Anonymous wrote:Maybe for ES but seems like a lot of middle school.

Nope, not too much for MSers. They dont need to be on screens all the time either.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d be thrilled. I hope I can be that courageous when my kids get old enough.

Me too. Elementary and middle school kids do not need unsupervised and unrestricted internet used, especially when in groups.

+1

Anonymous wrote:Parents who meddle with other kids belongings should myob

So if a kid had been given a BB gun by their parents and brought it to your house on a playdate, that would be fine because it’s their belonging that their parents gave them?

I think this is great and especially prefer it for sleepovers. The basket is in the front hall and kids know ahead of time that's where devices go. They can use them there at any time but they don't go to the basement or upstairs.

The other good thing limiting phone access does is it makes kids plan better. That's an important skill a lot of kids are missing out on when everything is just decided last minute by text.

One thing we had to do was to get my kids a separate watch so they could set reminder alarms on something when visiting friends with a phone basket. Otherwise they'd lose track of time and forget to head home on time.

As long as they could go get it and use it if they need it. Especially if they need something private - like period stuff or are uncomfortable and would like to come home without making a big deal about it.

Also ringer on in case I need to get in touch or at minimum let me know the house rules so we can plan for kid to be temporarily inaccessible. Would need parents info jic.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds ridiculous and controlling

Sounds ridiculous to send a 10 yr old to a playdate with a phone. If you don't trust the parents/home don't send your kid. (Generally if the kid wants to use their phone to ask the mom if the host-parent can give them Tylenol or they can stay for dinner, there's no problem using their phone.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d be thrilled. I hope I can be that courageous when my kids get old enough.

Me too. Elementary and middle school kids do not need unsupervised and unrestricted internet used, especially when in groups.

So phone basket for ES and MS are good but don't do it for high school?

If you’re having play dates in high school you have issues

I think this is great and more parents should do this or similar. I have a 10 year old and definitely don’t want him and his friends having unrestricted/unsupervised access to the internet. As a PP said, if they have it they have a hard time not looking at it and will likely spend the whole playdate watching videos instead of actually interacting with each other.

I feel like anyone who has an issue with this probably isn’t aware of all the things their kids or other kids this age are doing when they do have access to a phone or smart watch/the internet and think it’s innocent. But I have heard of kids as young as 8 looking up explicit photos (p*rn) and all sorts of bad stuff online. And they’re even more likely to do so w peers than on their own.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d be thrilled too. Kids don’t need electronics while on a play date. Their house their rules.

Eh, if you're going to confiscate things, you should tell the parents beforehand. I would be fine a parent asking the kids to put phones away. Not fine with her taking them.

The phone is put away in the basket.

Right, I wouldn't say they are confiscated. It's like keys going in the fishbowl before heavy drinking. The parent is not taking all phones and watches and locking them in an upper cabinet so kids cannot possibly contact their parents in case they are being mistreated. Is this what feels creepy to you? I think the harm of kids being on electronics and social media all the time is way more prevalent than being harmed by going in a group to a trusted friend's mom's houses to play.

+1 If you don't trust the hosting family, you should not let your kid go over there, either with or without a phone.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I’d be thrilled too. Kids don’t need electronics while on a play date. Their house their rules.

Eh, if you're going to confiscate things, you should tell the parents beforehand. I would be fine a parent asking the kids to put phones away. Not fine with her taking them.

The phone is put away in the basket.

Right, I wouldn't say they are confiscated. It's like keys going in the fishbowl before heavy drinking. The parent is not taking all phones and watches and locking them in an upper cabinet so kids cannot possibly contact their parents in case they are being mistreated. Is this what feels creepy to you? I think the harm of kids being on electronics and social media all the time is way more prevalent than being harmed by going in a group to a trusted friend's mom's houses to play.

Anonymous wrote:Sounds ridiculous and controlling

NP. What’s ridiculous is that 10 year olds even have phones.

Anonymous wrote:I’d be thrilled. I hope I can be that courageous when my kids get old enough.

+1 Mine are older and didn't have phones at that age but it's what I would have wanted.

Parents who meddle with other kids belongings should myob

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This feels weird and creepy in a way that I can’t quite articulate.

Either way, my kid would be avoiding that house in the future.

Agree. I think what feels creepy to me is that the mom is judging other parents' parenting (she thinks the kids shouldn't have phones), and doing it in a physical way -- she's forcing the kids to take off watches and hand over phones. That's pretty extreme. How about saying, "no electronics during this play date, please" and then check on the kids from time to time instead.

My child wouldn't go back, and she doesn't have a phone or a watch.

Parents who give ten year olds phones are bad parents. They should be judged.

Sounds fantastic to me.