A few. And the parents are all out there. A child that age should absolutely not have a phone.

My third grader (who doesn't have any device except the school-issued Chromebook) says several kids in her class have a Gizmo or some sort of watch, and she has one friend who has an iphone with what sounds like unlimited access. Friend is always talking about what she watches on TikTok and demonstrating inappropriate dances. Partly for that reason, I will not let my kid go to friend's house where she could be exposed to who knows what more directly than hearing it from friend at school.

I have a middle schooler too and none of his friends have smart phones. Most have a watch, he has a dumb flip phone, several friends have nothing at all. His friend group is not really that into group chats but he has said that others are - especially the girls, probably unsurprisingly given middle school social dynamics.

I have a third grader and no one has a phone in her class.

I know 2 kids in her grade, not class, have gizmo or some sort of watch.

I don’t know of any that have phones.

My 3rd grader has no friends with phones. Her school doesn’t allow any internet-enabled personal devices, so if anyone has a smartwatch it has to stay at home.

Anonymous wrote:In more affluent areas few to no kids have phones. Parents are more educated about the negative effects. In lower SES areas, most kids have phones.

That aligns with the response AI provided:

“ 35 -40% of U.S. children aged 8 to 9(typically 3rd grade) own their own smartphone. Ownership rates forthis age group have increased significantly, with nearly one in four children having a smartphone by age 8, and overall ownership among 8-12 year-olds reaching 43% by 2021. “

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Our fourth grader got a Gizmo recently and her teacher mentioned that only a few of the students had them (I was checking to make sure we understood the rules and expectations around them). I doubt that many have phones if only a few have watches.

Are you sending the Gizmo to school? Hopefully not on a kid's wrist.

-- teacher who would much rather see a 4th grade with a limited phone buried in their backpack than a kid attached to a distracting device.

My daughter has an Apple Watch (the Gizmo is a piece of junk). She puts her watch in her backpack during the day as prescribed by MCPS

Phones? None that I know of at least in my kid's immediate circle. Apple watches? Almost all of them.

fewer than 10% and it seems to be mostly kids whose parents both work full time and are in after care. Also lots of parents restrict access to the phone once they are at home. I would not assume a 9 yo with a phone has unfettered access to it 24/7.

Yesterday, my third grade daughter had a playdate at our house with six girls from her class. One brought a phone, and as soon as I left the room, she immediately started playing inappropriate Tiktok videos and songs. My daughter told her to put her phone away because she knew I wouldn't approve, and the other girl told my daughter she hated her and never wanted to come to our house again. No problem! She won't be invited back.

In more affluent areas few to no kids have phones. Parents are more educated about the negative effects. In lower SES areas, most kids have phones.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a Title One ES and every 4th grader (3 classes) has a phone except 1-2.

Whoa!

I am the OP. Thanks, everyone, for sharing! Seems like many people’s kiddos go to schools with pretty strict policies.

But the PP shared her own schools’ lived-reality.

meant to add that ai went ahead and asked google AI and it reported back “35 -40% of U.S. children aged 8 to 9(typically 3rd grade) own their own smartphone. Ownership rates forthis age group have increased significantly, with nearly one in four children having a smartphone by age 8, and overall ownership among 8-12 year-olds reaching 43% by 2021. “

Anonymous wrote:I teach in a Title One ES and every 4th grader (3 classes) has a phone except 1-2.

Whoa!

I am the OP. Thanks, everyone, for sharing! Seems like many people’s kiddos go to schools with pretty strict policies.

But the PP shared her own schools’ lived-reality.

Anonymous wrote:1%. Most kids get a cell phone in MS.

My middle schooler's friends started getting phones in 6th. But a lot of them don't have one yet.

A few of my 4th grader's friends have smart watches Apple/Gizmo/SyncUp, but I'm only aware of one that has a phone and it's because the family has 5 kids and there is a lot of carpooling involved.