes sense for your kid, either a phone or watch. It also depends on what other devices you have at home (ipads, computers etc). A watch can fit some communication needs very well. You can call and text, sure, not as easy as on a phone, but that's the point, it's not a phone. I'm assuming a 6th grader has access to a computer or tablet at home for school work that can also double for texting/calling etc.

Disagree with PP. Middle school is the time for a cell phone unless you are a helecopter parent. This is the age when your daughter should be given more freedom. You want her to have a way to easily contact you and vise versa. An Apple Watch will not cut it for good communication. Also, all of my DD's friends got phones this summer.

Anonymous wrote:Get your child a phone. It is by far more useful long term. Don’t waste your money on an Apple watch.

It depends on what you need it for. A watch is better if you don't want your kid to have constant access to social media, games, etc in her pocket. Personally I think a phone can wait till high school. I woudnt get both, though.

Get your child a phone. It is by far more useful long term. Don’t waste your money on an Apple watch.

Bought an older model Apple Watch on Woot for about $120. Was cheaper than replacing my fitbit with a dead battery. Did need to pair it with my phone.