Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Apple Watch! A few years back, this wasn't a thing, so I think parents bought phones to communicate with their kids.

The watch means we can communicate, but I don't have to worry about games, YouTube, etc.

Biggest plus for me -- it's on my kid's wrist, so he's FAR less likely to lose it or have it stolen than a phone.

The one issue with the watch is that the FindMy function doesn't update frequently, so I can't always know where he is. Phones seem to be better about this.

OP here - thanks! Do teachers let kids leave on the apple watch during class/at school?

My sixth grader is not allowed to wear it in class, she leaves it in her locker as do most of her friends who have them (instead of a phone). PP is right, it's less about tracking my kid and more about giving her a way to contact me to tell me things like I was going to Margot's house but Margot and I decided to walk to Leslie's instead. Or basketball practice got out early, can you please come pick me up? The stuff I used to use the payphone for.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all for the feedback. I am really worried that once I get my kids iphones, they will become even addicted to the internet than they already are. They have laptops, ipads and now they want phones. They don't really need it, they just see that everyone around them has one....

Please hold off. I know many families who are making the conscious decision to hold off until 9th grade. We are seeing a huge difference in behavior between the kids who have the phone early to kids who don’t.

When we went to orientation for MS, the principal told us that very few 6th graders have cell phones. Somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 have them in 7th grade and most have them in 8th grade. Judging by our kids' friends, about 20% have phones and most of the ones that do are ones that are either latchkey kids or have a period between the end of school and when they get home when they might need contact, like a ride.

As someone else said, our kids have a growing number of friends who are getting Apple watches, which seem like a good compromise.

Anonymous wrote:Apple Watch! A few years back, this wasn't a thing, so I think parents bought phones to communicate with their kids.

The watch means we can communicate, but I don't have to worry about games, YouTube, etc.

Biggest plus for me -- it's on my kid's wrist, so he's FAR less likely to lose it or have it stolen than a phone.

The one issue with the watch is that the FindMy function doesn't update frequently, so I can't always know where he is. Phones seem to be better about this.

OP here - thanks! Do teachers let kids leave on the apple watch during class/at school?

Apple Watch! A few years back, this wasn't a thing, so I think parents bought phones to communicate with their kids.

The watch means we can communicate, but I don't have to worry about games, YouTube, etc.

Biggest plus for me -- it's on my kid's wrist, so he's FAR less likely to lose it or have it stolen than a phone.

The one issue with the watch is that the FindMy function doesn't update frequently, so I can't always know where he is. Phones seem to be better about this.

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all for the feedback. I am really worried that once I get my kids iphones, they will become even addicted to the internet than they already are. They have laptops, ipads and now they want phones. They don't really need it, they just see that everyone around them has one....

Just keep them off tik tok and similar

Anonymous wrote:OP here - thanks all for the feedback. I am really worried that once I get my kids iphones, they will become even addicted to the internet than they already are. They have laptops, ipads and now they want phones. They don't really need it, they just see that everyone around them has one....

Get the watch if you need to call them
Or they need to call you - they can call and text but no internet browsing.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you keep track of your kids if they are 11-12 years? That's the primary reason I am considering a phone for our almost 12 year old boy

I don’t need to “keep track” of them. Just like your parents didn’t need to keep track of you

Exactly. No one “kept track” of kids before about 2015. Kids are more depressed, anxious, fat, and stupid now than ever before. Be careful with the phones.

Speak for your own kids and family. We used pay phones before cell phones. If we were changing plans or late from school we had to call our parents. We had to call them as soon as we walked home from school or went anywhere and if we couldn't reach them leave a note.

And, kids aren't more depressed or anxious now, it's just talked about openly where it wasn't before. Kids aren't dumb.. The parents demanded a dumbed down curriculum for their precious kids and no homework so that's why they aren't thriving academically.

Phones are not to blame, parents and schools are.

Only about 10% of the 6th graders have them in our elementary school right now. They want them but parents have been holding out. The few that do have them are constantly getting in trouble. They are told to put them away in their backpacks.

My 6th grader has a new 14 because we needed a new phone plan for him to get a phone and it was cheaper to get that than an older model or to pass along an old one of ours. It feels like fewer 6th graders have them now than when my 9th grader went to middle school.

My 6th grader as Apple Watch and iPhone 12. She has them because of my irrational fear that I won’t be able to find her. She calls right after school when she wants to go over friends house. I can call her about picking her up.

She’s not into boys or anything and she has a group of about six friends. Those are the only ones she would text or me.

OP here - thanks all for the feedback. I am really worried that once I get my kids iphones, they will become even addicted to the internet than they already are. They have laptops, ipads and now they want phones. They don't really need it, they just see that everyone around them has one....

All 3 of my kids (older 2 are in high school, one in middle school ) have older model iPhones. Generally the cheapest iPhone I can buy. I like them to have iPhones but don’t want to pay for anything nicer. They are all 3 together on a cheap grandfathered plan on Total by Verizon (used to be total wireless). Will switch them to a family plan eventually with ours, but for now it is actually cheaper to have them on that separate plan.

Anonymous wrote:How do you keep track of your kids if they are 11-12 years? That's the primary reason I am considering a phone for our almost 12 year old boy

DC has Iwatch. It has worked great in 5th grade and 6th grade.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:How do you keep track of your kids if they are 11-12 years? That's the primary reason I am considering a phone for our almost 12 year old boy

I don’t need to “keep track” of them. Just like your parents didn’t need to keep track of you

Exactly. No one “kept track” of kids before about 2015. Kids are more depressed, anxious, fat, and stupid now than ever before. Be careful with the phones.