Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I admit I haven't read the entire thread, but here's my 2 cents. My 12-year-old relative, a sixth-grader at an MCPS middle school, has an iPhone. She says one of her teaches puts a presentation up on the board and expects the kids to take pictures of it. With their phones. So, if you don't have a smartphone, well, it sucks to be you.

I have no reason not to believe the girl, but I do find this whole situation sort of dumbfounding. My child is 9 and I have no plans to give her a smartphone anytime soon.

I would raise total hell over that. NFW.

Teacher here. Yeah, that’s not appropriate. I would go to administration.

Never ever. Go immediately to principal.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
My son can text and call on his phone and minimal ability to search. Very old phone. It serves it's purpose to be able to let him know if he needs to use his key because I'm not home when he gets home from school.

He couldn't figure this out if you didn't tell him?

If a 12-year old is used to mom being home when he comes home from school everyday---yes, if she's not there it would be concerning. If something unexpected comes up and I had to run out or I'm not home we communicate that. I don't say 'use your key' to get in. I tell him I will be home an hour later, etc.

God, what a bunch of a**Sholes.

Oh bless your heart. Your son is what we call a snowflake dear. If he can’t figure out how to get in his own house with his own key, and read a note you left him, that is absolutely your fault as a parent.

Your posts are scary how tweens and teens can literally not function without Mommy.

Exactly. Can’t the kid just get in the house and call your cell phone on the landline if he has to know where you are every second of the day. I was ecstatic when I walked thru the door and had the house to myself for an hour or so. I was a latchkey kid starting at 8 and lived to tell. My mom came home anywhere from 4–5:30 three times a week. If it was 5pm, I would even start dinner sometimes. Kids are so much smarter nd independent than most parents these days give them credit. The babying needs to stop. You are stunting their maturity

Most people today do not have landlines. ICU units are often not receptive to phone calls.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I admit I haven't read the entire thread, but here's my 2 cents. My 12-year-old relative, a sixth-grader at an MCPS middle school, has an iPhone. She says one of her teaches puts a presentation up on the board and expects the kids to take pictures of it. With their phones. So, if you don't have a smartphone, well, it sucks to be you.

I have no reason not to believe the girl, but I do find this whole situation sort of dumbfounding. My child is 9 and I have no plans to give her a smartphone anytime soon.

I would raise total hell over that. NFW.

Teacher here. Yeah, that’s not appropriate. I would go to administration.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:^^

+100 Many families I know do not have landlines. It is actually more of a 'dinosaur-thing' to have landlines in this day in age.

That is why tweens often have cell phones---and they don't have to be iphones. It is this generation's land line.

If you don't have a landline, how else is your kid going to call or be able to know that an emergency happened?

Not having a landline is ridiculous. It costs about $10 a month to have one. You need it in an emergency. A young child and tween/teen need it to to call 911 and they know exact location. Sometimes adults get hurt and young kids in the house don’t know where their parents cell phone is. Sometimes (actually many times) teens/tweens lose their cell phone or they get stolen. Sometimes a major event happens and cell service is down.

People actually get rid of landlines and hand their young kids smart phones? Genius! LOL

Needing it for 911 isn't really true
You can dial 911 but you have to be able to relay information about where you are to the operator. This was also true with landlines back as late as the 70s/80s
In closer in places, they are capable of pinpointing you easier.
I believe you can also register your cell phone to your home address in some jurisdictions so you can just tell the operator you are calling from home.
Also some places allow you to text 911

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I admit I haven't read the entire thread, but here's my 2 cents. My 12-year-old relative, a sixth-grader at an MCPS middle school, has an iPhone. She says one of her teaches puts a presentation up on the board and expects the kids to take pictures of it. With their phones. So, if you don't have a smartphone, well, it sucks to be you.

I have no reason not to believe the girl, but I do find this whole situation sort of dumbfounding. My child is 9 and I have no plans to give her a smartphone anytime soon.

I would raise total hell over that. NFW.

Anonymous wrote:I admit I haven't read the entire thread, but here's my 2 cents. My 12-year-old relative, a sixth-grader at an MCPS middle school, has an iPhone. She says one of her teaches puts a presentation up on the board and expects the kids to take pictures of it. With their phones. So, if you don't have a smartphone, well, it sucks to be you.

I have no reason not to believe the girl, but I do find this whole situation sort of dumbfounding. My child is 9 and I have no plans to give her a smartphone anytime soon.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:This article sounds like every "scare tactic" article from the past.

Rock & Roll is Hurting Your Kids
Dancing is Hurting Your Kids
Fraternizing with the Black Kids is Hurting Your Kids
TV is Hurting Your Kids
MTV is Hurting Your Kids
The Simpsons is Hurting Your Kids
Video Games are Hurting Your Kids
Marilyn Mason is Hurting Your Kids
The Internet is Hurting Your Kids

Rinse, repeat.

X10000

The same mainstream magazines that pump out these articles today about cell phones were railing against rock music, tv and integration of schools back in the day.

Also, teen depression is not on the rise. Teen depression has always been under reported.
What is on the rise is that teens are more comfortable now discussing depression and mental health issues out loud and asking for help.

You do realize there is a list of things we used to routinely let our kids do that we actually realized were unsafe and bad ideas and most people thus ceased?

Child labor is hurting your kids.
Driving without a proper car seat is hurting your kids.
Sleeping on your stomach is killing your infant.
Smoking is killing your kid.
Riding without a seatbelt is killing your kid.

We really don't know much about smart phones at this point as they've only been around for 10 years and ubiquitous for 5 - in retrospect it is hard to believe that people didn't realize seatbelts were a good idea but having babies sleep on their back was not so obvious. While there is some thus unproven alarmism around phones (brain cancer and LED lights) there is no info whatsoever I'm aware of on the impacts on kids behaviors and socialization.

And some really poor attempts at equivalency in the above posts. TV in fact is really not good for our kids and I think most people agree now that institutionalized segregation is bad. There are lots of things on your list that are not really harmful per se (MTV and the Simpsons) but about which it is also pretty hard to take seriously the notion that there is anything good.

And the comparison to cultural shifts like music is laughable.