Anonymous wrote:OP, I'm sorry that some people are giving you a hard time about this. You are absolutely right that society has devolved in this way. It's truly outrageous that the coach didn't stay until all kids were picked up. That we are in a situation where the only solution is to give young children phones that parents then have to manage. And that our technological "progress" has people suggesting that it is unreasonable to drop children off at a lesson and ~gasp!~ leave the parking lot expecting that the coach is doing their job supervising the children in their charge.

It seems we aren't going back to payphones, at least not anytime soon. What I suggest is getting a cheap flip phone or something similar and keeping it charged in the car. Then you can hand it to your kid as needed, and keeping it in the car otherwise means you don't have to worry about it being dead or left on the charger at home when you need it.

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you on the need for pay phones, but since that is not the world we live in...
My kids have an index card with our cell phone numbers written on it. They have never had a problem getting someone to call or text me if there is some kind of issue - anywhere you leave them, there should be an adult with a phone.
Other option is a minimal cell phone - just get a prepaid phone. It's not theirs, it's yours, and it's only handed to them when they are somewhere without you.

Your plan is that "someone" will take on the responsibility of your kid.
This is incredibly selfish and irresponsible of you.

That "someone" is normally a coach who has signed up for the responsibility. Relax! No coach should be leaving the pool deck until everyone is picked up anyhow. Especially if practice is ending early.

My DH coaches a lot. When weather looks uncertain he makes a point of asking parents to stay close by. Many do and it always works out.

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Anonymous wrote:I agree with you on the need for pay phones, but since that is not the world we live in...
My kids have an index card with our cell phone numbers written on it. They have never had a problem getting someone to call or text me if there is some kind of issue - anywhere you leave them, there should be an adult with a phone.
Other option is a minimal cell phone - just get a prepaid phone. It's not theirs, it's yours, and it's only handed to them when they are somewhere without you.

Your plan is that "someone" will take on the responsibility of your kid.
This is incredibly selfish and irresponsible of you.

OP did not say how old her child is...but at younger ages, yes 'someone' else is responsible...bus driver. Camp counselor, coach... You do not just abandon 9 year olds in a thunderstorm because you think they should have a phone.

OP here. Yes, both of my kids are under 9 and were abandoned. The coach just cancelled it mid practice (lightning), but there was still over an hour left. Swim does continue through rain. No one was checking to make sure kids were picked up and plenty of them could just walk/bike home on their own. My kids could walk home too, but then I wouldn't know where they are, so they know to stay put.

There isn't a front desk at the pool when swim practice goes on because the pool is closed to outsiders during that time. I don't know that there is a phone there though- I'll have to check. I have an out of area cell phone number (had it for 20 years)- can regular phones call that for free now or would it be long distance?

Only my 13 year old has a phone. Before then, or with my younger kids, I make sure that I have identified an adult who my kid knows they can ask to call or text me. Sometimes, yes, that's the adult in charge. A lot of other times it's a fellow team or activity parent who we know pretty well who is staying.

It's like PP said, only discussed in advance with everyone involved versus just assuming. PP might discuss it in advance too and just not mentioned that.

It's not like when your kid is in Scouts or on a team you don't get to know the other families, often very well. Camp might be slightly different, but then there's usually policies that would mean that there's definitely an adult in charge.

OP here. Parents aren't allowed at swim practice at all. So the only parents present were the ones who picked up early. Swim is K-12 so the older kids do have cell phones, but I don't know of any kindergarteners with cells.

?? If you’re not allowed at the practice, why not just stay in the parking lot/lobby? That’s what I’d do if I had really young kids.

OP here. It's 1.5 hours and there's even bad cell service there. I either am picking up my other kid or starting dinner during that time. I wouldn't make my other kid (a toddler) wait in the car for 1.5 hours like that.

There isn't a lobby.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, this is why some parents of older kids/teens roll their eyes when parents of very young kids insist that they won't let their kids have a phone till they are 18.

+1. My sister is like this and I think she is about to learn this.

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Anonymous wrote:I agree with you on the need for pay phones, but since that is not the world we live in...
My kids have an index card with our cell phone numbers written on it. They have never had a problem getting someone to call or text me if there is some kind of issue - anywhere you leave them, there should be an adult with a phone.
Other option is a minimal cell phone - just get a prepaid phone. It's not theirs, it's yours, and it's only handed to them when they are somewhere without you.

Your plan is that "someone" will take on the responsibility of your kid.
This is incredibly selfish and irresponsible of you.

