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The oldest got one when she started middle school. A lot more activities, spending time with friends, etc. I thought what was a good time for it. The younger kids got phones at same time, 8 and 10 years old. Wasn’t looking to get them phones, but was a good deal and frankly has made communicating as a family much easier with everyone’s schedules. Only problem I have with it is the screen time and how to effectively manage that. But from communication standpoint it’s great. I should caveat all the same online concerns regardless of on phone or computer are still the same and should be factored in
I got my oldest son one in 7th grade. My wife and I thought it would help with Sports and keeping in touch when they are out with friends. About 2 years later, all I hear is complaints from my wife about screen time and the lack of responsiveness. My suggestion is to hold out as long as you can. You will find the phone become a giant waste of time and only increases the odds of bullying and misuse. Kids cannot use them in our school and we live less than 10 min from all their activities and friends. Until they hit High School and can drive, its really an expensive toy that is used a pacifer. If they say they want to stay in touch, get them a flip phone that make the whole smart phone difficult to use from an app perspective. Watch how fast they will turn you down since I have never seen a teenager actually talking on a cell phone. They are just mindlessly watching YouTube or on the latest Social Media app. Also, see if you school has a program with the local police department. The information they provided to us at the kick of of middle school is scary in terms of cybercrime and bad guys looking for young kids.
We also did 7th grade and made each of our kids wait until 7th grade, not all at once. They were among the last of their friends so I think it starts to affect their social lives if you wait longer than that. For the first six months, we lock it down hard. You can cripple an iPhone so that it will only work for phone and text like an old flip phone (an expensive one). But, then we gradually loosened up the restrictions as they proved responsibility with it which we set very clear expectations. And it can always be tightened back up as their behavior dictates.