Anonymous wrote:Surprised by the responses here. My kid is finishing fourth grade this year and got theirs at the beginning of the year. Their main group of friends (about 3 other kids) all have watches as well. My kid mainly uses it to ask me if a friend can come over after school while on the school bus. MCPS policy is the watch goes in a backpack during school and that’s fine with me. It’s been much more positive than negative in my opinion — I’m able to see where kid is and they get some much desired autonomy to start to get some independence

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Anonymous wrote:I despise them, as I've seen lots of examples of kids constantly distracted by incoming texts. This is outside of school, but I've heard from my kids that the watches are not really locked down.

We did phones in 7th for my older two, which were easy to put in a drawer, not attached to their bodies, and easy to lock down. For my youngest who will want more freedom earlier, I'm considering a flip phone in 5th grade. Then he could text me when going to friends' houses or other places

+1

My repeated experience is that kids are always preoccupied with their Apple watch. Super duper distracting and it makes it hard for them to focus on anything, including homework and healthy social interactions.

-- Mom of 7th grader

This depends very much on the child, and I have not noticed this at all with my DD and her friends who only have watches. I have, on the other hand, had to ask her friends to put their phones away. My 7th grader never wears her watch at home, she puts it on the charger as soon as she gets home. It's also locked down and in school time during the day (and yes, of course, she does occasionally text us to tell us how she did on a test), but for the most part she uses it to say "can you please come pick me up" or "I am with Friend X in Location Y".

That said, I wouldn't buy one for an elementary schooler. She got one at the end of the 6th and uses it purely as a tool to communicate with us and a handful of friends. I think she even took herself out of a group chat once because it was annoying.

OMG the fact that you are ok with your kid texting you from school after a test, is half the issue. Can you imagine a classroom full of kids doing that? Or the parents who have low boundaries and are texting the kids to ASK how the kid did on a test? Gah.

THAT'S what you took away from my post? Get a grip!

I'm absolutely fine with my kid texting me between classes to tell me about a test grade. I don't see a problem with that. Said kid has a lot of anxiety and if this helps her manage that anxiety, then I, and her therapist, and her school counselor, are all okay with it. By the way, I didn't say anything about ME texting her. I rarely do. Even if I did text her during the school day, she wouldn't get it, the watch is on school time while she's at school.

If it's locked on school time- how is she texting you?? I will admit, the first time I read your previous comment I missed that she was in middle school, which does make it less disruptive (although still very against the FCPS rules, at least). The advice I've gotten for my anxious kid is very different from what you have gotten, so can't comment there.

Kids are able to take their watches out of school time to send a text or make a call, but it immediately goes back in afterwards. Mine sends me a text from school maybe once a week and it's about something like a test score or a change in after school plans. It's very much about if your child is a rule follower or not. Mine is (see above re: anxiety), so I have no concerns. I am 100% confident she's not doing anything she's not supposed to do and that it is not distracting for her or the people around her. If your child is different, then obviously you should have different boundaries about these things.

And yes, I did see your snarky remark about this being against FCPS rules. Whatever.

NP who is a teacher. Any parent who claims they are 100% positive about anything their kid does when they aren’t with them is delusional.

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Anonymous wrote:I despise them, as I've seen lots of examples of kids constantly distracted by incoming texts. This is outside of school, but I've heard from my kids that the watches are not really locked down.

We did phones in 7th for my older two, which were easy to put in a drawer, not attached to their bodies, and easy to lock down. For my youngest who will want more freedom earlier, I'm considering a flip phone in 5th grade. Then he could text me when going to friends' houses or other places

+1

My repeated experience is that kids are always preoccupied with their Apple watch. Super duper distracting and it makes it hard for them to focus on anything, including homework and healthy social interactions.

-- Mom of 7th grader

This depends very much on the child, and I have not noticed this at all with my DD and her friends who only have watches. I have, on the other hand, had to ask her friends to put their phones away. My 7th grader never wears her watch at home, she puts it on the charger as soon as she gets home. It's also locked down and in school time during the day (and yes, of course, she does occasionally text us to tell us how she did on a test), but for the most part she uses it to say "can you please come pick me up" or "I am with Friend X in Location Y".

That said, I wouldn't buy one for an elementary schooler. She got one at the end of the 6th and uses it purely as a tool to communicate with us and a handful of friends. I think she even took herself out of a group chat once because it was annoying.

OMG the fact that you are ok with your kid texting you from school after a test, is half the issue. Can you imagine a classroom full of kids doing that? Or the parents who have low boundaries and are texting the kids to ASK how the kid did on a test? Gah.

THAT'S what you took away from my post? Get a grip!

I'm absolutely fine with my kid texting me between classes to tell me about a test grade. I don't see a problem with that. Said kid has a lot of anxiety and if this helps her manage that anxiety, then I, and her therapist, and her school counselor, are all okay with it. By the way, I didn't say anything about ME texting her. I rarely do. Even if I did text her during the school day, she wouldn't get it, the watch is on school time while she's at school.

If it's locked on school time- how is she texting you?? I will admit, the first time I read your previous comment I missed that she was in middle school, which does make it less disruptive (although still very against the FCPS rules, at least). The advice I've gotten for my anxious kid is very different from what you have gotten, so can't comment there.

Kids are able to take their watches out of school time to send a text or make a call, but it immediately goes back in afterwards. Mine sends me a text from school maybe once a week and it's about something like a test score or a change in after school plans. It's very much about if your child is a rule follower or not. Mine is (see above re: anxiety), so I have no concerns. I am 100% confident she's not doing anything she's not supposed to do and that it is not distracting for her or the people around her. If your child is different, then obviously you should have different boundaries about these things.