OP did not say how old her child is...but at younger ages, yes 'someone' else is responsible...bus driver. Camp counselor, coach... You do not just abandon 9 year olds in a thunderstorm because you think they should have a phone.

OP here. Yes, both of my kids are under 9 and were abandoned. The coach just cancelled it mid practice (lightning), but there was still over an hour left. Swim does continue through rain. No one was checking to make sure kids were picked up and plenty of them could just walk/bike home on their own. My kids could walk home too, but then I wouldn't know where they are, so they know to stay put.

There isn't a front desk at the pool when swim practice goes on because the pool is closed to outsiders during that time. I don't know that there is a phone there though- I'll have to check. I have an out of area cell phone number (had it for 20 years)- can regular phones call that for free now or would it be long distance?

Only my 13 year old has a phone. Before then, or with my younger kids, I make sure that I have identified an adult who my kid knows they can ask to call or text me. Sometimes, yes, that's the adult in charge. A lot of other times it's a fellow team or activity parent who we know pretty well who is staying.

It's like PP said, only discussed in advance with everyone involved versus just assuming. PP might discuss it in advance too and just not mentioned that.

It's not like when your kid is in Scouts or on a team you don't get to know the other families, often very well. Camp might be slightly different, but then there's usually policies that would mean that there's definitely an adult in charge.

OP here. Parents aren't allowed at swim practice at all. So the only parents present were the ones who picked up early. Swim is K-12 so the older kids do have cell phones, but I don't know of any kindergarteners with cells.

?? If you’re not allowed at the practice, why not just stay in the parking lot/lobby? That’s what I’d do if I had really young kids.

OP here. It's 1.5 hours and there's even bad cell service there. I either am picking up my other kid or starting dinner during that time. I wouldn't make my other kid (a toddler) wait in the car for 1.5 hours like that.

There isn't a lobby.

Anonymous wrote:My kids are much younger so please excuse this ignorant question.

Can you not just get a basic flip phone, like the kind everyone had in 2002, for your kid? Make calls, text painfully slowly, maybe play a crappy version of snake, end of list of features?

I would want that for my kid young for exactly this reason, like in K or 1st grade, and I’m definitely not handing my kid a smartphone in elementary school. But it’s the internet that’s the concern not actual phone calls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I agree with you on the need for pay phones, but since that is not the world we live in...
My kids have an index card with our cell phone numbers written on it. They have never had a problem getting someone to call or text me if there is some kind of issue - anywhere you leave them, there should be an adult with a phone.
Other option is a minimal cell phone - just get a prepaid phone. It's not theirs, it's yours, and it's only handed to them when they are somewhere without you.

Your plan is that "someone" will take on the responsibility of your kid.
This is incredibly selfish and irresponsible of you.

OP did not say how old her child is...but at younger ages, yes 'someone' else is responsible...bus driver. Camp counselor, coach... You do not just abandon 9 year olds in a thunderstorm because you think they should have a phone.

OP here. Yes, both of my kids are under 9 and were abandoned. The coach just cancelled it mid practice (lightning), but there was still over an hour left. Swim does continue through rain. No one was checking to make sure kids were picked up and plenty of them could just walk/bike home on their own. My kids could walk home too, but then I wouldn't know where they are, so they know to stay put.

There isn't a front desk at the pool when swim practice goes on because the pool is closed to outsiders during that time. I don't know that there is a phone there though- I'll have to check. I have an out of area cell phone number (had it for 20 years)- can regular phones call that for free now or would it be long distance?

Only my 13 year old has a phone. Before then, or with my younger kids, I make sure that I have identified an adult who my kid knows they can ask to call or text me. Sometimes, yes, that's the adult in charge. A lot of other times it's a fellow team or activity parent who we know pretty well who is staying.

It's like PP said, only discussed in advance with everyone involved versus just assuming. PP might discuss it in advance too and just not mentioned that.

It's not like when your kid is in Scouts or on a team you don't get to know the other families, often very well. Camp might be slightly different, but then there's usually policies that would mean that there's definitely an adult in charge.

OP here. Parents aren't allowed at swim practice at all. So the only parents present were the ones who picked up early. Swim is K-12 so the older kids do have cell phones, but I don't know of any kindergarteners with cells.

?? If you’re not allowed at the practice, why not just stay in the parking lot/lobby? That’s what I’d do if I had really young kids.

Anonymous wrote:Yes, this is why some parents of older kids/teens roll their eyes when parents of very young kids insist that they won't let their kids have a phone till they are 18.

Anonymous wrote:Or we could have something that didn’t require a monthly bill and could be lost or broken.