And yes, I did see your snarky remark about this being against FCPS rules. Whatever.

NP who is a teacher. Any parent who claims they are 100% positive about anything their kid does when they aren’t with them is delusional.

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Anonymous wrote:I despise them, as I've seen lots of examples of kids constantly distracted by incoming texts. This is outside of school, but I've heard from my kids that the watches are not really locked down.

We did phones in 7th for my older two, which were easy to put in a drawer, not attached to their bodies, and easy to lock down. For my youngest who will want more freedom earlier, I'm considering a flip phone in 5th grade. Then he could text me when going to friends' houses or other places

+1

My repeated experience is that kids are always preoccupied with their Apple watch. Super duper distracting and it makes it hard for them to focus on anything, including homework and healthy social interactions.

-- Mom of 7th grader

This depends very much on the child, and I have not noticed this at all with my DD and her friends who only have watches. I have, on the other hand, had to ask her friends to put their phones away. My 7th grader never wears her watch at home, she puts it on the charger as soon as she gets home. It's also locked down and in school time during the day (and yes, of course, she does occasionally text us to tell us how she did on a test), but for the most part she uses it to say "can you please come pick me up" or "I am with Friend X in Location Y".

That said, I wouldn't buy one for an elementary schooler. She got one at the end of the 6th and uses it purely as a tool to communicate with us and a handful of friends. I think she even took herself out of a group chat once because it was annoying.

OMG the fact that you are ok with your kid texting you from school after a test, is half the issue. Can you imagine a classroom full of kids doing that? Or the parents who have low boundaries and are texting the kids to ASK how the kid did on a test? Gah.

THAT'S what you took away from my post? Get a grip!

I'm absolutely fine with my kid texting me between classes to tell me about a test grade. I don't see a problem with that. Said kid has a lot of anxiety and if this helps her manage that anxiety, then I, and her therapist, and her school counselor, are all okay with it. By the way, I didn't say anything about ME texting her. I rarely do. Even if I did text her during the school day, she wouldn't get it, the watch is on school time while she's at school.

If it's locked on school time- how is she texting you?? I will admit, the first time I read your previous comment I missed that she was in middle school, which does make it less disruptive (although still very against the FCPS rules, at least). The advice I've gotten for my anxious kid is very different from what you have gotten, so can't comment there.

Kids are able to take their watches out of school time to send a text or make a call, but it immediately goes back in afterwards. Mine sends me a text from school maybe once a week and it's about something like a test score or a change in after school plans. It's very much about if your child is a rule follower or not. Mine is (see above re: anxiety), so I have no concerns. I am 100% confident she's not doing anything she's not supposed to do and that it is not distracting for her or the people around her. If your child is different, then obviously you should have different boundaries about these things.

And yes, I did see your snarky remark about this being against FCPS rules. Whatever.

Anonymous wrote:This is OP, thanks for the feedback. My child has been reporting that several friends have them. One does have divorced parents and one an older sibling who has one (I think sibling is in 5th). I want to hold off on this as long as possible!

Anonymous wrote:Nope. Anecdotally, the earliest any of my kid's friends had smart watches was 4th-5th grade, and they were all kids with divorced parents. (Maybe a greater need to coordinate rides, etc.?)

Anonymous wrote:My DD is in third grade and has been asking for an Apple watch. That feels very young to me but looking for a gut check.

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Anonymous wrote:I despise them, as I've seen lots of examples of kids constantly distracted by incoming texts. This is outside of school, but I've heard from my kids that the watches are not really locked down.

We did phones in 7th for my older two, which were easy to put in a drawer, not attached to their bodies, and easy to lock down. For my youngest who will want more freedom earlier, I'm considering a flip phone in 5th grade. Then he could text me when going to friends' houses or other places

+1

My repeated experience is that kids are always preoccupied with their Apple watch. Super duper distracting and it makes it hard for them to focus on anything, including homework and healthy social interactions.

-- Mom of 7th grader

This depends very much on the child, and I have not noticed this at all with my DD and her friends who only have watches. I have, on the other hand, had to ask her friends to put their phones away. My 7th grader never wears her watch at home, she puts it on the charger as soon as she gets home. It's also locked down and in school time during the day (and yes, of course, she does occasionally text us to tell us how she did on a test), but for the most part she uses it to say "can you please come pick me up" or "I am with Friend X in Location Y".

That said, I wouldn't buy one for an elementary schooler. She got one at the end of the 6th and uses it purely as a tool to communicate with us and a handful of friends. I think she even took herself out of a group chat once because it was annoying.

OMG the fact that you are ok with your kid texting you from school after a test, is half the issue. Can you imagine a classroom full of kids doing that? Or the parents who have low boundaries and are texting the kids to ASK how the kid did on a test? Gah.

THAT'S what you took away from my post? Get a grip!

I'm absolutely fine with my kid texting me between classes to tell me about a test grade. I don't see a problem with that. Said kid has a lot of anxiety and if this helps her manage that anxiety, then I, and her therapist, and her school counselor, are all okay with it. By the way, I didn't say anything about ME texting her. I rarely do. Even if I did text her during the school day, she wouldn't get it, the watch is on school time while she's at school.

If it's locked on school time- how is she texting you?? I will admit, the first time I read your previous comment I missed that she was in middle school, which does make it less disruptive (although still very against the FCPS rules, at least). The advice I've gotten for my anxious kid is very different from what you have gotten, so can't comment there.